Jon Harol - Lighthouse Recruiting - Medical Technology Specialist

Q: Is it possible to receive a [medical technology] degree through an online program?

A: Yes, there are degrees that are offered almost exclusively online. For most medical technology degrees, however, students are required to receive hands-on laboratory work at least once every three months or so.

Every program also requires its students receive about a year's worth of hospital or reference lab-based work, where they work the job and gain experience, but don't necessarily get paid. This aspect obviously cannot be completed online, but a lot of the course work can be.

Q: From your experience, do you think employers differentiate between people with traditional and online degrees when they are looking at a candidate's background?

A: No, I haven't seen that. Sometimes I might not even know if a candidate received their degree online or not. When it comes down to it, most areas of the healthcare field have certification to go along with them.

If someone is able to get the certification, his or her degree becomes secondary. It usually doesn't even matter where a candidate comes from or how they earned their degree, as long as they are able to show credits and qualify for the certification exam. Healthcare workers are in demand, and I don't think that employers have the luxury to discriminate against candidates based on where or how they earned their degree.

Q: Do you happen to know if there are any online schools whose programs are held in higher esteem than other programs?

A: Yes, I believe the one I've heard about the most about is the University of Cincinnati. Their's is not just an online program, but it is a transition program designed for people moving from their associate's to bachelor's degree. The other one I hear about all the time is the University of Phoenix, but I don't know the specifics of the program.

Q: So people usually use online programs to upgrade themselves from an associate's to a bachelor's degree?

A: That's typically what I see most people use online programs for. A lot of people with an associate's degree who have worked in the field for 10 or 15 years now want to take the next step to management, and most of these positions require a bachelor's degree at minimum.

These people use online programs while they are working because they don't have luxury to go back to school full time, so they finish up their bachelor's and meet that requirement this way.

Jon Harol is Managing Partner of Lighthouse Recruiting, LLC, based in Avon, CT. Lighthouse Recruiting is a full-service contingency recruiting firm that serves the healthcare industry and specializes in the recruitment of Allied Health professionals. Over the last few years Mr. Harol has personally focused on the clinical laboratory industry.

Larry Barlow - Tax Advantage Personnel - Tax Accounting Specialist

Q: Do you feel compelled to mention it to a client if a candidate received part of their degree from an online program?

A: Never. I have never had a client tell me to stay away from people who have degrees from online schools.

Q: So in your experience, online degrees are as respected as those that have been earned from an established brick and mortar school?

A: Yes, they are pretty much the same. There are a lot of traditional, well-known business schools that are now offering online programs.

Q: Do you have any advice for students who are considering pursing an online undergraduate or master's degree?

A: As far as online schools go, I have seen that they are very well-respected for people who get their master's from many of these type of programs.

What we have for tax is a Master of Science and Taxation, or a Master of Tax. One university that I've seen quite a bit for people obtaining an online degree is Golden Gate University, in San Francisco, California.

Students could, however, obtain a master's of tax at that particular school while they are located in a completely different state.

Larry Barlow founded Tax Advantage Personnel in 2000. Tax Advantage Personnel works exclusively recruiting tax professionals from senior staff to the executive level.

Lew Dittelman - Executive Access - Accounting Specialist

Q: Have you dealt with candidates who have degrees from online schools?

A: Yes, I have, and I could speak personally about that since my son has an MBA from the University of Phoenix. Some people don't like the fact that school can be completed online, but if the certification or degree is earned from a widely known and respected institution, there shouldn't be any problems.

I know how hard my son worked to get his MBA. It's not something where students can mail it in; they work hard, and he really benefited from it.

There are, however, many unknown online schools that don't necessarily help a person's cause by saying that they got their degree there.

Q: Are there any other online colleges that you are aware that have a positive reputation that will help people in their career?

A: Yes. Those that I know of are basically schools that exist as campus schools but also offer the online programs. These are designed to help the working people of the world who can't leave their job and sit through all the liberal arts credits and everything else they need.

[Boston University] and Boston College each offer these programs, and people can even get an online degree from Harvard, believe it or not, [from their Extension school]. Those are respected entities in their own way, and no one is going to think that a student didn't work hard to get their degree through the online programs offered by these schools.

Q: Do clients respect degrees from known schools without brick and mortar campuses as well?

A: Yes.

Q: When you are presenting a candidate to a client or potential employer, do you feel compelled to tell them to differentiate between candidates with different forms of degrees?

A: It may make a difference, but I don't go out of my way to tell them. If they ask and they find out, that's what it is.

Q: It sounds as if you are just as confident representing candidates from brick-and-mortar or online schools as you are candidates from traditional schools?

A: Yes, I am.

Q: Have you run into a situation where a client has ever discriminated against a candidate from an online school?

A: I personally have not had that happen to me, but I've heard similar stories from other people. I know some of my colleagues have been told by some companies not to send them people who don't have a degree from a college they can recognize.

Lewis Dittelman is the founder and president of Executive Access Inc., located in Grafton, MA, specializing in placements in the Accounting & Finance, Human Resources, and Information Technology fields.

Walter Medina - Walt Medina & Associates - Nursing Specialist

Q: Do you see many graduates coming from online programs? Since many traditional schools have online programs, would you even be aware if someone had a degree from an online program?

A: I usually ask. When I interview nurses, I want to know what school they graduated from and if it is NLN accredited or not. Over the course of time, I have learned which schools are and are not. I also ask them if they've taken any online courses. It usually doesn't make any difference.

Q: If you happen to learn that the nurse you are representing to a potential employer has a degree through an online school, do you feel compelled to mention that to your client or the hospital that they might be working for? Do those employers care?

A: The employers don't ask as long as the college or university is providing an authentic accredited master's or certification program. I haven't seen it make any difference at all.

Walt Medina is founder of Walt Medina & Associates, a recruitment firm specializing in the healthcare and pharmaceutical industries. The firm is located in East Berlin, CT.

Jay Lory - SourceNet - Software Specialist

Q: Have you ever run into a situation where an employer said they wouldn't consider someone because their degree was earned online?

A: I have not.

Q: It seems not to matter so much if an applicant has a degree from an online or brick-and-mortar school, as long as they receive a quality education from that particular program.

A: In the technology space, many certifications are received online.

Jay Lory is an independent executive search professional, and managing partner of SourceNet, providing full life-cycle delivery of recruiting services to web-based and advanced software application companies in Silicon Valley.

Mike Backer - Salitube - IT Specialist

Q: Do your clients have a preference regarding candidates with degrees from online programs? Do they value a degree from a brick and mortar school more highly than from an online degree?

A: My personal experience and observation is that the jury is still out. I think online degree programs are still more of a current phenomenon than are brick and mortar schools. Some brick and mortar schools do have online programs, along with certificate programs as well.

I think how a candidate earned his or her degree is not the foremost most important thing in the initial search, at least from what I've seen. It may be a determining factor, where it could help a company make a decision if all other factors between two candidates are equal, but it's not a knockoff question at the beginning of the interview process.

Mike Backer is the founder and principal of Salitube, Inc., a Massachusetts-based human resource consulting firm established in 1986.

Allen Ackerman - A-List Placement - Digital Media Specialist

Q: Do you see candidates who have degrees or certifications from distance learning programs or online schools?

A: From time to time I do.

Q: Cornell University, for example, offers distance learning program. Would you even know if the degree is from a traditional program or an online program?

A: To be honest, if I see an applicant with a degree from [a school that I knew to be 100% online] I would personally look at it slightly differently. If the applicant received an online degree from a traditional school, however, I would not be aware of that.

I think there is a difference between physically going to a school and being in that environment, in that educational atmosphere, as opposed to being at home. They really are two different things, but some people may have situations in their lives which makes an online degree program the only way they can do it, so one has to respect that.

If someone doesn't have the time or is limited by their own life circumstances, I think that's still a great way to get an education and a degree.

Q: Have you ever had a client look at a resume and reject someone with a degree from a distance learning or online school?

A: No, I've never had a client differentiate between a candidate with an online or online distance learning degree.

Formerly a software developer, Allen Ackerman has been a recruiter for 15 years. Based in New York City, he recruits for digital media companies and is the founder of A-List Placement.