OK, you asked, so I'm going to tell you!
Being more educated is always a good thing.
I've been a business owner for over 25 years. Prior to that I was in industrial sales for 12 years & made sales calls on everyone from CEO's, to Electrical engineers, to maintenance managers, in some very large corporations. Most of these folks had advanced degrees.
When your schooling is finished that shingle may open a few doors for you. However, bare in mind that no school can teach you the most valuable tool you could ever posses in your life. That tool is the ability to think & reason on your own. It is something you were born with or you weren't.
In my sales career I called on guys at General Electric who had engineering degrees from MIT University. Before I met them, I felt a little intimidated. After about a year of getting to know them, I began to wonder who tied their shoes for them in the morning.
In my present business I have dealt with many doctors & medical office business managers. If you got to know your own Dr. as well as I have gotten to know many Dr's thru my business & find out what they really know & don't know, it would scare the hades out of you.
My point is this: that shingle on the wall tells me only one thing- Your Mom & Dad sure paid alot for you to party for four years. It really doesn't tell me much beyond that. Walmart now has more college grads working in their local stores than ever before.
A college degree tells me nothing about a persons intelligence level. How can you determine a persons real intelligence level? An IQ test will give some indication. However, a really intelligent person has the ability to think & reason on their own.
Here are some examples:
You go to your DR with the classic symptoms of the flu. He prescribes the right meds & in a few days you’re better. Years later you go to the same Dr with strange symptoms & he can’t figure out your problem so he sends you a specialist. Ah, now you’re going to get some relief. He runs tens of thousands of dollars of tests but has no clue what is wrong. None of your symptoms are anything like what he studied in school, so you continue to suffer.
The engineering dept at the plant is designing a new machine to increase efficiency on the production line. The project has come to halt because the engineers can’t figure out how to overcome this one obstacle. One of the maintenance mechanics stops by to see how the new machine is progressing. The engineers explain the problem & suddenly it dawns on the mechanic how to solve it & he explains it to the engineers. The problem is fixed & the machine is finally a success. (BTW the maintenance mechanic was not even a high school grad) How did the mechanic solve the problem? Was it something he read in a book? No, he just had the ability to think & reason on his own. It’s what I like to call good old fashioned common sense. Unfortunately in todays world there is a severe shortage of it.
Public relations can be an honorable career. People respect honesty & openness. Don’t be a Chemical Ali (Iraq war) or a spin Dr like the spokesman for most politicians. Strive to be a professional in your field. And above all, be knowledgeable in your field & learn to think outside of the box and people will respect you.
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