Building a CV / Resume' with US Education Only?

Hello Everyone,

This is CloverBea's husband, the dual US/UK citizen.

One of my greatest hurdles now, is finding a job in the UK. My UK passport is on the way and we have a clear path to citizenship for my kids and path to a VISA for my wife. In preparing for obtaining a UK job, I have had a great deal of difficulty finding a concise answer regarding translating my US education to a UK format that fulfills requirements, such as A levels, etc.

I currently have a high school diploma, and three Associates Degrees in Criminal Justice, Emergency Preparedness Technology, and Cyber-Crime, all with high honors.

I have been a member of the US Air Force as a aircraft mechanic and instructor, and have been a Police Officer since 2002. I have read that the UK has no equivalency to an Associates Degree? If that is true, do my degrees equate to A levels, O levels, GCSE's and the like? From what I understand, A levels are similar to AP classes in US high schools, so actual college classes/degrees should suffice?

As a side note, I located an agency in the UK that will review my education credits and provide UK equivalencies, for a fee of 30 quid. Is this legitimate and/or the best route to take? Any and all advice would be greatly appreciated. Job offers or lines of inquiry would also be greatly welcomed for someone with my experience and education. I have been specifically attracted to MOD jobs, working on RAF/Army installations, with hopes of eventual entrance into the UK police force.

Sincerely, Jeff

You could try using NARIC to translate your qualifications. It's true that there is no associate's degree in the UK. Have a look at the national qualifications framework (http://www.accreditedqualifications.org.uk/qualifications-and-credit-framework-qcf.html) to get an idea of what to expect. My guess is that an associates would be about a level 3 qualification, since it is 2 years post-high school (considered equivalent to GCSEs), so might be roughly the same as A-levels.

As a side note, I located an agency in the UK that will review my education credits and provide UK equivalencies, for a fee of 30 quid. Is this legitimate and/or the best route to take?

I agree with historyenne, you should check out UK NARIC (https://www.naric.org.uk/naric/individuals/).  There are companies that do conversions/translations and they do charge fees as the university I worked for in the U.S. used an agency like this for international students applying to study.  However, you are right to be a bit skeptical as there are fraudulent companies offering this service. 

Another option is that you could contact the admissions office at a British University to see if they can recommend a company or if you were interested in studying at there, how your education qualifications would transfer.  We had a student who wanted to transfer to a British institution (also had an Associates Degree and a couple of semesters at a four-year university) and was having trouble figuring out how her qualifications would transfer, so she just contacted the universities she was interested in and asked if they could assist her.  Unfortunately I don't remember the outcome, but it is a free option