Career Conundrum.

Posted on | November 20, 2008 | 1 Comment

I am a professor in a communication college where I teach PR, journalism and video majors.

As a collective body we are teaching these students the skills and I hope the thought process necessary to enter the field of communication.

Are we way of track?

I don’t mean that the curriculum is poor or that the objectives are misaligned because in both cases we are way ahead of the pack.

BUT I am concerned that we as a collective are teaching students to do and be something in a manner that flies in the face of how we the teachers got into those very same careers!

A great PR guy studied English lit.

I studied political science.

Another professor studied history.

Are we leading the current lot of PR,journalism and video professionals in waiting to a cliff?  An education cliff that might do them more bad then good?

Maybe it all comes down to luck?

Alex Kniess wrote about this very idea in AdAge.

Alex Kniess As I approach graduation day, I am able to reflect over my past experiences and draw conclusions on the paths I have taken. Remarkably, I think that I can identify the one defining moment of my freshman year that put in motion every other capitalized opportunity that followed. Of course, hindsight is 20/20 and the debate between free will and fate rages on. There is one thing, however, that has remained constant. Whether through my own eyes or those of my peers, luck has certainly been a key contributor to my experiences.

What is certain is that education is a 2 way street and students maybe even more than professors are responsible for making the experience work.

Too bad this doesn’t make sense long after the degree is in a drawer and gathering dust.

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