by Nick Bianco

Created on: January 21, 2009

Experience will win over education every time. Work experience will provide an education in itself, while even the best education will never amount to one day of experience. Granted there are some careers where it is impossible to gain experience without first having education, such as a surgeon or a lawyer. But for the vast majority of jobs, there is no substitute for experience.

A classroom education is certainly a good thing to have, but in the real world, many of the problems and situations that arise can only be dealy with effectively by a person with experience. Textbooks and professors can provide you with the basics, but even the best education in the world cannot possibly cover every scenario that arises in the real world.

As an owner of a small business, I would feel much more comfortable hiring an individual who had worked in the field for 4 years, than someone who has a 4-year college education but has never held a job. When you work in a certain field, you recieve an invaluable hands-on education, the likes of which cannot be purchased with tuition or a diploma.

Ideally, the best way to get ahead in a career is by having a combination of both education and work experience. Those who are well-educated will surely know a few things that the average worker doesn't, and an experienced worker will surely know things that a well-educated neophyte does not. A savvy employer will hire both types of people, knowing that the experienced employees can help develop those just out of college, and the well-educated employees can teach a few things to the seasoned employees. By combining both types of employees, the well-experienced and the well-educated, you are maximizing every employee's potential.

Building a sucessful business team is no different than building a championship sports team. In sports, teams that win championships have a balanced mix of veteran players and rookies, stars and utility players. A team comprised only of talented rookies will never win a championship; likewise, a business which employs only workers with a high level of education will never reach its full potential. Similarly, a team that only has veteran players will never win a championship. However, if it were strictly a case of one versus the other, a team with highly-experienced players will always perform better than a team of players lacking in experience.

Even the most experienced employee can rise to new heights in their career by continuing their education. A well-educated employee can only climb the ladder of success through experience. So while both experience and education are essential to success, those who already have several years of work experience will be able to get ahead in their career faster.

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