oh dear lord, i did it again

This isn't happening. We had a late night for some important loan app thingy deadline that's tomorrow, and I was in such a hurry to leave (actually, the person I was walking out with was in an even bigger hurry, but we both wanted to leave) that I walked out with a pen in my pocket. Someone might have said something except, well, accounting folks are the only people left at 8 at night and you think they notice something like that?

(R) That's all this post was going to be until I just heard an interview with some Harvard professor (blegh). Anyway, he made the preposterous claim that businesses are hurting because our school systems are horrible. Yes, I will be the first one to claim there are problems and that our schools deserve more resources. But his position was that our educational system is somehow shortchanging businesses who need qualified employees, particularly "top level", whatever he meant by that.

WTF????

The situation is exactly the opposite. Good people who have worked hard in school and want to be productive members of society are having incredibly hard times finding a job. It's the job market, not the school system, that really sucks right now. About the only way people are landing jobs outside of teaching, nursing, some engineering specialties (it always pays well to be a Chem E or an EE), and being a mercenary (sorry, working for a "private security company") are those who have a specific connection through a family member or professor. Networks have always been the best way of finding a job, but now more than ever merit is an incredibly small part of the equation for landing a job. Only in some fantasy world is the problem the opposite; that there are these magic jobs out there that are just waiting for smart, well-educated people to apply. Of course, if I were a tenured prof at Hahvahrd, I'd probably think the job market was pretty sweet, too.

In fact, I'll put my money where my mouth is. I work at an organization that does really important work, and I am getting good experience across a broad range of business disciplines (something I very much enjoy about non-profit work). I don't (usually) like to brag, but I happen to be one of those "top level" people. I'm very smart, highly educated, ambitious, and I have excellent communication skills. I also happen to have a few suits I don't look too shabby in. (Or if you prefer, in which I don't look too shabby.) You show me a company that has one of these great jobs open because they just can't fill it, and I'll resign my position and accept the offer from one of these suffering businesses.