An article in The Wall Street Journal January 21, 2012, edition on page C3 by Jeffrey R. Young, “Merit Badges for the Job Market” got my attention.
Young suggests that college diplomas could be replaced by merit badges as evidence of the competence of a job seeker. Mr. Young compares such experience badges with merit badges earned by Boy Scouts. The article states that many educational reformers feel that the standard certification system no longer works on today’s fast changing market.
Such merit badges could be earned via the Internet. Peter Thiel, a founder of PayPal, offered selected students $ 100,000 not to go to college. He challenged recipient to start a company instead of sitting in a lecture hall.
“Today, the Internet provides universal access to books and lectures and a fluid social network to that lets any 19-year-old with an idea to find rich investors or flash a resume to potential employers.”
The article reminds me of Michael Dell and Bill Gates who have done fairly well being college drop-outs; however, it is interesting to note that Young who wrote the article has a law degree from Stanford University.
I am thinking that your resume should include all badges that you have earned. Further, I do not think that having a college degree is a disadvantage to finding employment. Merit badges may be a great advantage and perhaps an organization’s employment decision tie-breaker.
Please share your opinion about badges with readers of this blog.
Thanks.
Glyn
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