Leon wrote:


I never ever understood, even during the 90's, how any one graduating
from college thought that they earned the right to a good paying job
just because they had a college diploma.

It has always made some sense to me. The guy that went to college usually
learned and came out with a required level of knowledge - albeit sans
experience, on day one. He was qualified to start at a higher level of
performance than those without that degree. That is and always has been
worth something. It should be. Not to say that the same level of knowledge
could not have been developed via the school of hard knocks, but that route
takes a lot more years to navigate. If a person can come out of school with
a level of knowledge and capability that is higher than that of a person
just starting out - they are worth more money. Pretty simple.

I have seen though, more of what I think you are getting at. Over the past
10 years or so (or so...), I have seen more kids coming out of colleges
thinking they are more than what they really are, because they hold that
degree. In a word - they don't know what they don't know. What always
****ed me off was not so much that aspect of it, as it was the aspect that
reflects the general social environment today. It seems that the idea of
still having to earn your strips (even if you start at a good job and a good
rate of pay) has gone away. They feel today like they can do things more
the way they want to, than the way that the company dictates. Soft and
fuzzy work standards, and that kind of thing. They worry more about how
they "feel", than what they have to produce for the task ahead of them.
They think their opinions should count long before they've proven themselves
to even have a credible opinion. They've been give such a soft and cushy
life with crap like no-child-left-behind (which creates false senses of
worth and accomplishment), philosophies that decry any critique of what they
do (gee - you might actually really only be a marginal performer...), and
all that crap, that they overrate themselves today. Was a time when you
knew you were junior and you knew you had to work to advance yourself. Too
many handouts today.

These guys do have knowledge and they did learn very valuable things in
college. They just don't realize that what they learned represents a
beginning and not an end.


--

-Mike-