college graduates

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A Sniff is Up to Snuff

I was amused to read neighboring articles about the credentials of college graduates and drug-sniffing dogs in the New York Times this morning (February 20, 2013). Both articles asserted that a credential of completing a degree was adequate to define competence for a task, or, as Justice Kagan declared, “A sniff is up to snuff when it meets that test.”

In the case of the drug-sniffing dog, the dog’s behavior was probable cause for searching a truck, even though the driver had been stopped for an expired license plate.  The truck concealed a cache of ingredients for methamphetamine. Justice Kagan argued that “the dog’s substantial training and certification” established his competence to justify a search. Good dog, Aldo!

The subsequent article noticed a trend toward hiring college graduates for jobs that previously did not require a degree:

Across industries and geographic areas, many other jobs that didn’t used to require a diploma–positions like dental hygienists, cargo agents, clerks and claims adjusters–are increasingly requiring one, according to Burning Glass, a company that analyzes job ads from more than 20,000 online sources, including major job boards and small-to-midsize-employer sites.

This trend has the benefit of putting more college graduates to work and the downside of keeping the less educated out of work. The Times noted that unemployment for high school graduates is 8.1 percent, while 3.7 percent of college graduates are unemployed.

Like Aldo, the drug-sniffing dog, college graduates are recognized as possessing initiative and discipline merely for gaining the paper credential of a bachelor’s degree.  Whether their degree shows aptitude for the legal profession or insurance underwriting is not a primary consideration, just as Aldo was not required to display a track record of drug-sniffing success to provide grounds for a search of a suspect’s car.

The larger issue is whether a paper credential proves your qualifications more than a proven aptitude for a task.  Credentials are probably over-rated in that they are not evidence of success on a particular task. On the other hand, most credentials are evidence of persistence over time, rather than a single performance, which could be a random success.  Drug-sniffing is an acquired skill and so are taking notes, drafting a document or analyzing data to draw conclusions.  Even if you are reasonably competent to perform these tasks, you are probably qualified for entry-level sniffing or greeting customers at the reception desk.

So your college major or relevant internships may not be your best qualification for a job. Your completion of a four-year program in something-or-other could qualify you for entry-level work.

Ultimately trusting the sniff of a dog or hiring an employee is an act of faith. We can’t know for sure we have hired the right dog or college graduate. We have to rely on our instincts along with the credential presented for the job. But that is what employers do: sniff out the best candidate and then bark their approval. Good choice! Good employer!

 

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Squandering a National Resource

The most ambitious venture capitalist in the country has been shut down by the U.S. government. Who is it? The U.S. government. The most socially-beneficial industries, renewable energy,  restoration of the infrastructure (crumbling roads and bridges), career preparation programs from  K-college, have all been strangled by short-sighted cost-cutting measures in Congress.

Why do we applaud the ingenious, risk-taking entrepreneur, except if that entrepreneur is the federal government? Oh yes, the federal government is famous for waste and poor investments, but how many of our heroic entrepreneurs have misappropriated their own funds, in spite of careful forethought? The government is not the only investor to fund boondoggles.

Since the TARP (Troubled Assets Relief Program) of 2008-09 private capital has been holding back, according to those who track investments. The heroic entrepreneur has not risen to the occasion, which is, of course, the privilege of capitalism.

Meanwhile a vast natural resource, college graduates, is going untapped. According to the New York Times ( June 5, 2012) 19.1 % of college graduates are underemployed. This includes the “jobless plus involuntary part-timers and those who have given up an active job search.” Such a neglect of natural resources would not usually be tolerated by advocates of the free market. Employ, baby, employ!

But since the heroic entrepreneur is not ready to venture the funds long-ago sent forth to stimulate the economy, let the government be our venture capitalist. Let the ultimate venture capitalist do what government does best– support socially-beneficial programs.  Who will otherwise repair our infrastructure, invest in renewable energy, and reduce the inhumane class sizes in public schools? Don’t even suggest that the private sector can rejuvenate these enterprises! They have had three years to enter the breech and still energy technology and roads and students are neglected.

But the ultimate neglect is focused on the underemployed college graduates who are flinging their resumes into the wind this June.  This neglected natural resource is a generational tragedy. As the Times  reported:

The damage will be deep and lasting. The lack of good jobs at good pay, combined with high student debt loads, means a slower economy for a long time to come, as underemployed and indebted workers delay starting families and buying homes. . . If young people with college diplomas cannot prosper in America, who can?

To consider the long-term damage done by the neglect of this priceless resource is to recognize the folly of holding back federal funds that could put college graduates to work. We can not let political stalemate squander our great national resource. Unleash the benign venture capitalist! Employ, baby, employ!