Perhaps I'm cynical, but I'd be willing to wager that there's a double-digit percentage of people in non-entry-level jobs that got them through dubious credentials.
Again, perhaps I'm cynical -- maybe I'm wrong, and most of the people in positions of authority got there through an education not provided by an institution primarily concerned wtih looking good to attract wealthy students but by a place where they learned. Maybe, just maybe, most of the people in positions of authority are not power hungry, they're just the right people to make decisions. Maybe the mere fact that 'decisions' equate to power coupled with the dark human need to dominate others isn't sufficient to break through the requirements of skill and understanding.
But I doubt it.
Cynically, one piece of paper's as good as another. Realistically, this is what a standard encourages -- following the letter, not the spirit. Monetarily, a well-spoken scam artist with a smattering of skills can fill in for a qualified expert long enough to make some pay.
Of course, you can't listen to me. I'm upset that my two-year degree isn't going to be all that meaningful. I have to ask myself -- what will two more years do? Will some magic happen that turns me into a Qualified Professional?
No, and any Qualified Professional will tell me as much, I suspect.
On non-depressive/angry notes, I've started casting sideways glances at things such as WASTE, which is apparently a high-level networking application framework. It's also pissed off AOL to no end, and as a result Justin Frankel left Nullsoft. (Perhaps a pure-Perl implementation of the code, PASTE? Or even Haskell -- HASTE! Ruby, RASTE, Cobol, CASTE...I got a million of 'em...)
I know. It's all sort of black-and-white-movie style slapstick, isn't it? "Here, let me give you this..." "No, no, no! You can't give them that!" "Well, then I don't have to play here!"
Eh, whatever. Frankel's got some spiffy stuff there, and he's the same code-piece behind Gnutella and WinAmp and whatnot. Can't be all bad.
I need to look into WASTE, I suppose...
