Daily Mood Quote - June 16, 2011

Daily Mood Quotes

Day 43 – June 16, 2011

Do you know the difference between education and experience? Education is when you read the fine print; experience is what you get when you don't.  

~Pete Seeger

So, I watched the CBS Evening News with Scott Pelley on Tuesday, and the subject was the high unemployment rate among people over the age of 50. One gentleman said, he had an employer tell him, “You have the experience, the education, the knowledge and skills, if only you were 25 years younger.” Therefore the gentleman did not get the job. Can anyone say EEOC law suit? My husband who is over 50, just shook his head and said, “That's it for me.” This has been sticking in my craw ever since.

I wonder if employers understand that saving the nickel in salary can cost them dollars. The difference between youth and experience is a hard lesson that human resources personnel will have to face when inexperience creeps through the door, all shiny and new and kicks them in the backside. There will be more mistakes, less careful planning, more ticked-off customers... the list goes on and on. I'm not saying don't hire young people, but to overlook older, more experienced people can ultimately cost the company, as it pays the price of gaining experience. Those are statistical facts. We as a nation, have a misconception that younger is brighter, bigger is better and for some of us, that may be the case, but eventually there is a high price to pay. Lets face it, even in sports, where youth supposedly is golden, who would you want coming to bat for you in a tight game Derek Jeeter, (Paul Konerko for you White Sox fans), or some rookie that may have batted .350 in AAA ball? Yes, you need to hire youth and develop talent, but experience is what wins championships. Just ask Kurt Warner (then age 37 + ancient by NFL standards) who took a youthful Arizona Cardinals to the Super Bowl in 2009. After a series of rookie mistakes on both offense and defense, they were defeated by a very experienced Pittsburgh Steeler team. But, I digress into sports analogies, I apologize. The point is that experience is an ally, not a foe and many companies are suffering from a brain drain they may not be able to recover from.

In the movie Top Gun, Goose played by Anthony Edwards said to Tom Cruise (Maverick), “The defense department regrets to inform you that your sons are dead because they were stupid.” This is a classic example of the value of experience. So, when we turn away an experienced potential employee, because we think they are too old, we are turning away a valuable resource that could help our companies succeed on the business battlefields.

How will you view “experience” today?

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