Getting a job sucks – creating one inspires!
I guess you know enough about me to know that I’ve never worked for anyone else. Call me selfish, but for me, I always had to be in charge of my own destiny. But it’s really not me that’s important – it’s what I can do for others that really matters to me.
Which brings me to this question: Why is formal education designed to empower you to get a job?
We all know that wealth is created – broadly speaking – by entrepreneurs: the guys that ‘create’ jobs. We also know that more and more people looking for jobs is not the way out of this recession.
So my question is: why doesn’t school and university teach us how to create jobs, instead of teaching us how to get jobs?
Surely, if that were to happen, we’d ultimately all be better off!
Please FLING your CONTENTIOUS COMMENTS and your RIBALD REACTIONS at me. Thanks.
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Posted on May 4, 2011, in Be Inspired, Sky Rocket Your Business, Wealth Creation. Bookmark the permalink. 11 Comments.
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Hi all,
I am thinking about what QJ has posted and I agree with the written comments. Education should be more focused on creating your own company, business that could enrich society.
Andres.
This is definitely something to desire. But unfortunately (or fortunately), not all people are entrepreneurs by their nature. Therefore, they just do not need this type of education. Besides, you cannot teach to be an entrepreneur, this is rather a characteristic you are born with.
QJ
All very fine but for most of us we need to get a job for a while before we can create jobs, just to learn how things work.
Most of us will need finance behind us as well. When I started my own business it was as one of seven franchises in a new network. I succeeded where all the rest failed, partly through having enough start-up cash to take no income from the business for two years. Fortunately my redundancy pay-out, (I was a casualty of the 90’s recesion), could stretch to it.
In this recession, I doubt if redundancy payouts are half as generous and many young entrepreneurs will still have a student loan hanging round their necks. How refreshing if the Government were to offer soft busines start up loans to potential graduates as an alternative student loans?
QJ,
The Americans say you have 2 careers. The first 20 years is learning your trade by being taught. Your second career kicks in about 40, when you take this knowledge and your life experiences and turn it into money for yourself.
What the education system does not embrace is creative thinking. A good teacher is a person who knows their subject and then asks the audience questions. This could be used to evaluate whether the audience has grasped the subject and in exchange created discussion. From discussion comes new thinking.
Yes, plenty of people appear to be born lazy and just want to be given everything but if you have energy and ambition you can learn how to run a business. Need proof?
I completed a business management course in my late 30s and was able to retire 14yrs later.
I, personally, do not believe that education prepares any young person for the real world of work! Most young people seem to know their rights but do not want to take responsibility for anything. With attitudes like that it is not really surprising that we do not have more young entrepenours.
For myself I feel that more schools and colleges should reach out to local businesses for “career advice” and/or “business lectures”. We are the ones who can inspire youngsters to become masters of their own destinies!
I think it’s because the school curriculum is ultimately designed to teach us to be university academics. It is they that determine the content of a lot of the syllabus that it taught. What do you need to be a university lecturer? OK, well that’s what defines a university course! What do you need to study the course at university? That’s what defines the A levels! GCSE is watered down A levels etc. This ensures that the 98% of us who don’t manage to be university lecturers are failures, and that the curriculum is stunning in its irrelevancy.
Schools are not measured by how many of its pupils make themselves into entrepreneurs, but on GCSE and A level results.
I totally agree!
Thanks for the comments everybody. This is becoming a well respected Blog for quality information around entrepreneurship, creativity, sales, marketing and advanced client relationships.
This would make a fascinating subject for a networking/debate session. Certainly something people will feel passionate about. QJ: one for you to organise and be the ringmaster on.
Interesting perspective from QJ, as ever.
Yes, and, two critical points from my point of view:
1. you need work/life experience to equip you to create meaningful jobs – QJ learned his trade on the stage – he could not do what he now does without first ‘learning his trade’
2. school needs to equip young people learn from their work/life experience – the big missing I believe is interpersonal and communication skills – young people need to develop their ’emotional intelligence’.
John.