Is there too much emphasis on qualifications over ability?

From all accounts Thompson did a reasonable job.

This modern world has placed too much emphasis on qualifications on paper, and almost removed the notion of natural ability and learning through experience.

A contention of mine is, if you send an idiot to university, you get a qualified one (idiot) back.

The question has to be asked: why is this planet racked with war, poverty, famine and financial mismanagement when people in charge have all these qualifications that say they are capable of doing their jobs, when clearly the evidence dictates otherwise.

I think we need only to look at own Parliament and observe some of these academics making a hash of things, then we realise the wider picture.

The issue is that she is a fraud, pure and simple.

There is no excuse for fraud yet we have been traveling down a tragically backward road for years. It is leading us back towards Guildism. It is tyrannical. It is full of bureaucracy and promotes fascism (pseudo industries living off evil legislations...they create no real wealth but profit from providing compliancy services and an army of bogus bureaucrats). This saps our ability to compete in the global market. It is founded upon false premises and phobia. It is oppressive because it locks people out of changing their professions denying thousands of good people of opportunity. It is tyrannical because it hinders skilled migrants from being able to employ their skills. It fosters ill placed faith in the competence of so-called certified tradesmen. It does nothing to guarantee quality. It creates a foolish belief that the governments and politicians are the best judge in all matters of trade.
Our Universities are filled with qualified morons who cannot make it in the real world. It destroys the proper function of reputation as the best indicator of a mans / companies worth and so negates good judgment and promotes blind faith. It is an arse covering blanket for the lazy (as long as someone is 'qualified' who cares if they are really competent!). I am a tradesman yet I know many so called tradesman who are hopeless and corrupt. It is regulation at its ugliest.
I say we need more freedom, less government and less red tape.
Tim Wikiriwhi

Sarah Bill Gates is a genius. There are very few people that are as intelligent as him. Don't forget that we Bill Gates and Mike More were young, not that many people went to uni. Qualifications prove that you can achieve in your field. Without them there are fewer ways for employers to gauge the abilities of employees.

I did a post, but it got taken down, like to know why. Anyway the basic gist was: qualifications are over rated, just think Bill Gates and Mike Moore. Employers should trust their instincts, not bits of paper.

Qualifications are well overrated and I have LOADS of them. All the great entrepreneurs tend to have very few if any qualifications, take Bill Gates, university drop out as one example, Mike Moore our Ambassador to America is another. Qualifications tell people you can drudge your way through a degree. An A+ law degree does not necessarily mean you will make an A+ lawyer. Perhaps it even suggests the opposite, that you are academic and not practical. Additionally employers rely to much on testing these days and not enough on trusting their instincts.

A degree only suggests you have ability. Though she lied about her doctorate she must have been good in her job as she kept gain the jobs she applied for. Many people have commented on her lies, and condemning her. If we were to do that across the board there would be many politicians, bankers, police and others of status who would be back in the dole queue.

The fact remains she lied.But I do agree that qulifications dont make a good worker,I work with some of the most highly qualified lazy buggers in NZ.They also love to take the pats on the back and finacial rewards for the hard work of others.Liars also

Maybe were too politically correct, success for males is increasingly difficult at varsity, partly because its too PC, too female oriented and the contents of the courses has changed so you can't just swat and turn up at the exams having spent the winter on the sports field or bar,there is less emphasis on pure maths and military or market economic studies are now despised and marked down by many economics or history department. The marking emphasis is now on presentation, group work and internal assessment and its all bad news for males. Nevertheless Mary Ann Thompsons crimes are serious. A PHd is a justifiable requirement to head a major government department and both Mary Ann Thompson and Clark failed at that level as did my father. That Thompson was appointed as Shipleys main advisor and Clarks immigration adviser was a disaster. Immigration under Clark was a disaster with people being let into the country on the basis of sentiment not suitability. As a result we have hundreds of people from the Pacific Islands, Somalia, Afghanistan and possibly even some Russian republics that never should have been admitted. Thompson was not up to level Shipley needed as a main advisor and as a result the Shipley government made a number of left field decisions, for eg to raise the age of superancuation eligibility which gave Clark the chance to seize power. There are serious issues with the varsiites being controlled by ageing feminists and the type of work required for degrees being changed to suit medium level employers and NZs trading interests ( ie you cant do research that could impinge on the operational requirements of foreign affairs re Australia, military, middle east). But credible qualifications are essential but only only of the requirements for a high level job. But yes a Phd was needed for those jobs and no non degreed person like Chrsitine Rankin shoulg have been appointed.

How do we know if people have ability- by their qualifications of course. Yes you can have ability but no papers but then a three month trial would be good for employer and applicant. This would also show up the correct temperament. But to lie on your CV would put you off the list of applicants. No one likes a liar.