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The Rise and Rise of the Cognitive Elite
hessian writes "As technology advances, the rewards to cleverness increase. Computers have hugely increased the availability of information, raising the demand for those sharp enough to make sense of it. In 1991 the average wage for a male American worker with a bachelor's degree was 2.5 times that of a high-school drop-out; now the ratio is 3. Cognitive skills are at a premium, and they are unevenly distributed."
Look, all I want is an honest week's pay for an honest day's work. Is that so much to ask?
Tic-Tac-Toe, Global Thermonuclear War, and relationships all have the same winning move.
...the more I look to hire high school drop-outs and illegal immigrants.
Seriously, don't Kids These Days want to put in a full day's work and pay some dues any more?
You tell'em! These whipper snappers think that they can go to school, party, come out with a degree and automatically get a decent paying job!
Back in my day, we didn't have all this Globalisation! All we had to do is compete with Japan and Germany and they cheated with their efficiency and better quality - I tell you!
Now, we have these trading "partners" like China where we can get the labor done for a fraction of the price! And I tell you me, it's been helping ALL of us! Just look how our standard of living has increased! Why the cheap products available in the China Outlet Store (Walmart) have never been cheaper!
Can't compete with China or India?! Well something wrong with you, kid! In my day, we had to compete with those damn cheap Southerners - you know, that cheap labor in the Carolinas, Georgia and other Southern States. They were paid a whole 1/4 less and we did it! So can you. So what that a Chinese man makes less than a tenth of what you do! You just need to be 10 times more productive!
Job went to India!?! Well, you just need to learn more skills and get them up to date and be 10 times more valuable! All you got to do it work harder - just like the CEOs! Why they busted their ass to have their Father get them into Harvard! An then they had to network constantly at keggers so that they can make the contacts to get those CEO jobs when they get out! It's hard for them to ship jobs overseas so that they can ruin a company and then get their 100 million dollar bonus!
I tell ya! Kids these days!
Now, get back to work and fund my Social Security and Medicare! I have to go to the doctor and then the Cadillac dealer because there's a new model and it'll look good in my Second home in Florida!
I don't have the time to find out
Not having a college degree makes you much less impressive when I have a stack of 200 people who do.
Basically, you are unwilling to do the hard work required to build an effective team. Instead, you take the easy path and assume that an institutional designation of qualified is the same as the correct qualifications for your company. You are part of the problem.
That's a bit harsh. How's he meant to sift through hundreds, potentially thousands of resumes? I remember putting up an ad for a job which got us 3000 CVs in our inbox, most of them irrelevant.
True story: a mate of mine was working at a firm that was looking to expand. Boss comes in, ask the secretary what she's up to.
Secretary: "Sorting through this big pile of CVs!"
Boss takes half the pile, throws it in the trash.
Secretary: "Why'd you do that?"
Boss: "We don't hire unlucky people!"
You'll get dinged for a lot less than not having a qualification.
Heh. Because no one uses Cold Fusion anymore.