Burn the Book
There has been an ongoing debate about which is more important, book smarts or street smarts. It is undeniable that you need both, but to what degree?
I graduated one year ago and throughout my post-grad job search and my time at PEI, I have found the emphasis on experience to be overwhelming. Whether potential employers asked me about my internships or my new coworkers reference their past experiences, the pool of knowledge that we draw from is lessons learned. The ability to learn from past mistakes and repeat successes is invaluable and a person’s experience is truly intangible.
I have found that regardless of what they teach you in school, sometimes you need to take another approach. A Management 101 book can tell you what you should do, and in Intro to Business you gain a fundamental knowledge of how business should work, but in reality there is no textbook that can give you all the answers. Textbooks are written for a general audience so they can be applied across any industry. But when it comes to making specific decisions, sometimes it’s just not practical to follow what is written. As a professional you have to burn the book and go off what you know, how you feel and make decisions on the fly.
Heidi Christensen, PEI
