Problem: Compare and Contrast Essay need thesis on this essay
Introduction
One would imagine that hiring new staff is a straight forward thing. However this is not true. This is a complex process that encompasses no less than 8 extensive steps depending on the staff at the company are looking to hire. The higher in the corporate chain the hire is the more extensive and thorough the process is in order to make a well informed decision.
There are nine basic steps involved in hiring new staff:
- Identifying a vacancy
- Developing a position description
- Developing a recruitment plan S
- Selecting a search committee
- Implementing a recruitment plan;
- Reviewing applicants;
- Conducting interviews;
- Selecting an appropriate candidate
- Finalizing the recruitment (Hr.ucr.edu, 2015).
As complex as the process is, there are strategies one can employ when hiring new staff. Of course the process remains long but with certain strategies in place then the process becomes more efficient. Efficiency is important in a company because when it is lacking the company loses money in terms of man-hours and resources.
With this in mind, of the nine stages mentioned above the most tedious one is the step that involves reviewing applicants. At the end of the day the company is looking for somebody who will be a good fit and produce results. With this in mind the argument that comes up in most cases is, between education and experience, which is more valuable? When choosing a suitable applicant there is need to find system that quickly identifies which of these two issues is of more importance to the employer. This paper seeks to compare these two and prove that experience is far more superior to a degree.
Education
As the old saying goes: 'a mind is a beautiful thing to waste'. No real value can be placed on a good education. Although a monetary value can be placed of the cumulative years one has spent in school a good education keeps paying for itself.
The question then is what is the value of a good education that is not monetary? What can someone learn in school that they are unable to learn while on the job? Apart from the obvious advantage of literacy education has a lot of advantages.
There is no company seeking to hire a person who has attained no education at all. It is the level of education that is important. When it comes to the job market a college degree and anything above it is a valuable asset. Whereas experience may teach you how to turn on a car for instance, a college degree will teach you how a combustion engine works to enable you to turn on the car. In this way a person gets to know the inner workings of a business or of their profession whatever it may be.
There are certain posts that do not allow for just experience, rather, a person is expected to have attained a professional degree. This is true of technical professions where an intricate knowledge of the job at hand is needed. In this case experience solely is not an advantage.
A lot of professional degrees may be theoretical in nature and as such companies may be looking for people with experience. However what are internships other than opportunities for students to learn the job first hand? A lot of employers are looking at internships as experience in their own way (Matthew Voggel et al., 2015). Taking this into consideration then a person who has a degree and who has been on internship has both the degree and the experience needed at the same time.
In the year 2015 alone 20.2 million students are expected to attend universities and colleges in America, of these 7 million will attend 2- year institutions with the rest attending 4-year institutions (Nces.ed.gov, 2015). These numbers alone are demonstrative of how important tertiary education is in America. Not just as a tool of exclusion from the job market as it is often used but also as a way of producing professionals who are more aware of the jobs they take up. A more educated work force means that the country and the various industries in which they find themselves benefit greatly. Gone are the days when young men and women sat at the feet of their masters learning whatever trade there was to learn.
A person who has a college degree has already proven that they are able to grasp concepts so even though they may not have the experience desired they shall be able to learn on the job. On the other hand, a person who has all the experience in the world without an education in that field to back it may find themselves in a fix when there is a deviation from what they are used to.
A higher education level translates to a person being more successful in their careers.
Experience
Pablo Coelho said '' People never earn anything by being told, they have to find out for themselves''. This line sums up the usefulness and importance of experience over education when it comes to hiring new staff.
A job is basically doing the same thing over and over again in a bid to gain monetary compensation for this action. Whereas a degree can teach a person how to do something it cannot really show them. A person who has been on a job for 5 years at the end of the day is more equipped to do the job than a person who has learned how to do the job for the same amount of time. A good example is a child with a toy car; this child may push the car all day for 5 years but that does not mean that does not mean that they should be handed the keys to a real car.
Experience is quite beneficial to the employers as well. It reduces the need for training and constant supervision when the job begins. In this way the company saves money and time which are both valuable commodities.
Experience is extremely important in the case of employees higher up the corporate ladder. This is because the experience they bring to the table can be highly beneficial to the company and help it grow. Experience in the business world equips a professional with the tools and skills they need to make the right business decisions. In this way experience not only saves the company money but also helps it grow.
Just as it is important higher up in the corporate ladder so is it invaluable in the lower rungs. Individuals working in the trenches so to speak need to have experience so that they save the company time and money which would be put to better use in other ways. Especially in terms of supervision. An individual with a degree and 10 years' experience versus an employee fresh out of college will always be the better choice. Research has found that usually the situations created in schools are not true to real world experiences and as such experience s always preferred (www.HREOnline.com, 2014).
Conclusion
Whereas the values of a good education cannot be denied experience will always come on top. No employer wants to go through the hassle of hiring an employee and then spending more money on training and supervision.
It is unfair to individuals straight out of college who are looking to get gainfully employed and are looking to get employed but these are the facts of life. Solutions to this, however are the various entry level jobs that can be used to get the experience needed. A lot of the time the job does not even have to be relevant but rather it is used to illustrate that the individual has been in the job market and knows how to conduct themselves in an office set up.
A lot of people now find themselves in jobs that are not relevant to their degrees, this is thanks to a flooded job market and the need for gainful employment. So then a company has to weigh if an irrelevant degree can stand up to 5 years of relevant experience.
All in all education is undoubtedly important and has many virtues but at the end of the day experience comes on top.
That being said, while hiring new employees it is my opinion and my recommendation that relevant experience be given first priority over a degree. In that way the company saves on money, time and resources which would be put to better use elsewhere. This makes the company more efficient and the hiring process more efficient as well.
References
Bradley, C. (2010). Experience Or Education: Which One Lands You The Job?. Investopedia. Retrieved 23 August 2015, from https://www.investopedia.com/financial-edge/0710/experience-or-education-which-one-lands-you-the-job.aspx
Hr.ucr.edu,. (2015). Human Resources: Recruitment & Selection Hiring Process. Retrieved 23 August 2015, from https://hr.ucr.edu/recruitment/guidelines/process.html
Matthew Voggel, D., Press, A., Tutors, V., Radia, A., Press, A., & Yeboah, K. et al. (2015). Are internships the new temp agency?. USA TODAY College. Retrieved 23 August 2015, from https://college.usatoday.com/2015/07/29/are-internships-new-temp-agency/
Nces.ed.gov,. (2015). Fast Facts. Retrieved 23 August 2015, from https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=372
www.HREOnline.com,. (2014). Education versus Experience. Retrieved 23 August 2015, from https://www.hreonline.com/HRE/view/story.jhtml?id=534357362