A Few Qs regarding Online Us
Via iTunesU, I am taking Stanford's "CS193P - Cocoa Programming". By "taking" I don't mean I get any college credit. By "taking" I mean I am watching the lectures and doing the assignments.
In the Dec/Jan edition of FastCompany there's a short article titled "Universities Inc." that explores the boom of students and investors flocking to for-Profit higher edu.
20 years ago, my Pops lectured me on getting a BA or BS while persuading me out of my US Marine Corps fantasy. 45 years ago, Mom was encouraged to get an AAS in Home Economics, Pops was encouraged to go preLaw at Univ of Mich.
The point of the previous paragraph, times change. What will I be endorsing to my kiddos in only 6 years?
From both a hiring manager's perspective and a peer perspective, I am wondering:
- What's more important ... competency or credentials? Many of us have experienced the wildly successful MBA student who couldn't understand much. We've also gotten key business insights, unexpectedly, from the maintenance worker.
- Resumes and CVs are the first "screen" of the applicant by the hiring manager? How do you, M[if guy=r; else s]. Hiring Manager, weigh the academic creds in your screening process?
- Free is sweet. Especially sweet today. I have come across more than a handful of excellent, free university courses from Stanford, Harvard, MIT and some unknowns that are even better than the rest. What is your favorite free higher edu? I am not talking about stuff like wikipedia or docs.companyname.com sites.
There are a few more Qs that I have, but I am initially curious about these.
J
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I don't have an answer for
I don't have an answer for you either, as I have pondered this myself. I have seen a number of online conversations around this very topic.
I'm not a hiring manager, though I have played one on TV. I have filtered through resumes on occasion and conducted interviews a few times. But really, I'm just a guy without a concrete answer...but some opinions:
1. Competency trumps credentials for exercising a particular set of skills. Academically, it's the difference between a plain science class, and a science class with a lab requirement. The lab seals the knowledge with practical experience (albeit minimal, it's better than none). However, credentials may trump competency when significant investigation is required. That is, if credentials equates to a background understanding of what is happening underneath the covers (where the devil lives: in the details), then experience alone may not be enough to be successful. So where does this leave us? Both?
2. I am starting to think that people need to transform into a personal brand well before thinking about resumes/CVs. The resume should merely be the reinforcement to what the person's brand already communicates. The brand communicates ideas like quality [of service], and how it can uniquely serve another entity. Resumes are dry...even the prettiest ones. They're two-dimensional in a 3D world.
3. My aside: Nothing is free. If everyone takes free courses, then the knowledge becomes a commodity and nobody will pay for it. There's a time investment, and only a certain amount of knowledge that can be transmitted via a free course. For many, this knowledge is "good enough" for getting some things accomplished. My guess is that higher ed. believes that the value of actually participating in the course is much higher, and that these free courses will enhance the reputation of the university. The "give before you get" philosophy may serve them well from a marketing perspective, and definitely helps folks learn. I don't know that companies will consider this as a true credential when hiring though. I may be wrong here.
Competence, obviously, is
Competence, obviously, is what potential employers require; that's what's required in at least a "C"-grade employee. But, what they seek is excellence (an "A"-grade employee) or at least value (from at least a "B"-grade employee).
Hopefully, a resume will convey what a person is best at, so an employer can hire someone who will not only fill a requirement competently, but will also play at an "A" level.
When reviewing a resume or CV, I see credentials as merely side effects of these traits. They show me what a person is capable of doing (or "competent" to do)--and by "doing", I mean "completing". (Recall Master Yoda: "Do or Do not. There is no try.") Historically, one of the great values of a college degree is that it offers proof (a credential) that a person is capable of completing a large undertaking.
Companies generally base compensation on a person's years of relevant education and experience. (Often, they are weighted equally, though some might weigh education twice as high.) People who have been laid off but go back to school continue to increase their value, but those who remain on the sidelines do not. When the economy picks up, which do you imagine would be hired first?
If you're unemployed, earning a (or another) degree is a good investment, even if you need to take out student loans.
(I may be biased: I've been teaching at ACC.)
I hope this helps; gotta run...
- John
Matt and John. Your
Matt and John.
Your comments were so awesome, that I decided to respond so that it would appear "above the fold" on door64.com.
I mean really very excellently awesome. I've a limited vocabulary. These are the best descriptors I could summons.
My question was initially about online universities. Your responses addressed a broader topic that I think we all (the talented unemployed) ought to be thinking about. How do I market myself? What do I emphasize in my resume? What is my attack strategy?
I don't want to re-write what you wrote. Although "what you wrote" was really very excellently awesome and I think more folks ought to read it.
J
Well thanks! It was a good
Well thanks! It was a good set of questions you posted. I'd be interested in hearing from others too.