I get it - our society dictates that education is must (well, except in Alberta where you can make millions using a hot stick to make metal stay together), but as I have been out of university for a few years now, I am starting to get really pissed off at how much of that time (and tuition) was wasted on work that is now irrelevant to how I do my business.
Prime example: my media relations courses. in 2011? Almost entirely inaccurate. Being able to draft a perfectly crafted by-the-book press release is no longer a marketable skill when press releases now need to be SEO and Twitter friendly. When now, they need to include links, videos and images to get picked up. Today, no one notices if I put -30- at the bottom, as long as I include a link to the company website or a photo of the product that was developed. I learned none of these things in school, yet now, could not pay my mortgage without these adopted skills.
I also understand that that is ONE example, and I am sure that many people who work 9-5 drone jobs still utilize a lot of book-based skills that they honed in school. However, why are our schools encouraging this behaviors? Why aren't post-secondary institutions more focused on promoting entrepreneurship and giving us the skills the start and manage our own businesses, rather than teaching us to help someone else make money?
Granted, I do utilize one text book I got in school, but today, I could google it and find the same information, saving myself the $150 textbook, the tuition and wasted class time.
Any of you who attended university with me know I have always felt this way. I rarely attended classes, only when mandatory, read the texts and notes and still maintained a 3.85 GPA. No, not everyone can learn in that way, but there needs to be an education revolution away from the norm. Our society is evolving so quickly, information in available everywhere and universities will become irrelevant in some disciples. SOME! Med students - please don't follow the Megan method and just read the text.
But I digress, my point here is that now that I have created my own company and am doing fairly well at it, I am constantly striving to break away from everything I was force-fed in school, because in the communications and PR game, standard is not good enough. Clients need fresh, creative and unique in order to stand above their competition. Therefore, I need to go against everything I was taught, break molds and be fresh in my own work in order to help my clients reach their savvy consumers.
Consumers themselves are demanding fresh tactics, normal and standard don't interest them anymore, because they are aware of all their options in our information age.
Am I saying forget everything you learned in school? Am I saying don't bother with school at all? Hell no. I AM saying, be savvy about what you apply to your career, to your clients and to your portfolio, as the standardized press release I was taught to write a mere 3 years ago is no longer relevant. I AM saying, be creative - take what you learn and modernize it, turn it into something worthy of a 2011client and consumer. But also remember that a lot of the richest people in the world got there without education. Be critical of your education, select relevant courses, not mandatory ones. And above all - do it your way. Our society now applauds those who step outside and crush the boxes they came from.
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