Is Logistics Education Necessary?

[Perry Trunick]

A reader asks Logistics Today if there is value in earning one of the many certifications offered in the logistics field. If you have a certificate from ISM, AST&L, DNA, has it helped your career? If you hire, does it help the candidate?

The reader writes:
I read your recent article titled "What are you really getting from a supply chain degree?" (June 2006), and I have a question regarding the logistics certificates you mentined at the end of the article. After reading your article, I am convinced that logistics and supply chain is a very promising field for a job seeker. You suggested in the article that getting a logistic certificate would be very helpful for those people (such as myself) who do not have logistics/supply chain background but want to enter the logistics/supply chain field. Do you have any examples/cases that can justify the usefulness of these logistics certificates issued by the corresponding agencies? How recognized are these certificates in the industry? I searched the internet for logistic/supply chain job ads, and none of these ads mention anything about requiring such certificates. I also asked several people in the logistics/supply chain field, and they didnt' know about these certificates either.

[translogistique]

It is absolutely essential that you secure a alid credential supported by professional bodies or the extension wing of the the universities / colleges in your location. Please visit the website www.translogistique.org on detailed report of logistics skill shortage.

[logisticsociety.com]

Attending a course and receiving a certificate is more of a personal goal. Most organizations are familiar with these certificates but have no idea what they mean. It is the same with a College Degree.

In the fields of: Logistics, Supply Chain, Warehousing, Distribution, etc. what does having a degree mean? If the degree is not in the area you are applying for what does it do? Some of the brightest and hardest working people I have ever hired did not have a college education. They started school and never finished. Similar to: Bill Gates and Larry Ellison. If these two individuals applied for a Director level position would you turn them down because they do not have a college degree? If they applied for a CEO position would you turn them down because they dont have their MBA?

It is not the level of education one has attained it is the level of knowledge that one has attained that should be important. How many industry magazines do they read, how many industry related courses have they taken, how many things have they learned while gaining their experience over the 10 years or so.

From the birth of Christ it took man 1800 years to double our knowledge, now our knowledge doubles in less than 18 months. What you knew 18 months ago is now obsolete.

Every time someone tells me they have 10 years of experience I ask them , what have you done differently in your last 9 years? Because I realize most people don't have (in this case) 10 years of experience. They have 1 year repeated 9 times.

So, does a certificate matter? It only matters if you actually learned something attaining the certificate then applied what you learned after you got it. If you just got a certificate to put on your resume it means nothing.

[translogistique]

A person with applied knowedge is much sought after as the skills are acquired and tested in a dynamic work environment. But if the person has no formal or informal education - they are lost - unable to make useful contribution to the business organization that measures with KPI defined by the industry.

Is a Harvard grad superior to those from other universities? What they do not teach in Harvard matter most in our industrial age. Yet branding education makes for the success of your career and edge ove others.

The other day, India was celebrating the achievemnents of IT entrepreneur , Mr Nrayanamurthy CEO of INFOSYS who step down from the company he founded but leaving a legacy for the team he built assiduously wth KNOWLEGE power.. Only wish that the success for INFOSYS will be continued through sharing of knowledge.