Is University a waste of time?
Michael W.
Recruitment Industry Leader ? | Owner SOS Recruitment & Dental Personnel? | Accounting, Business Support, Dental, Executive, IT, Operations, Sales & Marketing, Tourism ? | Proactive Networker (23k+ Connections) ?
I just read (and watched) a LinkedIn post on the above topic and felt compelled to pen a brief article of my own - so here goes.
As an ex. corporate exec and, more recently, business owner/professional recruiter of 14 years, I would 100% say it's 'horses for courses'! If you're academic, committed to tertiary study and a career that will likely utilise that tertiary education, go for it as long as your high school results indicate the likelihood of success.
However, if any of the above conditions are not met, you're more suited/interested in a trade, you're just not sure what you want to do OR you plan on studying one of the hundreds of BS courses universities only run to make money and that will be effectively useless in your work life ...... DON'T. Go get a job, get some work experience, make some money, gain some life skills and work out what you want in life. You can almost always return to study at a later point if that's important to you.
I'm not certain how we got the the point where many teens feel that not going to university is some sort of admission of failure or that they're not smart. That's absurd and we as a society should be appalled this is the case as it is an incredible waste of time, money, effort, productivity, GDP and life - if we send our kids off to uni without an end game in mind!
University must be fit for purpose and studies should generally be targeted toward specific goals/careers and we must understand, they're not for everyone. Yes doctors, dentists, scientists, accountants, lawyers etc. need to go to uni - and it's very helpful, if not almost mandatory, if you want a future (senior) career in management/business, but otherwise, as an employer and recruiter, hard earned skills, experience, a positive attitude, a strong work ethic, come common sense, loyalty and reliability almost always win out above 3 or 4 years of additional (often wasted) academia.
I help companies that have fallen behind in a saturated marketplace increase their profit and regain their market leadership.
8 个月Nice Michael!
People and System Management
4 年Totally agree. I never went to university but like to say I have studied at the University of life. I have worked alongside some who have been to university and whilst they may have technical skills in particular areas, their practical knowledge is lacking. It is horses for courses but don’t overlook candidates who have vast experiences over lesser experiences but papers. I don’t believe one is better than the other in many situations.
Senior Manager & People Leader with experience across multiple business sectors and industries. Licensed Private Investigator (Commercial Fraud and Risk investigation background)
5 年So, the learnings from the University of Life is gaining on those traditional learning halls of higher, institutional universities as a means of learning - it’s relevant and I believe relevance has value ... teaching life skills to new generations can be done through the journey of a first job ...... how many business owners in the SME sector have a degree vs those that started st the bottom of the ladder and progressed with passion, diligence, perseverance, tenacity and attitude .... too many younger folk are wanting a hand out and not a hand up .... well done Michael.
Director Scissors | Recruitment | Scissors cuts costs and time. Automate and see faster fill rates with improved candidate engagement. Grow faster with less costs.
5 年Couldn’t agree more! That said, my uni degree has given me skills to think and dig deeper beyond learning a trade and rote skills. Not for everyone and definitely a high price to pay (in time) when it can be deferred to when one is slightly more mature ??
retired
5 年60 years ago, tertiary education was the almost exclusive prerogative of the wealthy and upper middle class of 'westernised' societies, whose children could afford not to work at the earliest opportunity. Reducing or removing this barrier has been a major aim of most governments since then. I confess I preferred the times when entry qualification standards were higher, grants were available for capable candidates (the rich and stupid could of course still pay), and governments did not act like loan sharks with their interest-free loans burdening the naive for decades to come. I guess some governments saw it as a neat way to keep down the numbers of the unemployed. I agree with Michael's 'horses for courses' approach, but with the caveats that i) tertiary education is not, and should not, be designed purely to 'get a job'. Broadly-based accessible education and personal development are fundamental for societal growth and maturity; ii) acquiring life skills is not restricted to the environment of working in a job; arguably, the contrary applies for those living at home after leaving school. For many young people, tertiary education places them in an independent, though structured, adult environment, often away from home, for the first time in their lives. I suspect many graduates would acknowledge that this was a formative part of their lives, regardless of their academic success or its applicability to later careers.??