quote:
Originally posted by RJM:
Regardless of college, employers who employ people in competitive situations like sales prefer former athletes and military people. It's two kinds of people who thrive on winning, understand the protocols of leadership and don't understand the meaning of the word "lose."
RJM,
I can't argue with that statement. As I said earlier, I left school early and unfortunately never completed my degree. To make a long story short, after starting at the bottom of the totem pole at a major insurance company, I was given the opportunity to open my own agency after four years. A degree was/is required, however, the local District Manager fought to have that rule waived for me. His argument to our Home Office sales staff was that my experience in the regional office would be valuable in the agency force. Apparently, he just liked my jumpshot and the way I competed in a local mens basketball league. The fact that I played baseball for a few years in college was icing on the cake. I still remember my initial interview with him twenty years ago, the Sales/District Manager told me that he preferred former athletes. He went on to say something very similar to RJM's above quote.
I've been with the same company the past twenty-three plus years as an employee and agency owner, and that's pretty uncommon for my generation. I tell my kids frequently that my situation is not the norm these days, and there's been plenty of times that I wish that I stuck it out and finished school. I tell them Yes, it's possible to succeed without a degree in our country. But I remind them often that if my company decided to change to 1-800-insurance and dismiss the agency force, I'd be in big trouble...and being a former athlete won't help one bit, but a degree in my back pocket more than likely would! I apologize if I went a little off topic, but it's still in line with "Should academics ALWAYS come first?"...and my answer will always be Yes, but with a Bryce Harper bonus disclaimer!
![Big Grin](/static/images/graemlins/icon_biggrin.gif)