Letter to the editor: Experience vs. education

While I don't think there are any people in the diploma-mill category working for the U.S. Geological Survey, the whole subject brings up another interesting point. I am a high school dropout with technical subject matter classes, and have been doing this job for more than 12 years. It's totally amazing the sheer number of people with diplomas that don't know the subject matter, yet consistently get picked for jobs over those that do mainly because they have a diploma.

In the government, like many industry jobs, a piece of worthless paper is worth more than actually knowing what you are doing.

William Ferguson, IT Specialist,

U.S. Geological Survey, Denver