Since highschool I have had 5 different jobs at 7 different companies. This has always been due to my choice and I have always left on good accord, making lifelong friendships and increasing my networking which has landed me new job opportunities. As my college comes to and end and I have moved into my career (construction project manager/superintendent) over the last two years the most important questions I find myself asking are; how can I be a good leader and how can I most effectively train my workforce.
The Good & Bad
The most direct comparison I could make would be between school and on the job training. I honestly have found school to be mostly a waste for me and it has attributed to about 10% of my success/knowledge at work while the 90% has been learned in the field. As the UPS training article describes many people in my generation learn best from hands on interactive training and staring at a computer screen or getting lectured are not effective methods. I have learned priceless knowledge of my industry/job from good mentors while on the job. I believe they always used one of the cardinal rules “required steps are useful only if they do not obscure the desired outcome” (Buckingham, P.108) while also asking what is right for the company. College provides a more general broad training which includes a lot of things you do not need at a crazy financial cost that is totally not worth it. I believe getting a degree does give you more versatility and something to always fall back on but I think that can be overcome if you are a hard worker with good aptitude to learning new things hands on. To me the best training has been had through consistency (good safety programs & follow up from senior employees) Information overload is not healthy either as it is difficult to decipher what is crucial to the task at hand.
Sources
Buckingham, Marcus, and Curt Coffman. “First, Break All the Rules: What the World’s Greatest Managers Do Differently.” Amazon, Gallup Press, 2016, https://www.amazon.com/First-Break-All-Rules-Differently/dp/1531865208.
Chamorro, Thomas. “The Perfect Hire.” Academic Search Premier, https://web-p-ebscohost-com.oregonstate.idm.oclc.org/ehost/detail/detail?vid=0&sid=712be3c4-55fc-4944-b961-0b5972240604%40redis&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3D%3D#AN=88169357&db=aph.
Hira, Nadira A. “THE MAKING of a UPS DRIVER.” Fortune, vol. 156, no. 10, Nov. 2007, pp. 118–29. EBSCOhost, https://search-ebscohost-com.oregonstate.idm.oclc.org/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=27370486&site=ehost-live.
