Well said, Chris Dill.

Those of us who have advanced degrees would agree, I think, that our
undergraduate work did relatively little to prepare us for employment, but
that it DID give us enough exposure to different areas of endeavour as to
permit us to discover what we did, or did not want to spend our lives doing.
In my own case, it reinforced a lifelong preoccupation with certain aspects
of history but I only learned the tools of the several trades I have
practiced since then, through studies at the graduate level and (much more
so!) in the almost thirty years study in the School of Hard Knocks since I
completed my graduate work.

I also agree with Chris that education is one of the basic yardsticks by
which we judge candidates for jobs, as is experience, and I note that he
does NOT suggest that one is necessarily more essential tan the other.

The problem, for most people with brand-new undergraduate degrees, lies in
acquiring both education AND experience and I believe that our current
economic climate is making it bloody difficult for people to acquire either.

Harry Needham
Special Advisor - Programme Development
Canadian War Museum
330 Sussex Drive,
Ottawa, Canada
K1A 0M8
Voice: (819) 776-8612  Fax (819) 776-8623
Email: [log in to unmask]

> ----------
> From:         Dill, Christopher L.[SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
> Reply To:     Museum discussion list
> Sent:         Friday, November 13, 1998 9:57 AM
> To:   [log in to unmask]
> Subject:      Re: Advanced degree required
>
>      Deb asked:  "Why are advanced degrees required?"
>
>      The short answer is that you don't learn enough, either
>      in general or specific, with a BA degree, and the
>      museum advertising a job wants some proof that a
>      college has trained you (in what ever field) and
>      certifies that you have learned something.
>
>      In terms of management, we "require" degrees because we
>      get 20-50 applicants for each job we advertise, and it
>      is quite convenient to use the degree standard (in
>      combination with experience) to identify a top group of
>      applicants to interview.
>
>      Yes, I know we may miss out on someone who is
>      absolutely exquisite, but who doesn't have a degree.
>
>      Chris Dill
>
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