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Re^3: Certifications are dumb.

by zentara (Archbishop)
on Apr 09, 2008 at 14:53 UTC ( [id://679264]=note: print w/replies, xml ) Need Help??


in reply to Re^2: Certifications are dumb.
in thread Certifications are dumb.

I agree with most of what you say. Based upon my observations, it's natural intelligence, and a desire to be correct,that is more important than a degree. I would say that 90% of all jobs only need an 8th grade level of education( basic reading writing and arithmetic). Sh*t, in nearby Detroit where only 25% of students graduate high school, they can fill all the jobs they need because the kids have a natural intelligence, and can be trained in a few weeks to pickup things. For instance, on a tool setting control, they don't need to know what cm means, just put marks on the scale with a marker pen and tell them " put it on marker 1 for this task and marker 2 for that task".

The other 10% of jobs go to the people who know how to make the marks, or design and develop the tools. But how many of those people do you really need? We are graduating so many useless college graduates( who all expect cushy high paid jobs), that the old saying is now true...."too many chiefs and not enough indians". This is creating a corporate welfare class, where they are hired into meaningless positions, and do not earn their high salaries.

It reminds me of what happened in France about 20 years ago, IIRC. They said they were going to limit the number of Phd candidates admitted each year, because there were too many already.


I'm not really a human, but I play one on earth. Cogito ergo sum a bum

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Re^4: Certifications are dumb.
by mr_mischief (Monsignor) on Apr 09, 2008 at 15:38 UTC
    In a big corporate marketplace, you may be right. In general, I think the one to ten person company is much more common than your scenario admits.

    Specialty retail shops, transmission repair and rebuilding garages, accounting firms, law offices, schools, dance and gymnastics academies, and all sorts of other smaller, more local types of businesses far outweigh your 10% average with skilled or educated workers. You can't take a kid drinking Capri Sun and make him a wine steward in a week, and it takes years to be qualified to practice law or medicine. Even real estate agents in many states have to take a class and pass standardized tests to be licensed (I should know -- I took the class for my state).

    The problems with graduates not being placed are many, and not just centered around the number of graduates. For one, colleges and high schools overemphasize current shortages in particular fields, then there is a glut five years down the road in that field. For another, the markets in some fields fluctuate rapidly. The H1B visa program is used to artificially flood certain job markets.

    One of the biggest issues with graduates not finding work is that not enough people are being taught even basic business skills as part of any non-business curriculum. If you're wanting more jobs available for well-educated and well-trained people than the current market provides, you need more small, niche businesses. Yet people who go to school for most degrees aren't taught basic marketing, basic business law, and basic accounting. They stop at trying to find jobs with existing companies so that someone else takes care of those essential areas. They aren't taught that risk and reward go hand-in-hand, and are always encouraged to play the safe side of any decision. The best time, in fact, to take risks with your finances isn't during a mid-life crisis, but when you are young and single without much to lose and have plenty of time to make it up.

    If people want more programming jobs or IT consulting jobs, in particular (since this is Perlmonks), then more people need to start programming or IT consulting businesses. Yes, it's risky, but so is working for a big company (with big layoffs) these days. The secret, as in all businesses, is to offer someone something they can't get elsewhere. Higher quality, lower price, or a completely unique product or service that meets a need nobody else is covering can make a market. Ideally, you can come up with a product or service that people don't even think about wanting until they see it. Realistically, there is lots of room for cheaper, faster, better, or more local. That last bit matters much more to some people than the bit-bashers like us tend to realize.

    One of the best side effects of more small, specialized businesses in a field is that more of the decision makers in the hiring process actually understand the field. That makes certifications less valuable and the portfolio evaluation and interview process more valuable.

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