I am reminded of the early-90's complaints from IT organizations -- "You [Univeristy X] don't teach your students how to do anything useful like Visual Basic 3, etc. They come to us, and we have to teach them these basic skills."
While techniques for dealing with large volumes of data are certainly more general (and intellectual) than VB3, these complaints are similar in nature. I don't hear Google complaining about deficiencies in top-ranked undergraduate CS programs. It's not as if a basic knowledge of algorithms and data structures is not still required (if anything, it's more valuable with large datasets).
For years, universities have thought their mission was to educate, and businesses thought their goal ought to be training. Interestingly, those businesses with reputations for hiring top talent don't seem to complain about specific coursework. It's not like the mid-90's Microsoft complained that its recruits didn't know VB! And, Google certainly has a penchant for hiring smart people without regard to specific technical knowledge.
Interestingly, those businesses with reputations for hiring top talent don't seem to complain about specific coursework.
Yes, because they assume they can train you. If you're a smart bastard, you'll learn fast, and almost anybody will learn faster by applying knowledge than by reading a textbook.
"And, Google certainly has a penchant for hiring smart people without regard to specific technical knowledge."
Again, yes. What does this suggest? Google (and like companies) are hiring for intelligence, not specific skills. What does this suggest combined with the lack of concern about specific coursework?
They're hiring for intelligence, they're not that bothered about what you know, and they mostly recruit from top schools. This suggests that the top schools mostly act as a filter; anyone who got into School X is a smart bastard, so we should give strong consideration to hiring them just because they're smart.
So Google could cut out the middleman and hire based on SATs and cut out the middleman. Why not? They like some skills, and getting through college signals a certain degree of conscientiousness, which is good to have in employees.
While techniques for dealing with large volumes of data are certainly more general (and intellectual) than VB3, these complaints are similar in nature. I don't hear Google complaining about deficiencies in top-ranked undergraduate CS programs. It's not as if a basic knowledge of algorithms and data structures is not still required (if anything, it's more valuable with large datasets).
For years, universities have thought their mission was to educate, and businesses thought their goal ought to be training. Interestingly, those businesses with reputations for hiring top talent don't seem to complain about specific coursework. It's not like the mid-90's Microsoft complained that its recruits didn't know VB! And, Google certainly has a penchant for hiring smart people without regard to specific technical knowledge.