I have a similar but different vantage point. I didn't go to University and only took a handful of personal interest college courses completely unrelated to my

I have a similar but different vantage point. I didn't go to University and only took a handful of personal interest college courses completely unrelated to my vocation. However, over the years I have taught courses (most of which were written by me) at a number of universities and colleges. These students were smart and driven to get where I was in my career, so I was continually reminded of the irony. On the same side of that coin, I also taught technical subjects for a certification I never bothered to acquire. The students often asked why, and my tactful response is that it would have been a conflict of interest, and not at all that I couldn't see the value outside of checking off a box for the headhunters... Too many highly certified people with zero experience and near-zero skill, I'm afraid to say. Certs simply do not replace a good technical interview. I also employed a PhD for 3 months. He was brilliant but so stubborn and opinionated I had a hard time justifying the expense of keeping him on board. He could barely function and kept trying to steer the company. Thankfully he eventually screwed up bad enough I had a nicer sounding reason to turf him.