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Well Rounded People... Who needs them?

  • Artigo

Today I sat in on a career and internship meeting for students at the university. I thought overall the meeting was very informative to these students and gave them a lot of insights into what an employer may be looking for. After the meeting a student was walking through the halls and made the following comment:

            “I am sick of hearing about WELL ROUNDED students. Who cares if I play games, collect cards, play sports, or don’t do anything in my spare time? When I am hired at a company I am paid to show up and do my work and I should be hired based on my technical abilities, not on all this other BS.”

I thought this comment was very interesting and something that I would have to say I don’t agree with. What do you think?

--Eric (Grand Valley State University)

Comments

  • Anonymous
    March 24, 2005
    That's a very interesting comment to say the least. I disagree as well.

    I don't own a company, and I don't hire people, but I do get to choose which types of people I hang around with. I choose well rounded people.

    If I start up a business, I'll still choose well rounded people, but it all comes in balance. If I need somebody on my team that will get the job done, quick and clean, then I'd be willing to put up with jagged edges. But if I'm going to be working with someone for a couple years, I want to be friends with them, I want to laugh, and play games with them.

    I don't want to work with the guy that said that statement, but there's a company out there that wants him for his expertise.

    It all comes in balance. What are employers looking for? Different things, different people.

  • Anonymous
    March 24, 2005
    The comment has been removed

  • Anonymous
    March 24, 2005
    I would agree that playing games, collecting cards, etc. do not contribute directly to skills required for work. I have never once used my interest in genealogy in programming. However, there are value in being diversified. One is that the skills you gain, in my example, researching one's lineage, are similar to the skills one uses when researching what algorithm to use to solve a problem. There is also the surface-level value that if somebody isn't hiring programmers, maybe they are hiring genealogists.

    As an Eagle Scout, I was required to become at least familiar with, I believe, around 30 different knowledge/skill domains. While one or two contributed directly to my field of computing, the others contribute periphery information and sources. I don't need to know how to keep myself physically fit in order to program, but that knowledge is useful if I write a fitness tracking program. Additionally, if I keep myself physically fit, I can program for longer durations without exhaustion. There are always benefits in keeping yourself diversified.

  • Anonymous
    March 24, 2005
    Well I would say that overall I agree that being well-rounded is important, but I think there are positions in which the "uber-techno geek that knows nothing but tech stuff and not much else" can be better than the "well-rounded" person. In the end well-roundedness will dictate the ability to do stupid mindless tasks (which EVERY job has...you check email right?) as well as the ability to grow in the position.

    The real question is what does well-rounded mean? Does it mean you know several programming languages and work with both Windows and Linux? Or does it mean that you have stored in your brain Western Art Potpourri as well as the inner workings of the CLR?

    Obviously well-rounded can be VERY beneficial and lucrative (Hello Ken Jennings! I'm your cousin, really!) But as a student, when you're trying to learn about computers and you have to take a class about art appreciation it can be difficult to see the utility of said class.

  • Anonymous
    March 24, 2005
    The comment has been removed

  • Anonymous
    March 24, 2005
    Being able to learn new things and adopt to new situations is a skill I want my coworkers to have (and I aspire to have myself).

    If all you can do is one thing, and that one thing becomes obsolete, what do you do then?

    I've seen skills become obsolete over and over in my career.

    Remember, I grew up in Silicon Valley. We used to pick Apricots there.

    Then we used to do manufacturing there.

    The jobs that exist there today are quite a bit different.

    So, being "well rounded" shows that the person has adaptability to new tasks and new situations.

    It also shows that he/she will be empathetic toward others in different situations.

    That makes for a better product designer, me thinks.

  • Anonymous
    March 24, 2005
    If you're not well balanced between work life and outside-of-work life you'll soon be no good at work. No employer wants that. Balance = mental health m'friend!

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