To ask what you would think about someone that had masters degrees from both Oxford and Cambridge?

[Zorbing]

That's the question!

Its not me, obvs. But I am wondering what assumptions, if any, you might make about someone like this (justified or otherwise).

Would you think they were highly intelligent / had a strong work ethic? Or just lucky and privileged?

Would you think that they're probably a bit of a dickhead?

Its a woman incidentally, not sure if that makes a difference.

Just because it might bring up difficult questions in an interview or for other reasons?

Just because it's irrelevant. I wouldn't put my 1000m swimming certificate or my fellrunning race results in either.

@BeenAsFarAsMercyAndGrand

Just because it might bring up difficult questions in an interview or for other reasons?

Just because it's irrelevant. I wouldn't put my 1000m swimming certificate or my fellrunning race results in either.

But people often include hobbies / interests / other achievements on their cvs no?

I wouldn't be bowled over thinking she was super smart, it's not hard to get accepted for a master's. Really, now that you pay for your degrees, getting into uni is far less impressive. So I'd think she liked studying and probably didn't get into as prestigious a university for undergrad as she might have hoped.

@WithLoveFromMyselfToYourself

My first degree was Oxbridge and years later I did a Masters at a non-Russell Group red brick. I was a bit startled when the subject head for the Masters told me I was totally different to what he had expected as he associated Oxbridge with arrogance. I didn’t ask him if that was based on experience but I should have. It’s a shame, and while I met a few arrogant tossers at my university (at the Union and one waiting outside the exam hall) they were a tiny minority and my peers were from mixed backgrounds and generally lovely.

Oh wow - that's rude of him. I'm sorry he said that. I hope that these misguided perceptions will continue to change.

Because I focus my CV for the post I’m applying for, and don’t think my hobbies belong on there. I wouldn’t put a London Marathon time or Everest ascent on there either.

It would be different if it was a related field, but if you are applying for a job in as a chemical engineer, your MA in Film Studies is a distraction, not a plus. And as you have seen on here, it makes people think you are flakey.

(Actually, my hobby MA was on a subject that is linked to the industry I work in, but very much not essential for what I do, so I do sometimes include it, but only as a one-liner right at the bottom.)

But I leave off plenty of things, like the massage certificate I did just for fun, and the jobs I had as a teenager. My CV is pruned down to the things that are relevant for my job: professional quals, skills and experience. I assume interviewers have no interest in my life story.

@Zorbing
Given that this happened ‘ a long time ago’ 😏, did you ask the relevant questions at interview ? And did this person get the job?

Honestly I don't think you can draw any conclusions purely on the basis of this information. They could be a genius, or not. They could be financially privileged, or not. They might be a dickhead, or not. They might come from a culture where multiple degrees are considered necessary for better career prospects (more common in some continental countries). They might have had a career change. Are the degrees one after the other, or do they have good work experience in between / since? What was the subject and field? How do they explain the decision? Etc etc. Generally it is not unusual to make sweeping generalisations when Oxbridge is mentioned but in reality there could be many different reasons and explanations.

I wouldn’t think anything. Everyone in my field has multiple advanced degrees. At least one being from a prestigious university is pretty normal.

But people often include hobbies / interests / other achievements on their cvs no?

When I recruit, I aim to ignore that stuff entirely.

If you let yourself be influenced by the fact that the interviewee shares interests with you, you're not that far away from giving the job to your mate down the golf club, 'jobs for the boys' etc. Someone's social capital should not influence their job prospects.

Very clever but lacked direction in the real world.

I'd be so jealous. It was always my ambition to get just one Masters for professional and personal reasons but the coalition and subsequent Tory governments have made that an impossibility financially for me #racetothebottom

But people often include hobbies / interests / other achievements on their cvs no

Not in my field, no. Nobody cares that you like reading and playing football. There’s a very set structure to medical CVs.

I would think anything without knowing the full context.

A possible reason that I don't think anyone has mentioned is she might have done a Masters at one of them then been accepted to study for a PhD at the other one but not completed it. Sometimes the first year of study for a PhD requires taking a taught masters or writing a shorter thesis for a lower level degree first that is then expanded for the PhD.

This is not so unusual as I personally know many who fall within this academic attainment category including All Souls College. I myself have multiple including Cantab postgraduate degrees and professional qualifications. Many Oxbridge graduates have gone on to the other place for further research for masters by research or instruction, doctorates and post doctorate. Usually by corporate or academic sponsorship and of course the best of the best academically bar world class specialist universities (LBS, LSE, specialist medical schools etc) and Ivy League etc.

So you mean a batchelors degree from one and a pg from the other?
My husband has the former and almost did the latter but decided against.
He’s not a dickhead.
He’s very able with sciency/maths stuff but otherwise not abnormally intelligent

I don't suppose I would think anything about it at all. Good for them.

I have two masters degrees, so I'd just think "oooh, someone else has done two".

But other than that my thoughts would be based on what the pg degrees were in and when. The Oxbridge part wouldn't make me think much really, other than if they 'followed' funding options.

I have two because the first enabled a career change, in terms of a change of sector. Then years later I 'needed' (not strictly necessary but would be a big help) another PG qualification. I could have done a Pgdip but decided to do the masters as I wanted to do the dissertation/research project that wasn't part of the PgDip as I enjoy learning.

All of that was self-funded while I worked. No financial advantages. Not extremely clever. Not a perpetual student with no work experience and scared of the real world.

So I'd just think 'how nice', 'how useful' or 'how odd'. I'd only have that last thought if the masters degrees were in pretty much the same subject and very close together. (That would make me wonder if the original plan had been for the second to be a PhD or a different subject and something and forced a change of plan).

I’d say strong work ethics.

But I’d wonder why two masters…..

Btw, I would as, the question about two masters as someone who errr… more than that.

Two masters in very different subjects showing a change in career or two masters that complement each other or two masters just there because th person didn’t want to start in the workforce at that point?

Gosh this all makes for a depressing read. So much negative judgement. Who knows if she’s privileged or worked her arse off despite all odds to achieve what she has. Women in higher education need to be celebrated surely.

@Bhooks

I have two masters degrees, so I'd just think "oooh, someone else has done two".

But other than that my thoughts would be based on what the pg degrees were in and when. The Oxbridge part wouldn't make me think much really, other than if they 'followed' funding options.

I have two because the first enabled a career change, in terms of a change of sector. Then years later I 'needed' (not strictly necessary but would be a big help) another PG qualification. I could have done a Pgdip but decided to do the masters as I wanted to do the dissertation/research project that wasn't part of the PgDip as I enjoy learning.

All of that was self-funded while I worked. No financial advantages. Not extremely clever. Not a perpetual student with no work experience and scared of the real world.

So I'd just think 'how nice', 'how useful' or 'how odd'. I'd only have that last thought if the masters degrees were in pretty much the same subject and very close together. (That would make me wonder if the original plan had been for the second to be a PhD or a different subject and something and forced a change of plan).

I like this response :)

Btw the facts they are both oxbridge wouldnt really be there for me. Great they are both great Unis. But I don’t think it says more about the person that if ot was two masters from less well ranked universities, let’s say Sheffield and Edinburgh.

@Summerfun54321

Gosh this all makes for a depressing read. So much negative judgement. Who knows if she’s privileged or worked her arse off despite all odds to achieve what she has. Women in higher education need to be celebrated surely.

THIS! x10000

@Bhooks, it seems that we have very similar attitudes there.