#PaperCeiling #WorkQualifications #technology #CollegeDegrees
The TV ads call it the “Paper Ceiling.”
In a nutshell, it’s the elimination of some people for certain jobs because they don’t have the proper “paper” qualifications. These people may be perfectly capable of doing the jobs because of experience or other training. They just may not have the degree that the specifications require.
Now Georgia, and other states, are tackling this problem by trying to ease some of the paper qualifications for certain state jobs.
Maureen Downey, education columnist for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, discussed the Georgia situation in her February 14, 2023, column.
As she writes, Microsoft founder Bill Gates never finished his degree at Harvard because his ideas were so time-sensitive that he had to act on them immediately.
With technology, timing is everything. If you wait too long to develop it, it could become obsolete before it’s even created. Or, a competitor will beat you to it.
But, as Downey writes, Gates is a big believer, and funder, of higher education.
The so-called paper ceiling has prompted a generation of leaders and influencers to place a high value on getting a college degree. In fact, statistics show generally that people with college degrees do better economically than those who don’t have one. We also hear stories of people who spent a lot on an education, only to get a job that didn’t require it.
Of course, education of any sort is never a waste.
Where the rub comes is ruling people out for certain jobs they are capable of doing, just because they lack the college degree.
The paper ceiling is a convenience for hiring managers. It allows them to sift and sort through piles of applications more easily by ruling out people quickly.
But college is not for everyone, particularly those who cannot immediately afford it. People have gone into extreme debt to get a degree. But, once they have it, they may, or may not, get the job they want. And, even if they do, they’ll likely spend a valuable chunk of adult life paying off that debt.
There are also many trades and other good-paying jobs that may require technical training, but not necessarily college. These jobs often are in high demand, and workers with those skills can be hard to find.
Some believe too many trade schools have been turned into computer schools, and there are too few venues to train electricians, plumbers and other skilled workers.
Though computers have infiltrated most modern machinery and appliances, there is still a great need for raw, old-school skills.
In short, if you are a hiring manager, don’t underestimate the skills of someone who may not be as well papered as you might like.
If you are a prospective employee, don’t hesitate to apply for a job you believe you can do even if you don’t have the paper credentials. You may have to sell yourself better in your application to overcome the lack of credentials.
Closed minds on either side may blur good potential.
Just as glass ceilings are meant to be shattered, paper ceilings are meant to be shredded.
Peter
Tag Archives: Bill Gates
OVERSTATING PROBLEMS
#OverstatingProblems #optimists #pessimists #poverty
“Can’t overstating problem energize us in terms of solving them?”
So asked Philip Galanes, during lunch with Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and Steven Pinker, professor of psychology at Harvard University and author of 10 books.
Galanes wrote about his conversation with the two for The New York Times. The article was also published in the Feb. 11, 2018, edition of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
“There’s a paradox in letting yourself be very, very upset about what remains to be done (for the common good),” Gates said. “There are still parts of the world that are still like 40 years ago. But to read (Pinker’s) book and think it says, ‘don’t worry, be happy’ (borrowing from a Bobby McFerrin title), is to misread it. Because seeing the world through the eyes of that poor kid ideally wants to make you give some money, even though there are many fewer such kids than 50 years ago,” Gates said.
“Extreme global poverty has been reduced from 90 percent 200 years ago to 10 percent today. That’s great! Or you can say: more than 700 million people in the world live in extreme poverty today. They’re the same fact, and you have to be able to describe them to yourself in both ways,” Pinker says.
This snippet of a long conversation illustrates that there is more than one way to look at the world.
Some of the information we hear would lead us to believe that the world is going to hell in a hand basket, and perhaps we need to straighten it out. Or, others would have us believe that past efforts to solve problems have had a great effect, and that, though the problems are not completely solved, the situation is much better than it was years ago.
It’s perhaps the classic difference between an optimist and a pessimist. The old adage talks about viewing a glass of water as either half empty or half full. But it is more than that.
It starts with how you feel about yourself each time you wake up in the morning, or later in the day if you work at night. Is every day you do so a good day? Or, is it just another day?
Do you long for weekends, and dread the weekdays? Do you feel as if you are on a treadmill during the week, and finally get a break from it on weekends (or whatever your regular days off might be)?
Experts say you can change how you think. You can take stock of what’s good in your life, and be thankful, rather than think of what’s not so good and be resentful, or sad, or feel doomed.
You can think about what you really want in life, or you can presume you’ll never get what you really want, and settle for something OK, or tolerable.
You can see retirement as a goal to allow you to do what you want, or you can do what you want sooner, rather than later. Or, worse yet, you can see yourself as working at a job you hate until you die.
So, are you thankful, or dreadful (meaning full of dread, as opposed to an awful person)? Give yourself a break. Always – and you can pull this off – look at yourself as blessed and grateful.
If you need a vehicle to help you turn your life around, there are several such vehicles out there for those willing to look for them. To check out one of the best, message me.
Meanwhile, if you are on that treadmill of dread, stay on it only as long as you need to. Start looking for things that will help get you off it.
Your thoughts have the power to improve your life. Be an optimist, for there are very few, if any, successful pessimists. Take stock of the good in your life and build on it. It could start you on a path that will allow you to achieve your dreams sooner rather than later.
Peter
WHICH SIDE OF THE QUADRANT DO YOU WANT TO BE ON?
#CashFlowQuadrant #RobertKiyosaki #employee #BusinessOwner #investor
The Cash Flow Quadrant.
The concept was created by Robert Kiyosaki, author of the “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” series, among other works.
Basically, Kiyosaki divides all of us, financially, of course, into one of four squares, forming a quadrant. In the two squares on the left side are the people who work hard for their money. In the two squares on the right side are the people who have systems or money that work hard for them.
Let’s look at the left side. The top quadrant is labeled E, for employee. Here are the people who have jobs in which they work hard to make someone else rich. These folks basically trade their time and effort for dollars. The amount of money they get depends on what someone else is willing to give them.
The second quadrant on the left side is labeled S, for solo practitioner, or self-employed, depending on how you look at it. These folks, too, trade their time and effort for dollars, but the amount they get paid can depend on how much time they want to put in, and how much in demand their service is. Though they pay themselves, largely, few of these folks get rich. Hopefully, they are able to set aside some money for insurance, retirement etc.
Moving to the right side of the quadrant, the top square is labeled B, for business owner. Kiyosaki said his “rich dad” called this quadrant B for big business or Bill Gates. Kiyosaki defines a big business as having 500 employees or more.
“Unlike the S, they don’t want to run the company by themselves. They want smart people to run the company for them,” Kiyosaki writes.
The B folks also could have large networks that can help them put gobs of money in their pockets. They may not own a large, bricks-and-mortar business, but they have big organizations that they’ve cultivated, and not only get rich themselves, but do so by helping others get rich in the process.
The fourth square in the quadrant is I, for investor. These are the folks who’ve accumulated lots of money, and are watching it grow exponentially through investing. Think of the “Sharks” on the TV show, “Shark Tank,” as a good example of people who are I’s.
Obviously, the object of the economy, as we in the U.S. know it, is to move more people from the left side of the quadrant to the right side.
Easier said than done, you might ask? Obviously, one can’t move freely from the left to the right. Certain things have to happen – or, better yet, YOU have to make certain things happen.
First and foremost, a person must WANT to move from the left to the right. That desire must be powerful enough to make him do whatever it takes to move – and take however long it takes to move.
Wealth accumulation requires discipline and sacrifice. You might have to give up some of life’s pleasures to get where you want to be. Take your lumps now, and take your pleasure later, as it were. It also, often, requires patience. Sure, there are some folks who inherit a lot of money and become instant investors. Big lottery winners can become instant investors, but often don’t have the discipline to do so. Therefore, many just spend their winnings until they run out of money.
You can also spend years toiling on the left side of the quadrant, putting away a little at a time and never touching it. That requires a good deal of patience.
So, how do you get from the left to the right side of the quadrant in your current situation? You may not need 500 employees, but if you have a big enough desire to move, there are many vehicles that can potentially get you there. To learn about one of the best, message me.
Meanwhile, if you are among those who criticize those who have more money than you, and you continue to toil on the left side of the quadrant, you may need an attitude adjustment, f you want to go to the other side. You may also need a big-enough desire to join, rather than beat, those you now criticize.
A move to the right side of the quadrant could be possible if you BELIEVE you can get there.
Peter