Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips

No journalism degree? Not needed to blog and break news.

Not a pro photographer? Not needed to publish world-wide on Flickr.

No computer science degree? Not needed to learn programming and work.

I believe these things to be true. I believe that you don’t have to have a credential from an organization that has been certified by some other organization to do something. And who certified the certifying organization to begin with?

Things have changed. I believe that “going to college” is a good activity. You could read at the library and online and learn just about everything you would learn by going to college. Most people I know wouldn’t have learned that way. “Being in school” forced them to read and learn, and they fought against most of that learning. I always wondered why they were paying money and hoping the professors didn’t teach them anything.

Now what happens? This situation is new to us. What worked for a hundred years may not work any longer.

People at companies who hire people are goign to have to work. They will have to know what they are asking potential employees and actually understand the answers. No longer will, “he has a degree from a good school and a high GPA,”  suffice. This will be a difficult transition. It could also be quite entertaining.