I’m pretty sure the overall consensus was: “Yes, we should offer college degrees in recruiting and talent acquisition.” And yes social media is driving the future of recruiting and many other industries.
But how to get there, well, that’s where the beauty of diverse opinion spread its colorful wings. What was clear in my analysis of the smart and savvy Twitter steam last night was the fact that this kind of a degree should be graduate level and culminate in an MBA of sorts like HR programs that exist today — i.e., a six-year program with lots of educated bells and whistles taught by those with real-world recruiting and talent strategy experience twining reality with theory.
On the same educational track, there were those last night who had advanced degrees in human resources actually working in HR today (very exciting), and then there those of us who did the psych/anthro combo in college and who played HR/recruiting on various 1970’s cop TV shows (kind of exciting).
Don’t look at me that way.
Then there were those last night who just wrote something to the effect of, “Go to work in talent acquisition and recruiting and do it. That’s the best educational experience you’re ever going to get.”
The best way to know and grow is to do; teachers, mentors and those training newbies should definitely d0-do. I made a similar tongue-in-cheek remark last night, but I really meant it, the fact formal and informal knowledge sharing must originate from those who already do. Experience doesn’t appear in a magical well we drink from.
Although I’ve been told about some ancient artesian well high up in the Sierra Nevada mountains…
An alternative to the college degree route would be industry certification, most of which HR owns in global organizations such as SHRM as well as others. In recruiting, there really aren’t any certifications being offered. There is AIRS and there’s also a new certification program called Black Belt Recruiter, but otherwise not as well known.
Would college degrees and certifications add validity and credibility to the recruiting and talent acquisition profession? Does it in HR? I guess that depends on who you’re talking with, but in the corporate world I’d say a qualified yes.
Again, either way, the best way to know is to d0-do. And I truly mean that.
You can find last night’s transcript here and here. We didn’t ask all the questions below, but only because a couple were answered within ones previous to them:
- Q1: New territory. Let’s define what a recruiting/career/talent acquisition strategy college minor/major should be.
- Q2: Are these separate majors/college degrees? Why or why not?
- Q3: Compared to on the job experience, how would these college degrees improve the profession?
- Q4: What would you consider to be the 3 most important pillars of this college curriculum and why?
- Q5: Should it be a 2-year degree or 4-year, or options for both? Why?
- Q6: Who should teach these college classes and why?
- Q7: You can get college degrees in HR/biz mgmnt, but should there be one for the recruiting/talent/business of careers?
- Q8: And what about certification? HR has them but should careers/recruiting/talent strategy as well? Why?
Thank you all for joining us last night! Next week’s topic is “For fear of firing– reconciling being a good leader/boss with being a good person” and will be moderated by TalentCulture’s very own Meghan M. Biro.
Tweet you next time. I’ll see some of you at the ERE Expo tonight in sunny rainy San Diego.
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