It depends on the work that needs to be done. I think both a blind insistence on a college degree and a total disregard for the value of a formal education are mistakes. And of course having a degree from 20 years ago doesn't count for much other than it launched your career and allowed you to get a bunch of experience since then.
There was an SNL skit about "5 Minute University". The premise was that years later you would only remember 5 minutes from your college education, and 5 Minute University would teach you those 5 minutes. Some truth in that. Back in the 90's before the tech bubble burst, I was hiring a bunch of software engineers. Everyone wanted candidates with experience in the specific language they would be coding so they could "hit the ground running". There would be some new language that was only 2 years old and HR would be insisting on candidates with 3 years experience in it. Often I found the best hires were actually contractors. I don't know if they had degrees, but they knew software engineering concepts as well as the methodology for error free designs and how to work on complex projects as part of a team. Not just how to crank out code. I saw multiple projects with so many design defects they could not be salvaged via debug and fix, you had to start over. Similarly, I've seen so many electricians cut the wrong Cat5 cable and then splice it with 8 wire nuts. They don't have the knowledge about things like crosstalk and reflections to understand why wire nuts work for power but not for high speed data. But they sure know how to bend conduit and install wiring per code. I saw one company where the new owner fired any engineers without a degree. Their competitors got some good new hires out of that. You have to ask not only does this person have the knowledge but not the formal degree, but also what knowledge does the job require. An installer or salesperson or even an IT tech probably has little use for a university education. A structural engineer or architect maybe does. I remember an example from an HR class in MBA school, that a watch company was requiring 20/20 vision for their watchmakers, when in fact nearsighted people would be better. Or some companies with boring, repetitive tasks that nonetheless must be done accurately have found that autistic people are the best hires. -----Original Message----- From: AF <[email protected]> On Behalf Of Robert Sent: Tuesday, June 4, 2019 10:02 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [AFMUG] Network Engineer job in NY State I've worked for/with two companies that had heavy emphasis on advanced degrees. NELCOR and early Google. Single biggest advantage: Belief they can make anything happen, biggest problem: inability to execute to a schedule with delivery times slipping typically 2x scheduled delivery and a large percentage of undeliverables. Bunch of "Home Run" hitters was the description someone reviewing the tech team once said. On 6/4/19 7:29 AM, [email protected] wrote: > I agree with Forrest. A degree means close to nothing in my > experience. Work experience is important but the property mentality > and passion for the work is key. > > -----Original Message----- From: Adam Moffett > Sent: Tuesday, June 4, 2019 8:05 AM > To: [email protected] > Subject: Re: [AFMUG] Network Engineer job in NY State > > If you've got someone in mind, with or without a degree, then send him > over. > > On 6/4/2019 2:18 AM, Forrest Christian (List Account) wrote: >> Just a random observation: >> >> The Degree requirement may eliminate some of your best candidates. >> Some of the best IT/system admin people I've ever interacted with >> don't have a degree. Most of the tech job listings anymore don't >> even include this line, or if they feel the need to include it, they >> add something like " Relevant work experience may substitute for >> required education." >> >> The only place one sees this anymore is for jobs in traditionally >> degree-heavy industries like aerospace, and even then they usually >> include an 'x years of work experience can be substituted for the >> degree requirement'. >> >> >> On Thu, May 30, 2019 at 5:06 AM Adam Moffett <[email protected]> >> wrote: >>> If you know anyone who is interested: >>> >>> https://post.craigslist.org/k/_lVq98KC6RGKR8SL39YNog/xqb4d?s=preview >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> -- >>> AF mailing list >>> [email protected] >>> http://af.afmug.com/mailman/listinfo/af_af.afmug.com >> >> > > -- AF mailing list [email protected] http://af.afmug.com/mailman/listinfo/af_af.afmug.com -- AF mailing list [email protected] http://af.afmug.com/mailman/listinfo/af_af.afmug.com
