College Degree as a requirement for a mystery shop?

I saw a movie theater movie shop that pays for reimbursements, along with a $30 payment per visit. The requirement is that you have a college degree from an accredited college and at least 1 year in customer service.

How often do you see a college education as a requirement for a shop?

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Rarely are profile requirements beyond age, gender, type of vehicle, credit score or language fluency openly stated. There are many shops that nevertheless have profile requirements that may be anywhere along the spectrum of education or income or other demographic.
That's odd that they would require that for a movie shop. I have seen this requirement for fine automobiles and high-end jewelry & clothing.
I saw that requirement for the hotel audit last year.

"I told myself to quit you; but I don't listen to drunks." -Chris Stapleton
I wish all MSCs required a college degree. It would be a starting point for the weeding process.
Having a degree would mean our wages would go up, I personally have never seen this... we now need a college degree to go to a movie....please. This is quite laughable, those that have a degree, can get a job and a 401K, health Ins. and all that goes along with higher education. oh yea, would that be a Bachelor degree or a Masters? I'm cracking up.......

Live consciously....
@Sybil2 wrote:

I wish all MSCs required a college degree. It would be a starting point for the weeding process.
Ya, I don't. That would be bad (not my first choice of adjectives) for those of us who didn't choose college for knowledge and life experience. I'm pretty smart, ran my own business for 15 yrs and retired before I was 40, but just don't have 'that' piece of paper.
What would you take in college to "prepare" you for Msing, perhaps, the study of how to make eye contact, or maybe, a timing or the correct way to say thank you. Sorry, this is too funny. Most shoppers aren't Gold Certified and does it really matter???? The MSC has no problem disposing of us if their not happy, they do a lot of weeding on there own. The thought of it is so funny and obsurd. I'll tune in and get my laugh of the day!

Live consciously....
It is just typical of how overboard everybody is for requiring a college education and/or job experience when it is basically irrelevant. Employers don't want to bother training anybody anymore, laughed when I saw a newspaper ad for a dog bather which required experience. Same with bar tending jobs once you go to school for the certificate.

Question: How did the world go round and round before college became mandatory???

Only 30% of the population had a degree in the very early 1970's and somehow government and business somehow succeeded, and don't tell me the workplace has become so much more complex than previously...
@Arch Stanton wrote:

It is just typical of how overboard everybody is for requiring a college education and/or job experience when it is basically irrelevant. Employers don't want to bother training anybody anymore, laughed when I saw a newspaper ad for a dog bather which required experience. Same with bar tending jobs once you go to school for the certificate.

Question: How did the world go round and round before college became mandatory???

Only 30% of the population had a degree in the very early 1970's and somehow government and business somehow succeeded, and don't tell me the workplace has become so much more complex than previously...

My feeling is with more woman wanting careers, and the competitiveness of the job market, along with the price of homes today compared with years ago, it is necessary. I do see it for those young ones (like my daughter)
who really wanted a career, like my friends daughter graduated top of her class from UCLA, got a job with Google starting at 70 Grand. She couldn't do what she does without a degree. Jobs were plentiful when we were young with girls staying home and raising their kids, very different world today. Today girls are marrying later (if at all), and are working. They want the independence of caring for themselves, not having to depend on a man. I'm with them, having seen both sides, nothing is perfect, it's all about choice.

Live consciously....
Maybe it's for the particular movie?

Unfortunately, for many places (not all, but many) our educational system has been dumbed-down considerably. A high school degree from the 70s seems to me to be equivalent to many of the BA degrees of today.

Now scheduling travel shops for the day after Christmas through mid-January.
I can understand the requirement for high end shops. Now for shopping movie theaters, it may just be a way to weed out flakes.

Live your life in such a way that when your feet hit the floor in the morning; the devil shudders...And yells OH #%*+! SHE'S AWAKE!
I'd be more concerned about the requirement for an additional year in in customer service.

Who goes to college to and then aspires to get a job in customer service?
Presumably those in degree programs in hotel or restaurant management would have experience in customer service. There are many programs in Hospitality Management. Without searching, the following come easily to mind. University of Delaware (Newark, DE), Johnson and Wales University (Providence, RI), Cornell University (Ithaca, NY), Chestnut Hill College including the Restaurant School of Philadelphia. OK, I decided to search. Here are the top 30 programs according to one source: [www.thebestschools.org] There are more outside the US. Would these people do mystery shopping? I know the former Dean of the restaurant management program at a large Midwestern university, and they encourage their students to do mystery shopping with the idea that it will give them a lot of insights in what can go wrong.
@SteveSoCal wrote:

I'd be more concerned about the requirement for an additional year in in customer service.

Who goes to college to and then aspires to get a job in customer service?

Shopping Southeast Pennsylvania, Delaware above the canal, and South Jersey since 2008
@eveb wrote:

@Sybil2 wrote:

I wish all MSCs required a college degree. It would be a starting point for the weeding process.
Ya, I don't. That would be bad (not my first choice of adjectives) for those of us who didn't choose college for knowledge and life experience. I'm pretty smart, ran my own business for 15 yrs and retired before I was 40, but just don't have 'that' piece of paper.

Totally with you on this. I chose not to get a degree. At the time I didn't know what I wanted to do with my life and felt it was a waste of money and time if I didn't have a dedicated career path. Fast forward to today: I haven't worked for anyone but myself for a few years now and am doing very well. No debt, no roommates, no struggling. I have smarts and business savvy. Meanwhile almost everyone else I know with a college degree in my age range is still living at home complaining about the economy because they can't get a job in whatever field they went to college for. It makes me wonder if people in my generation only went to college to avoid work rather than get work....

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/07/2016 01:04PM by N-TownShopper.
@SteveSoCal wrote:

I'd be more concerned about the requirement for an additional year in in customer service.

Who goes to college to and then aspires to get a job in customer service?

I went to college and ended up getting a job as a consultant aka a job in customer service. smiling smiley

Shopping the Greater Denver Area, Colorado Springs and in-between in Colorado. 33 year old male and willing to travel!


Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/07/2016 01:32PM by Tarantado.
@myst4au wrote:

Would these people do mystery shopping?

From my personal experience, many people in hospitality/mystery shopping careers went to Cornell, and while the students are encouraged to mystery shop and or work in hospitality, they generally don't do it for an extended period, and focus almost entirely on hotels & restaurants.

I guess the point of the discussion regarding the request is, "What's this demographic?"

Are they looking for people who didn't live up to their aspirations ( @Tarantado, i noted that you said you "ended up" in customer service, not aspired to career in customer service) or people who are professionally and scholastically focused on customer service? The pay scale doesn't seem to fit the later group....

Perhaps there is a generational issue with the college experience vs. available jobs currently in the workplace. With my generation, a college education was an important part of career success, and while a degree is not required in my current occupation, almost everyone I work with has one.
@SteveSoCal wrote:

@myst4au wrote:

Would these people do mystery shopping?

From my personal experience, many people in hospitality/mystery shopping careers went to Cornell, and while the students are encouraged to mystery shop and or work in hospitality, they generally don't do it for an extended period, and focus almost entirely on hotels & restaurants.

I guess the point of the discussion regarding the request is, "What's this demographic?"

Are they looking for people who didn't live up to their aspirations ( @Tarantado, i noted that you said you "ended up" in customer service, not aspired to career in customer service) or people who are professionally and scholastically focused on customer service? The pay scale doesn't seem to fit the later group....

Perhaps there is a generational issue with the college experience vs. available jobs currently in the workplace. With my generation, a college education was an important part of career success, and while a degree is not required in my current occupation, almost everyone I work with has one.

I'd personally be on the operations side of my expertise, which can eventually fall into place in the future, but falling in the consulting end of engineering pays almost as well and is allowing me to gain lots of experience. The stress can sometimes be unbearable though.

Shopping the Greater Denver Area, Colorado Springs and in-between in Colorado. 33 year old male and willing to travel!
@N-TownShopper wrote:

Totally with you on this. I chose not to get a degree. At the time I didn't know what I wanted to do with my life and felt it was a waste of money and time if I didn't have a dedicated career path. Fast forward to today: I haven't worked for anyone but myself for a few years now and am doing very well. No debt, no roommates, no struggling. I have smarts and business savvy. Meanwhile almost everyone else I know with a college degree in my age range is still living at home complaining about the economy because they can't get a job in whatever field they went to college for. It makes me wonder if people in my generation only went to college to avoid work rather than get work....

It's not that simple... I graduated from college at the tail end of the recession. I basically had to grab what I could, then work all the way to where I'm at. I started off as underpaid and literally had to grind those next couple of years. Hell, even up to now, the field I'm in (oil & gas) is suffering yet again, leaving little to no room for newcomers to jump into this industry.

Shopping the Greater Denver Area, Colorado Springs and in-between in Colorado. 33 year old male and willing to travel!
My good friend went back to college late (52) and took Hospitality...she Bartend's and works in events at our local Hyatt which is a Franchise and no one ever mentions Mystery shopping, it is the low man on the pole. She has made in excess of 500 a night at a big event, none of their help even know much about Msing. I think the couple of MS companies that asked for a degree, have a screw loose. When they pay accordingly,
well, fair is fair, and with a company, you do get paid for work done...not always in Msing.

For those with the entrepreneur spirit and the ability to work at home, yes, this is a viable way to make a living. I think taking a business class wouldn't hurt. Going to a good college helps getting work, our city colleges are over crowded, now taking 5 years to get out. Everyone with college kids I know apply (and get) help through various programs Obama started.

Live consciously....
Eureka!

Perhaps it is done for the purpose of generating buzz... Consider this thread.

If the information in this thread is true, then some people need college degrees and others do not.

So, what do we need? Chutzpah? Emily Post? Opportunity?

Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished. - Lao-Tzu
@SteveSoCal wrote:

I'd be more concerned about the requirement for an additional year in in customer service.

Who goes to college to and then aspires to get a job in customer service?

I worked in customer service jobs while I was in college. Does that count, you think?

Shopper in California's Bay Area
IMHO, that would count. I worked as a busboy and as a waiter before and while I was getting my college degree. As far as I am concerned, that counts.
@CaliGirl925 wrote:

I worked in customer service jobs while I was in college. Does that count, you think?

Shopping Southeast Pennsylvania, Delaware above the canal, and South Jersey since 2008
@Shop-et-al wrote:

Eureka!

Perhaps it is done for the purpose of generating buzz... Consider this thread.

If the information in this thread is true, then some people need college degrees and others do not.

So, what do we need? Chutzpah? Emily Post? Opportunity?

You're right. Some of us do need college degrees depending on the career paths we're on.

To say it's not needed to be successful? That's a reach, is subjective and depends on the career path you're on.

Would I be where I'm at now financially without my degree? Who knows. I don't know what path I may have taken if I focused on work, business, etc. instead of college at 18.

Shopping the Greater Denver Area, Colorado Springs and in-between in Colorado. 33 year old male and willing to travel!
As indies, we have an ever-present customer service orientation. MSCs and their clients are our customers. Clients' "real" customers are our customers. Their demands for certain qualities drive the need for mystery shops, audits, etc.

In a perfect world, everyone would be born with this as innate knowledge and our various paths of learning would be free for other ideas.

Huzzah for customer service! There is no shame if it is means and/or ends. Huzzah for college degrees! We need everyone regardless of, and sometimes because of, their particular combinations of school and work.experience.

But back to the original post: I understand that it may difficult to accommodate everyone's uniqueness. But can someone please explain why a college degree was a qualification for a movie shop???

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Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished. - Lao-Tzu


Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/07/2016 07:28PM by Shop-et-al.
Bottom line it is the client's call to make about the shopper(s) they want. If they feel their target customer is a male between 21 and 25 who is a juggler, can ride a unicycle and lives at home with his parents, those are the specifications they have for shoppers. A wise MSC will work with them to expand their scope so that the jobs are possible to fill, so they may have to accept a juggler under 40 who is not a homeowner or a male under 40 who is not a homeowner. Or, since a large number of jugglers have at least some college, they may decide on male, not a homeowner, with some college. And if they still can't get the job done, I may go in as a female retiree who doesn't juggle or ride a unicycle but who is looking for a set of juggling torches for my son/grandson, though with the $5 reimbursement has to decide that the pot to extinguish the torches is the appropriate purchase for today.
@Tarantado wrote:

@N-TownShopper wrote:


It's not that simple... I graduated from college at the tail end of the recession. I basically had to grab what I could, then work all the way to where I'm at. I started off as underpaid and literally had to grind those next couple of years. Hell, even up to now, the field I'm in (oil & gas) is suffering yet again, leaving little to no room for newcomers to jump into this industry.

Tarantado, hats off to you for being willing to work your way to where you are. You are not the type of person I was referring to in my post. These people are sitting home with mom and dad complaining INSTEAD of working or working only enough to keep the 'rents from throwing them out. They are not working and complaining simultaneously. They seem to think they are entitled to a certain level of employment just because they have a degree. In reality, that's not the case anymore.
Like yourself, I worked any job I could. I graduated high school and immediately entered the corporate world of 9 to 5 in a cubicle. I gained experience and that experience is what kept me moving forward, not my education or lack thereof. The last 3 jobs I worked before leaving the office life for self employment were jobs that everyone else had gone to college to get. I did just as well as they did, sometimes even better. I was probably paid less due to my lack of education but oh well.
My point was that (with few exceptions of more specialized fields) I don't believe college gets you @#$%& these days. I think you can get much farther with intelligence, a strong work ethic, and experience. Either way, a degree definitely wouldn't weed out the bad shoppers like Sybil2 suggested.
It might weed out shoppers in lower income brackets since college is expensive. Maybe that's what the MSC was going for.
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