Hi Bernadette
I think I actually agree with you in a strange kind of way.  When it
comes to actually doing a job, nothing beats having life and work
experience.  I was particularly interested to read your comments
regarding MBAs, social work and so forth - and perhaps this should apply
to other fields as well.  I strongly support having a wide general
education before specialisation, holding to my mantra that no experience
is ever wasted.

I certainly do not mean to imply in any way that those who come up
through the ranks are not worth their salt: quite the contrary.
However, we do know that the employment market is increasingly looking
for tangible proof of knowledge (and experience) of an area or a job.
It could also be verging on insulting to suggest that those who have
studied hard for a number of years at a tertiary institution are not
ready for work without experience, which brings us to the Catch-22
situation that many graduates find themselves in.

I can, however, understand your point of view with regard to preferring
those who already do have some experience.  But we all have to start
somewhere, and organisations perhaps also have some kind of
responsibility with regard to on-the-job training for such people,
however costly this might be.  BTW, I agree with you totally concerning
the 'work experience' - I have long believed (having done it myself, as
well as hosting such students) that this is rather a waste of time for
all concerned.  But I won't digress here, except to say that such
experience is too short and superficial.

I am sorry to hear that you have found graduates rather too rigid in
their approach to the work situation.  This is probably a matter for us
teachers to address, in collaboration with practitioners.  This is once
again a long-standing issue in many professions.  And I think you are
probably right when you say that universities might become irrelevant if
there is not a closer relationship between industry and academia; the
university as an ivory tower cannot exist at undergraduate level in
particular, particularly in the face of increasing competition from
things like RTOs.

In this way, the CRM does seem to offer an alternative; however, what I
would still be arguing for is an accredited educational institution to
prepare candidates for the CRM exam.

As always, all the best to all,
Sue

Sue Myburgh
School of Communication, Information and New Media
University of South Australia
St Bernard's Road
Magill SA 5076
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