Simon,
I think the problem is bigger than you state. It isn't that experience
isn't important. It is that the experience that is needed is not like
what we used to refer to as experience. Now it has to do with the ability
to work with people, the ability to initiative, to learn on one's own and
to demonstrate that you have practiced skills.
The problem is that those types of experiences are not easily quantifiable
on a traditional resume. How to do you measure attitude on a piece of
paper. And I think it has to do with how we educate people. From
pre-school through higher ed, we have to re-think the issue of learning
and experience.
I have a high school principal friend who has told me that he has never
had a business ask for a high school transcript. So what are businesses
looking for in young people they hire? Does it have any direct relevance
to what happens in the class room.
I'm not a pessimist, but I think that we are set for a major re-definition
of the nature of education. And your comments Simon point to that need.
If tradition experience doesn't work, and traditional education measures
don't, then what does?
--Ed Brenegar Leadership Resources brenegar@circle.net
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>