Byron Auguste, President and co-founder of Opportunity@Work, discusses the flaws in the U.S. labor market, particularly the over-reliance on college degrees for job qualifications. He advocates for skills-based hiring, exemplified by Maryland's removal of degree requirements for state jobs. Byron highlights the importance of on-the-job training and critiques traditional education paradigms. He also dives into why IQ might be overrated while conscientiousness is crucial, and shares insights on the impact of AI in predicting labor outcomes, urging a more inclusive approach to hiring.
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insights INSIGHT
Degree Requirements vs. Skills
Many jobs requiring a four-year degree can be performed by people without one.
Companies often screen out qualified candidates based on degree requirements, not actual skill needs.
insights INSIGHT
Conscientiousness over IQ
IQ is overrated, while conscientiousness is underrated for retraining.
Learning can be uncomfortable, and conscientiousness helps overcome this.
insights INSIGHT
College Wage Premium
The college wage premium isn't solely from learning; it also reflects on-the-job training opportunities.
Graduates get training and development, while non-graduates often don't.
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In this novel, Mark Twain tells the story of Hank Morgan, a mechanic from Connecticut who, after a severe blow to the head, finds himself transported to the court of King Arthur in the sixth century. Using his modern knowledge and practical skills, Hank navigates the complexities of medieval life, challenges the customs of the time, and attempts to introduce democratic principles and technological innovations. The novel is a humorous yet critical exploration of the contrasts between modern and medieval societal norms, highlighting themes such as time travel, satire, and the clash of cultures[3][4][5].
The Economics of International Payments Unions and Clearing Houses
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Byron Auguste
When looking at the U.S. labor market, Byron Auguste sees too many job seekers screened out based on shallow signals like a bachelor’s degree, and too few ‘screened in’ by directly demonstrating the skills needed for the job at hand. To close those opportunity gaps in the American workforce, Byron co-founded and runs Opportunity@Work, which played a key role in Maryland’s decision in early 2022 to drop four-year degree requirements for thousands of state jobs in favor of recruiting from those identified as being Skilled Through Alternate Routes, or STARs.
He joined Tyler to discuss workforce training in the digital economy, re-evaluating college degree requirements in recruitment, why IQ is overrated and conscientiousness is underrated, the major opportunity gap in on-the-job training, what people miss about the German apprenticeship model, the best novel about finding a job, what’s gone wrong with American men, why we need signal pluralism for higher education admission, why he’s wary of AI for predicting labor outcomes, what happened when Maryland rolled back degree requirements for state jobs, the incentive problems in higher education, and more.
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