I am a huge hypocrite when it comes to my view on education and qualifications. Despite being against the rote learning style of the education system here, i got myself into a course that required an extensive degree of memorizing and i have to admit that i used to study my materials without fully comprehending them.
Likewise i would say that qualifications are not everything. Non-academic qualities are equally important in helping you clinch that job or degree you have been eyeing on. But frankly, if you think about it, qualifications are the first on our priority lists whereas non-academic ones are bonus brownie points that put us a level higher above the rest.
Now, if you are wondering where i am heading to in this entry, i will just bring up this talk i had with one of the HR staff from the company i am currently working at, the other day.
Apparently, they target fresh graduates from the top universities on the global scale (think Harvard, Oxford and Cambridge), in other words intellectuals of high calibre. During the interview, they are given scenario based questions to answer which exemplifies their abilities in crafting a solution to that certain unique situation. I would have to say that i was not surprised or doubtful about the qualifications of the people working in this company because you could tell that they were not only highly motivated about what they do but also very knowledgeable (and funny).
What surprised me is the plain fact that this company is looking for the best and only the best. They don't look at the second best (not even nus, sadly). All the pacifying talk about how the paper chase is not everything because it's merely a certificate, doesn't hold in this case. And i am starting to get this feeling that this company is not the only one that feels so.
If you come to think about it, going to a top school is not about knowing all your academic stuff so well that you can recite from the first to the last line readily. Imagine the other smart (or even smarter) people who are in your course, fighting for the honours. And that sets the ultimate challenge. I think it's more of the challenge and competition that raises us up one notch. The nature of the environment pushes us to be more on the edge and constantly searching for ways to reach the top. That also comes with the spirit to compete with the others too, which i believe is something many students share when they aim for a degree in a elite institution. It's the fighting spirit that makes the qualifications rather than the paper, the paper is just merely a symbol of that fighting spirit one possess in order to achieve a specific goal.
So all in all, the paper chase is still important but it should be seen under a different light. It's not the paper that is precious but what comes with the paper that is the secret to success.
Truthfully i felt a little on the low side because i felt nowhere near this colleagues on the intellectual side but later it transformed into something more encouraging and motivating for me, like a reference point i can start from. I guess it is a good introduction or a short insight into what it means to plan your directions when it comes to a transition between graduating to working. And that there are so many paths branching out from a single point, that may take us to somewhere we would never have considered previously. As long as we are aware that these paths exist and how we can find them.
I am glad i had the time to write this post because it has been something i have been pondering over during my part-time stint at this company. It brought me a completely different view about work and very useful insights on how some of these people planned their futures. This would come into handy as i try to map out my very own path in these few years.
