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Silicon Valley is starting to realize that the huge talent pool of nontraditional candidates may be the answer to its pipeline problem.
The technology industry is now trying to figure out a way to attack its cultural and demographic homogeneity issues. One simple initiative is to begin to recruit talent from people outside of its preferred networks. One way is to extend their recruiting efforts to people who don't have four-year degrees.
IBM's head of talent organization, Sam Ladah, calls this sort of initiative a focus on "new-collar jobs." The idea, he says, is to look toward different applicant pools to find new talent. "We consider them based on their skills," he says, and don't take into account their educational background. This includes applicants who didn't get a four-year degree but have proven their technical knowledge in other ways. Some have technical certifications, and others have enrolled in other skills programs. "We've been very successful in hiring from [coding] bootcamps," says Ladah.
For IT roles, educational pedigree often doesn't make a huge difference. For instance, many gaming aficionados have built their own systems. With this technical grounding, they would likely have the aptitude to be a server technician or a network technician. These roles require specific technical knowledge, not necessarily an academic curriculum vitae. "We're looking for people who have a real passion for technology," says Ladah. He goes on to say that currently about 10% to 15% of IBM's new hires don't have traditional four-year degrees.
https://www.fastcompany.com/3069259/why-more-tech-companies-are-hiring-people-without-degrees
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(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 10 2017, @07:55PM (1 child)
First point: kinda agree, not totally.
Second point: nope!!! proving competency would be good for certifications or something and I believe all education should be free, putting people into debt so that they can learn how to become productive members of society is bass-ackward. Using broad standardized testing is the source of most of our education problems, around 2000 the bullshit requirements started rolling in and they have demolished education more than any previous program except possibly for Reagan. Taking away the ability for teachers to work with and evaluate their students is a bad thing. Education should be about learning, not real-world outcomes that earn profit for some business. Vocational programs already handle these details, they just aren't as widely respected, available, or accessible ($$$$).
I'm all for real-world integrations where applicable, but it is simply unrealistic unless the education is all online so that people can move closer to a participating business. Also, such integration wouldn't get enough business participation unless it earned them money or at least cost no extra for them and I don't like the idea of government subsidizing interns for businesses.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 10 2017, @08:24PM
That's the point. You are still engaging in the old, increasingly dubious way of thinking.
As OP says: "It's being discovered that it just doesn't make sense to separate education from work."
I mean, your "Education should be about learning" is basically a tautology.