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Once upon a time, being a high school graduate gave you enough credentials to show employers that you were competent with handling basic tasks.

As a result, many people enjoyed long and successful careers, usually working for the same companies their entire lives.

Imagine one day getting hired at Walmart to push carts then working your way up to make $100,000 per year working as the head manager, with no post-secondary education and no student loan. It’s almost funny to think how things used to be so outwardly simple. Unfortunately, recent changes in the global job market have put an end to these traditions.

With an influx of people changing careers multiple times before retirement, fewer companies can afford to invest in employee development, which then forces more employers to rely on prospective employees to develop their skills in advance.

Furthermore, with others ready and willing to replace you at any moment, the demand for workers with college and university degrees has hit the roof over the past few decades with people hoping that it will give them an edge. But the question remains, save money and go to college or hope to get a good job that will pay off your student loan from attending a university for so many years.

When it comes to nursing Steve Coulahan, London Health Science Centre’s vice president of Human Resources and Organizational Development, claimed that getting the job doesn’t have as much to do with your credentials but is more about experience and self confidence.

“We need to get over ourselves,” Coulahan said. “At one point nursing diplomas were all college and heavily influenced by basically living in the hospital for two years under the nursing diploma. That shifted in the last 15 years. We’ve actually shifted back a bit now because we are pulling the colleges in and saying that we do need that practical side.”

Steve also commented on Fanshawe’s collaborative nursing program with Western University, pointing out that the college has a remarkable setup for students going into nursing and paramedics. He equated one’s success in nursing to an airplane’s take-off.

“I’d be expressing my own personal opinion here, but my sense would be, people coming out of those experienced programs have an initial leg up. A lot of that bumpiness can be due to how prepared they were for that first job,” Coulahan said. “That take off can be a lot smoother if you have already been exposed to that kind of stuff”.

Experience

Getting your foot in the door can be tough if you don’t have any experience, which is why many colleges and universities have started to emphasize work experience as an important element of their degree programs to help students establish strong reputations for success early in their careers, earn competitive hourly wages and seniority within a company.

According to Coulahan, the turnover for nurses is seven to eight per cent in a work force of 3,400 nurses, so between 300 to 400 nurses are needed a year.

“We hire an awful lot of nurses straight out of college and the experience they have is basically the placement that they have done,” Coulahan said. “A placement doesn’t quite give you everything you need. You get exposed, but an experienced surgical nurse by the operating table is a whole different level of skill, and an experienced ER nurse is a whole different level of skill.”

Self-confidence vs. Positivity

A self-confident individual will build trust very quickly and have a good alignment with their team. With young graduates coming into the work force sometimes there can be a feeling that, to ask a question is displaying a weakness when clearly the ability to ask a question is a strength because the ramifications of that situation is very serious.

“Something to consider is an individual who is overly positive versus an individual who is optimistic,” Coulahan said.

“And that’s a really interesting distinction to make because in an interview you can be pumped and positive ‘I’m glad to be here, it’s nice to meet you, I’m so up for this,’ versus somebody who is optimistic, who has self confidence in themselves and can present a face to the world,” he continued.

“People who lack self-confidence sometimes emphasize the overly positive approach, versus somebody who knows their strengths and knows their limitations and is not afraid to say so.”

In the end, there is no answer. We live in a world of continuous learning, which will help those who are willing to put in the effort in the long run. It is not something to be avoided or feared, but rather something that is desired and longed for.

Everything we do is incremental to our final goals in life and with the right follow-through and taking the right opportunities, anyone can achieve success in his/her career.