[wheaties]

I feel his pain. We just got done interviewing someone who had studied "web page" design. It's sad because whatever he was taught for those 4 years (while getting a 3.96 GPA) amounted to a very limited skill set. His designs were half there but his ability to actually apply or use them to a problem weren't.

This is a recurring theme in many applicants that walk through our doors. There's tons of degrees I've never heard of that make me think "There's a degree in that!?" Most have no applicable skills. Most don't even know what they need to know. Finally, most don't have a way to learn it without a mentor to guide them.

[bgilroy26]

>Finally, most don't have a way to learn it without a mentor to guide them.

When people would work one or two different jobs their entire life, it was a wise business investment to hire good kids with huge gaps in their skills just like the young man you're describing and do their job training.

With people changing jobs every 5 years, it's very difficult to square up the reasoning behind that job training investment.

[sp332]

So he's an excellent learner and has a background in the field, and you're not willing to train him or let him learn on the job? "his ability to actually apply or use them to a problem weren't" probably describes 95% of college graduates.

[wheaties]

A high GPA is not caused by a massive intelligence, it is caused by the ability to study effectively. Intelligence and GPA are often correlated but not always. Don't make that assumption.

There's a ton of people I know who did poorly in their coursework but their design skills and ability are bar none. I don't look at GPA as much of an indicator anymore. It shows potential, only.

[sp332]

Don't make that assumption. I didn't. It shows potential, only. That's what I said.

[zackzackzack]

X% of college graduates shouldn't have gone to college, where X is some non negative number. Depending on your views, that could be as high as 50% and as low as 1%.