4 ms·
University can offer two things: 1. Equip students to do a job. 2. Equip students to find a job. These are surprisingly disparate, and I suspect the latter i
by itishappy 2y ago
University can offer two things:
1. Equip students to do a job.
2. Equip students to find a job.
These are surprisingly disparate, and I suspect the latter is a lot more significant than most people realize.
Put differently: I suspect the real challenge is getting hired without explicit qualifications.
- euroderf 2y agoI'm not sure about your #2. Self-promotion is not necessary at university, since the profs receive mandatory submissions. Very different from a job search, putting yourself and your paperwork "out there" in a targeted way.
- itishappy 2y agoI agree about classwork, but I think many universities put a lot of effort into placing their students. Job fairs, resume classes, internships, student research, etc. Personally, I suck at self promotion. The career aids offered by my school made a world of difference.
- pintxo 2y agoReplace „to find“ with „to be accepted“. There is still a lot of (stupid) company rules about hiring only people with an advanced degree.
- glitchc 2y agoActually a university does neither. A university's job is to expose you to higher order thinking, and different ways of thinking. The rest is up to you.
- itishappy 2y agoObviously it comes down to the motivation of the student, but that does not mean university does not impact your employability, particularly in your early 20s. Documented exposure to higher order thinking is an employable skill.
- glitchc 2y agoAgreed, but the OP's claim wasn't whether a university degree is needed for employment, the claim was whether a university trains you for a job. The answer to the latter is a no. Community colleges and trade schools train you for a job. Universities give you an education in a subject area, the rest is up to you.
- itishappy 2y agoMy claim was that university "equips you to find a job" not "trains you for a job." I view that as an important distinction!
- bluSCALE4 2y agoI don't agree at all. You're describing a trade school. A university does not care if you get a job. They only care that they've satisfied your academic interests enough to stay in the profession or continue your education. They offer extra services to help you find a job but it's completely voluntary so I don't equate extra motivation with "equipping".
- itishappy 2y ago> A university does not care if you get a job. Many report out this exact statistic. My alma mater claims 90% job placement for STEM grads. > They offer extra services to help you find a job but it's completely voluntary so I don't equate extra motivation with "equipping". They go out of their way to offer these services, but of course it all boils down to personal motivation. They hand students a tool and show them how it's used. That's my definition of "equipped."
- ghaff 2y agoAnd, at the risk of being totally cynical, they report out this statistic, care if you are successful in a noteworthy way, and make big contributions over time. (And may even care a bit if you are successful in an abstract sense.)
- alfiedotwtf 2y agoThis. It’s weird that people equate Computer Science to Software Engineering. TOTALLY different! In fact, you could argue that you could do compsci bachelors and at the end come out knowing everything theoretically but not know how to actually code well. Compare this to a software engineer undergrad - the whole time you should be coding!