Coleman Construction Services, LLC

I posted this question on Linkedin and never expected the whirlwind of conversation that has come out of it! 

Here are what some have said on the issue; 

"The industry has suffered due to the degree and CITB CSCS etc. They have sent so many well experienced tradesmen to early retirement with lots to offer and teach to a now dysfunctional youth.
We now build structures that won't last a hundred years. But there are buildings that have stood for hundreds, nearly a thousand, built through experience, and not a piece of paper."

"The very sad thing is that what they are teaching today is actually curriculum for next decade and has little to do with the brick and mortar of today. Experience accounts for 90% of the problem solving process on every job out there. Very little that we encounter on a daily basis is related to some classroom scenario that we practiced in lab."

"One needs an industry experience to know how things are done in the "real life" (and, even more importantly, how things should not be even attempted to be done and what happens if they are attempted to be done in the wrong way) college degree (really, a college education - unfortunately, I've seen people with a degree but not with a lot of education; conversely, you can get that education without attending college and getting a degree although it would be a little harder) to understand the science behind how things are done - only after one gets both (s)he can put them together and really understand how things happen - and therefore be able to make them happen in the most optimal and "painless" (sometimes even innovative) way. "

"I have personally hired people that had recently graduated from Construction Management School but yet they can't handle a simple situation on a job site or know the in's and out of dealing with a bonding company.. To people like me I say keep trying sometimes is hard to find that one person like I did (15) years ago that saw something in me and that gave me an opportunity yet compensated me well for over 10 years and let me go when I had to spread my wings."

"It's only been in the last 100 years or so (at least in the US) that one had to complete a series of formal instructions, orchestrated by various "experts" in the career field, to receive a universally recognized document that implied you were now an expert. Before that... you trained under a craftsman, sometimes starting when you were pre-teen, and training for as long as your mentor felt was needed in order to learn everything you could from him. You then went out on your own, and built a reputation based on your ability... and eventually you earned the title of Master, or expert."

So what are your thoughts? 

What is the solution? 
What needs to change? 

Coleman Construction Services offers Estimating,Project Management and Training services to all 50 states.

www.colemanconstructionservices.com