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Valuing friends, not grades 10

Posted by Mary Ellen Slayter on June 17, 2009 10 comments

SmartPulse — our weekly reader poll in Smartbrief on Workforce — tracks feedback from leading managers and HR practitioners.  We run the poll question each Wednesday in our e-newsletter and feature analysis from SmartBrief on Workforce Senior Editor Mary Ellen Slayter on this blog.

Last week’s poll question: What is the most important factor in getting promoted?

  • Networking, 33%
  • Work ethic, 32%
  • Experience, 24%
  • Brains, 10%
  • Education, 0%

Y’all take that old adage of “it’s who you know, not what you know,” quite seriously, don’t you? I agree that networking is important, but I’m shocked that education ranked so low, with only one person picking it as most important. (The percentages are rounded.) In part, that’s because education has played a critical role in my own career trajectory — my master’s degree in journalism lead directly to a promotion (and significant raise) at my last job.

Did these results surprise you? How significant do you think education is in getting ahead at work.

Image credit, iStock

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  1. JB Jun 17, 2009 15:50

    The problem with education is that my company has no process for promoting based on further education. They say that your increased education should show up in your job performance; thus your reward should come in your yearly evaluation.
    What if you graduate right after evals? You have to wait another year.
    Your best hope is that your management chain was aware of your continuing education and has prepared (and fought for) an out-of-cycle promotion. That is, if they like you. So, who you know becomes the most important part of getting a promotion.

  2. bamishe ojo Jun 18, 2009 16:08

    additional educational qualification like Msc, MBA PhD should be reflected in your work output and as such should not be a basis of promotion. With the falling standard of education paper qualification has been greatly abused moreso that people mostly cant defend the certificate they proclaim to have obtained. leadership position requires more of networking intellectual ability rather than educational qualification.

  3. SBWorkforce Jun 17, 2009 13:17

    How much does education matter in getting promoted? Not much, say SBWorkforce readers, in last week’s poll: http://is.gd/14CA9

    This comment was originally posted on Twitter

  4. cyndyd Jun 17, 2009 13:34

    @toryjohnson What’s the most important factor in getting promoted? Networking, not brains, say SmartBlog readers. http://tinyurl.com/nbst2d

    This comment was originally posted on Twitter

  5. Aleks_Todorova Jun 17, 2009 14:14

    Yup. Not brains. RT @toryjohnson: What’s the most important factor in getting promoted? Networking, not brains. http://tinyurl.com/nbst2d

    This comment was originally posted on Twitter

  6. TexasWomen Jun 18, 2009 11:42

    What’s the most important factor in getting promoted? Networking, not brains, say SmartBlog readers. http://tinyurl.com/nbst2d

    This comment was originally posted on Twitter

  7. PennWomen Jun 18, 2009 11:48

    What’s the most important factor in getting promoted? Networking, not brains, say SmartBlog readers. http://tinyurl.com/nbst2d

    This comment was originally posted on Twitter

  8. masswomen Jun 18, 2009 12:23

    What’s the most important factor in getting promoted? Networking, not brains, say SmartBlog readers. http://tinyurl.com/nbst2d

    This comment was originally posted on Twitter

  9. FloridaWomen Jun 18, 2009 12:28

    What’s the most important factor in getting promoted? Networking, not brains, say SmartBlog readers. http://tinyurl.com/nbst2d

    This comment was originally posted on Twitter

  10. ThePBWN Jun 30, 2009 11:31

    What’s the most important factor in getting promoted? Networking, not brains, say SmartBlog readers. http://tinyurl.com/nbst2d

    This comment was originally posted on Twitter

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