On Wed, 22 May 2002 18:29:52 -0500, Stephen Sprunk wrote:
Degrees are, in essence, a certificate that you are capable of learning things by rote and regurgitating them later, possibly applying a small amount of thought (but not too much). In most industries, that's a highly valuable thing to know, and businesses hire college grads with the assumption they'll spend the first year doing little but training them to do useful work.
The IT industry does not have the patience or luxury of hiring a completely cluess college grad, sending them to the dozens of required classes, giving them a mentor to help them with their first year of work, etc. People want someone who can solve the problem today, period. Certifications are a crude but often effective means for non-technical people to determine if technical people meet their needs.
S
If that is what you or anyone else got from obtaining a degree then you were shortchanged and are probably (understandably) bitter. But you have noone to blame but yourself either. Every consumer should count their change. Your description of learning things by rote and regurgitation is the method practiced by so many folks following your employer's certification system. That is why the system and the certified individuals are looked down upon so often. Anyone that received a cert this way was similarly shortchanged. Maybe individuals should think of degrees and certifications as tools used for the purpose of advancing through life/world/career. They are certainly not the only tools. You can have replacements or alternatives. You can (and should) supplement your toolset at different points in your life. Choose your tools carefully, use the right one(s) at the apropos time and good luck in life and career. I personally would want to accumulate as many tools as possible to give me a wide array of knowledge and options to address any particular problem/circumstance. Regards, Sharif