Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Bad Career Advice

I recall hearing years ago that fluency in a foreign language is required for a Ph.D.

That's not true - many Ph.D. programs require the ability to read in a foreign language but not complete fluency - and yet the full fluency requirement was solemnly repeated as a universal truth.

Looking back, I should have considered the sources, all of whom had never wandered near a doctoral program. Even aside from that, however, it is not unusual to hear people give grossly inaccurate accounts of how companies screen and select candidates. Everyone, it seems, is eager to expound upon human resources practices.

That could easily be classified under the standard smoke and mirrors of life, but I wonder how many careers have been affected by off-hand - and inaccurate - remarks made in articles or by acquaintances.

1 comment:

Rob said...

A sad life lesson - 9/10 stories are not quite right, highly embellished, untrue, incorrect, never happened or are just plain wrong. If something is important I have found it pays to check it out for yourself.