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Compare and Contrast Essay
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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:
1. Identifying a vacancy
2. Developing a position description
3. Developing a recruitment plan S
4. Selecting a search committee
5. Implementing a recruitment plan;
6. Reviewing applicants;
7. Conducting interviews;
8. Selecting an appropriate candidate
9. 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
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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
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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 4year 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.
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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).
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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.
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References
Bradley, C. (2010). Experience Or Education: Which One Lands You The Job?. Investopedia.
Retrieved 23 August 2015, from http://www.investopedia.com/financialedge/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 http://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
http://college.usatoday.com/2015/07/29/are-internships-new-temp-agency/
Nces.ed.gov,. (2015). Fast Facts. Retrieved 23 August 2015, from
http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=372
www.HREOnline.com,. (2014). Education versus Experience. Retrieved 23 August 2015, from
http://www.hreonline.com/HRE/view/story.jhtml?id=534357362
