Interesting, but poorly titled, article in Salon about credential inflation.
I have a bachelor degree in engineering but no post-graduate (or "graduate" if you are American) qualification.
This, together with over 10 years of experience, was sufficient for me to become a chartered engineer (the British equivalent of being a licensed engineer) as well as a CITP and a MBCS.
Incidentally I only applied to become an MBCS but ended up with the other two as well. And two days later I ended up in intensive care (unrelated).
Nowadays I would need a master's degree as a minimum.
What has changed?
I suspect that partly this is due to the quality of degrees plummeting. Certainly this is the case in the UK. And universities are now just businesses turning out as many graduates as they can.
Also, there are more people taking degrees. Not just those in the Western world but also in the BRICS. The competition has increased.
And actually in the West we can't compete with the high number of top graduates coming out of India and China. Even if we improved the quality of the degrees we just don't have the population of graduates needed.
Many people are now going for MBAs and there are also more people going for doctorates - note the plural: in Germany if you have two doctorates you may require people to call you "Herr Doktor Doktor Mustermann".
There must be a better way to differentiate yourself.
Not sure what it is though.
A diary based on my latest attempts to get a job; this time in Munich. I'm an engineering graduate (and chartered engineer) with more than 10 years' experience in IT. Over five of these years have been spent in team leading and project management roles both in the UK and abroad.
Friday, November 29, 2013
Fitting in
So, my boss terminated a senior manager.
(Not me).
The guy just didn't fit in.
I didn't have much to do with him but I found him rude and arrogant.
Others felt the same. At least one of his reports was thinking of resigning because of him.
Other senior members of the department (who didn't report to him) also thought he was a joke.
German companies tend to practise Probezeit ("Test time"): a probationary period of usually six months.
During this time either the employee or the employer can terminate the contract with usually just two weeks' notice and with no need to give a reason. After the Probezeit it is very difficult to sack someone and the notice period can run to three months, for any level of employee, which in turn makes it hard to leave a company for another job.
Now this is better than other countries. For example, the legal minimum in the UK is one week's notice for the first year, although companies often offer better conditions in their contracts so you aren't anxious for a whole year.
And in the USA I understand it is often the case that you are permanently on a week's notice and it is, in general, much easier to sack someone.
Still, in Germany the Probezeit period is quite a tense time and people normally keep their heads down. Which is not that good for companies either, especially for hiring recruits who should be in leadership roles.
I didn't keep my head down that much in this company but fortunately I fitted in. I still found the first six months quite tense - not least as the company is classed as a hyper growth business which meant I had rather a lot going on and a lot to quickly assimilate.
This guy didn't keep his head down either and was very vocal and liked to argue. I keep thinking that his MBA (actually an Exec MBA) proved the alternative meaning: "Mediocre But Arrogant".
It's sad when someone loses their job but sometimes also a relief.
I hope he finds somewhere more suitable for him.
(Not me).
The guy just didn't fit in.
I didn't have much to do with him but I found him rude and arrogant.
Others felt the same. At least one of his reports was thinking of resigning because of him.
Other senior members of the department (who didn't report to him) also thought he was a joke.
German companies tend to practise Probezeit ("Test time"): a probationary period of usually six months.
During this time either the employee or the employer can terminate the contract with usually just two weeks' notice and with no need to give a reason. After the Probezeit it is very difficult to sack someone and the notice period can run to three months, for any level of employee, which in turn makes it hard to leave a company for another job.
Now this is better than other countries. For example, the legal minimum in the UK is one week's notice for the first year, although companies often offer better conditions in their contracts so you aren't anxious for a whole year.
And in the USA I understand it is often the case that you are permanently on a week's notice and it is, in general, much easier to sack someone.
Still, in Germany the Probezeit period is quite a tense time and people normally keep their heads down. Which is not that good for companies either, especially for hiring recruits who should be in leadership roles.
I didn't keep my head down that much in this company but fortunately I fitted in. I still found the first six months quite tense - not least as the company is classed as a hyper growth business which meant I had rather a lot going on and a lot to quickly assimilate.
This guy didn't keep his head down either and was very vocal and liked to argue. I keep thinking that his MBA (actually an Exec MBA) proved the alternative meaning: "Mediocre But Arrogant".
It's sad when someone loses their job but sometimes also a relief.
I hope he finds somewhere more suitable for him.
Monday, November 04, 2013
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