Myth #4: "Only skills matter in hiring decisions." Getting a good job often requires "connections" who serve as gatekeepers for opportunities. Success at keeping and growing in a job depends on having the knowledge, skills and abilities, and behaviors that are relevant to success: what you know and are able to do. Skills like listening, acquiring, evaluating and interpreting information count a lot to employers. These are the behaviors and skills certified by a verified resume (which is signed by a mentor, essentially functioning as a recommendation).
Of course, potential employers may worry about the reliability of the mentors' assessments. They also express concern about predictive validity: Does responsible behavior in a fun experience like video-making predict responsibility in a real job? Answering these questions requires dealing with two more myths:
Myth #5: "Subjective assessments of performance can't work." Try telling that to music and art teachers, sports coaches, movie reviewers or wine tasters.
Myth #6: "System accountability can come from inside the system." We learned recently (and painfully) that the American financial system could not hold itself accountable. Similarly, the education and training system cannot hold itself accountable for producing competitive workers. Only employers can.
Building a world-class work force development system requires dispelling these myths. But it also requires taking the following steps:
1. Imparting the behaviors and skills - including but not limited to cognitive skills such as math, reading and writing - that youngsters truly need for success in school and at work.
2. Providing a document like a verified resume for youth to use as a letter of recommendation and certification of their performance.
3. Establishing real feedback from work to schools and training organizations by connecting faculty, teachers and mentors with immediate work supervisors who directly observe the students on the job.
Creating a world-class work force takes more than money and hope. It requires fresh thinking about learning and assessing meaningful skills and behaviors.
Arnold Packer was a Senior Fellow at the Johns Hopkins University's Institute for Policy Studies and was assistant secretary of Labor in the Carter administration. His e-mail is arnoldpacker@verizon.net.
