Dad's Advice

"Bachelors degree from a top tiered college required" - Say what?

So it's come to this: The competition between quantifiable smarts to qualitative intelligence.

Those of us in "soft fields" know what I'm talking about. We've heard the snickers in response to our "English" admissions. And we've rolled our eyes over the question "What are you going to do with your major?" (I'll admit, it was because I literally had no idea when I first graduated, and it was a stalling technique). And now, not only are we judged by our degree, but by where we got it.

It's not a new development - just more pronounced. The Silicon Valley culture of start-ups has made it so. The influx of programmers, developers, and mathematicians have made it increasingly difficult for us "softies" to break into the world dominated by metrics.

I've experienced this scenario to some degree. I'm a marketer (though I shudder to admit it) with a Liberal Arts background. But my job title is that of an Analyst. How I got from reading Frankenstein (for the third time) to Excel sheets and endless rows of numbers and data, is a different story.

But here's the shocking statement people:

 "It's not F=MA that eats your shorts".

Let me explain.

Your CEO was not a straight A student. In fact, most likely, your CEO was the one sitting in the back of the room making connections and networking, with his soft skills.

And I'm here to tell you that these experiences, the networking, the people connections, the charismatic qualities that we develop (or not) are what make us most useful in a professional world.

It's no wonder we have a complex surrounding our value - if we are only as good as our pedigree.

But here's a message to my fellow Liberal Artists and "normal tier" college graduates - it's experience that defines you. And that happens everywhere- not just at prestigious institutions.