Honest, YOU are allowed to ask these questions on the forum, in fact I'd prefer it...

Can you do it? Show me.

If you can't do it (no previous experience), how fast can you learn. Show me.

Is that a resume in your hands?

I'm not interested in your resume. I don't care what courses you've done, or what grades you got in school.

All I'm interested in is... can you do it, and if not, how fast can you learn, are you willing to learn? SHOW ME.

Every time I see a Position Vacant ad that requires, for example, someone to have experience in Microsoft Excel, I laugh.

I laugh because while someone may know Excel, they don't know how YOU use Excel. They still have to be trained in that.

One company I did some work for needed a new person in their lab. They wanted the new person to have a Diploma in Applied Science as a minimum requirement.

The crazy thing was, this company had a lot of proprietary procedures and tests.

What happened, of course, is that the new person had no idea how to do anything and had to be trained in the company's methods... the piece of paper meant nothing and was useless... as are most pieces of paper.

In Australia, we have three general methods of gaining after-school education...


1. University.

2. T.A.F.E. Which used to stand for Technical And Further Education and was the place where all apprentices would go to do their theory.

3. Private Education. Private companies and people who offer tuition/training/education - private one on one or group.


It's interesting to note, that the T.A.F.E. colleges now have something they call A.C.E. (Adult Community Education). And these A.C.E. course are put on by normal everyday people... who aren't certified teaches. AND, the people who do an A.C.E. course do NOT get assessed... not tests. They do it because they want to know more. They do it because the A.C.E. course is something they're interested in, nothing more - crafts, hobbies, you name it.

And the reason these T.A.F.E. colleges started offering A.C.E. courses was because they could see there were/are a lot of people doing it privately and they wanted a slice of the action.

Obviously the market for education out of the school/university environment is a large one. Some companies get $10,000 a course, other get $1,900 and others go for the smaller potatoe markets and get $30, $40, $50 for a a few hours.

Some people charge hourly rates and teach one on one. Others don't.

The interesting thing is, ANYONE can get in on it.

I remember years and years ago when microwave ovens came out... some people who bought them, took the time to learn them and then offered their services as people who could teach you how to cook using your microswave oven, instead of using it just for hot chocolates.

These people didn't have pieces of paper. And neither did the people they employed as assistants to handle the overload they were experiencing.

Pieces of paper may have their place... such as the certificate produced by a chef that proves he's done his four years chef's apprenticeship. In that case I know he has done the practical and at least "should" know about waste/standards/etc. and has been supervised during the learning of his skills.

BUT I still wouldn't know whether he knows how to cook MY recipes or prepare the food in MY way. In "that" he may need training.

Show Me...

Michael Ross.