[48122] in North American Network Operators' Group
Re: Certification or College degrees?
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Sharif Torpis)
Wed May 22 20:37:53 2002
From: Sharif Torpis <faust@grift.com>
To: <ssprunk@cisco.com>, Nigel Clarke <nigel@forever-networks.com>,
Stephen Kowalchuk <skowalchuk@diamonex.com>, <nanog@merit.edu>
Cc: Richard A Steenbergen <ras@e-gerbil.net>,
Nanog List <nanog@merit.edu>
Date: Wed, 22 May 2002 17:37:33 -0700
In-Reply-To: <045a01c201e8$961675d0$9d876540@amer.cisco.com>
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Errors-To: owner-nanog-outgoing@merit.edu
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
