The Age of the Undegreed Comes to an End
I'm "barely educated" according to employers. Without a degree I can't "perform" according to employers, government and especially academics. Nevermind that I have attended a couple of years worth of technical classes and performed high level technical jobs for 25 years. In this market, without a faded document, I'm an unqualified, barely educated loser.
Employers, government and academics want a 60 year old man to go back to school for 4 years and get a degree. That will solve everyone's problems. With a BA in engineering and management, this 64 year old man will meet employer's needs, make america a better place and feed academics while making more money myself.
Do you think companies will be falling over each other trying to recruit a guy with a new BA and 2 years left to work? Would society consider it a wise investment to give a scarce seat in an engineering school to a guy about to retire? How would I support my family while attending school? Sweep floors at the Commons?
Employers don't know how to use the talent that they already have and because of their incompetence have to rely on degrees to acquire talent. Often they end up with properly documented losers that couldn't perform if their life depended on it. I've seen this over and over again the last couple of decades.
Motivation and a willingness/ability to learn are the most important attributes of a successful employee. All the degrees in the world won't make up for the lack of these attributes. I babysit narrowly motivated PhDs who refuse to learn anything outside out of their specialty. They have no interest in the company or even mankind, they only care about their research, almost as a personal hobby.
This barely educated, technically incompetent 60 year old man will continue to maintain and configure testing equipment and computer systems, troubleshoot testing problems, manage the lab and employees despite his lack of a BA. The Age of the Undegreed has come to an end as I end my career.
Employers, government and academics want a 60 year old man to go back to school for 4 years and get a degree. That will solve everyone's problems. With a BA in engineering and management, this 64 year old man will meet employer's needs, make america a better place and feed academics while making more money myself.
Do you think companies will be falling over each other trying to recruit a guy with a new BA and 2 years left to work? Would society consider it a wise investment to give a scarce seat in an engineering school to a guy about to retire? How would I support my family while attending school? Sweep floors at the Commons?
Employers don't know how to use the talent that they already have and because of their incompetence have to rely on degrees to acquire talent. Often they end up with properly documented losers that couldn't perform if their life depended on it. I've seen this over and over again the last couple of decades.
Motivation and a willingness/ability to learn are the most important attributes of a successful employee. All the degrees in the world won't make up for the lack of these attributes. I babysit narrowly motivated PhDs who refuse to learn anything outside out of their specialty. They have no interest in the company or even mankind, they only care about their research, almost as a personal hobby.
This barely educated, technically incompetent 60 year old man will continue to maintain and configure testing equipment and computer systems, troubleshoot testing problems, manage the lab and employees despite his lack of a BA. The Age of the Undegreed has come to an end as I end my career.
posted by lugh lampfhota at 10:00 AM
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