Caveat Lector

I happened by Timothy Burke’s place and found this post with which I wholeheartedly agree. Go read it. I’ll wait.

As is widely known, I’m an irritable sort, but very little irritates me more than watching people go mindlessly off to graduate school and end up no more fitted for the job market than when they entered, no matter whether they graduate or wash out. I’m not even all that concerned about skills; it’s the sense of entitlement and the cluelessness that make me climb walls. This is the trap New Librarian was in. I wish Dr. Burke had written that post years ago, I do.

Personally, I’ve used Routes 1, 2, and 4. Route 3 isn’t quite my style (and Dr. Burke is right that if it’s not your style, don’t try to fake it), and nothing I’ve ever done has been bad enough to even approach Route 5.

I got yet another email about the grad-school story from a matriculating graduate student who said jubilantly, “Now I don’t feel stupid for having a backup plan!” Seems her adviser had pooh-poohed the effort of creating one.

If I could get to that adviser and fire him or her out on his/her unethical butt, I would so very, very do that. It is not cool to tell impressionable youngsters that Grad School Is All You Need, because that is a flat lie. It is cool to be realistic, as Dr. Burke and some other recent email correspondents from faculty ranks have been.