Hands on Education | Brick By Brick Apprenticeship

Brick By Brick Apprenticeship

Pillar #2: Education

Education is the power to think clearly, the power to act well in the world’s work, and the power to appreciate life.

— Brigham Young

EDUCATION.

“The truth is, ANYTHING you need to learn can be found on-line. For FREE. Bachelors & Masters degree content. How to fix a transmission. How to invest in the stock market. How to manage teams. How to speak in public. It's staggering what's available!

You have to ask yourself, if it's all so readily available, why isn't everyone accessing it?”

We've talked about the massive cost of college at length.

There IS value however in the education, WHAT you learn.

Here is our take on incorporating education into the Brick by Brick Apprenticeship program.

The education component, like all 4 pillars of the Apprenticeship program is geared to give you the tools for life long earning potential.

Our goal is NOT for you to devote precious time meandering through classes in hopes of "finding your passion," but get you DIRECTLY into a path that is practical, rewarding and timeless.

We can't stress this enough....

This is not a vacation where you can hang out and spend 4 years exploring various liberal arts themes (although ironic with the name "ART" in our business isn't it!)

WAY TOO MANY college freshman agonize on selecting a major, what they think they will love, find enjoyment in, and are too often disappointed that they "never even use their degree!"

Our goal is all about ROI: If you spend massive energy on educating yourself, there ought to be a real world practical application.

Our point of view is pretty strong: There is way too much debt, way too much DIS-satisfaction with higher education. Maybe they loved their experience, but the cries are loud and far that the return on investment is questionable for far too many people.

A component of Return on Investment (ROI) is time.

Said differently, too much wasted time, and too many impractical degrees are offered.

This is about getting REAL intense learning, surrounded by mentors and applying that knowledge daily in your job, on the playing field.

"After all, the chief business of the American people is business. They are profoundly concerned with producing, buying, selling, investing and prospering in the world." President Calvin Coolidge.

The abbreviated version?

"The business of America, is business!"

Can you imagine what the education component will focus on?

Business!

Some facts to consider....

90% of the private sector employment market is FOR Profit, vs non profit. They are businesses. Of those businesses....

SMALL Businesses Matter Tremendously!

Small businesses make up: 99.7 percent of U.S. employer firms, 64 percent of net new private-sector jobs, 49.2 percent of private-sector employment, 42.9 percent of private-sector payroll, 46 percent of private-sector output, 43 percent of high-tech employment, 98 percent of firms exporting goods, and 33 percent of exporting value.

Source: https://www.sba.gov/sites/default/files/FAQ_Sept_2012.pdf

The advantage of small business?

By definition, you need to have a very broad skill set. You can't just be great at manufacturing. Or Sales. Or technology. You need to understand, appreciate and contribute to each of these areas.

Education Curriculum: On-Line, Customized, & Efficient

A bachelors degree is generally considered to be 120 credit hours......and depending on the university, about 40 classes. That's a CONVENTIONAL program. We believe this is a solid STARTING point for consideration, but believe many "general education" classes can be swapped out with practical, certificate based classes.

Google for one is accepting new employees WITHOUT college degrees and WITH their customized IT certificate programs. I put more weight into competency driven education (like google) vs TIME based education like the classical degree.

BOTH have value but the college does not have a monopoly on what constitutes "education."

3 Simple examples?

Microsoft office certifications
CNC technology in depth training modules
Hubspot academy- inbound marketing certification, content marketing, etc

How about a bachelors degree from a fully accredited online university for a TOTAL cost just under $5,000?

Yes, it exists, and it's accredited. And it provides the perfect, flexible structure for the Brick By Brick Apprenticeship Program.

https://www.uopeople.edu/

What's the time investment?

Conventional undergraduate degrees are estimated to be 25-32 hours a week, for 4 years total time commitment.

The question comes down to you? How much are you willing to dedicate to move quickly and juggle work and education?

Is it possible to get the equivalent of a bachelors degree and maintain a 24-32 hours a week? You bet it is.

There are 24 hour in a day. Sleep is mandatory, and 8 hours is always good. So how are you going to spend 16 hours a day spread over 7 days? It's possible, but it comes down to how driven you are to start compiling education and work skills.

With Mentorship and goal setting making up 2/4 pillars of the Brick by Brick apprenticeship, you are not alone in figuring out how best to craft your own curriculum, we will be there to talk through your goals, desires, and life challenges as we craft your plan and set a customized education plan that will maximize your potential and quality of life. THEN, we will set basic review milestones on a regular basis to ensure you are achieving your education goals outlined in your plan.

One last note on Education, a personal story. 9 years ago I came across a book, written by Laurie Pickard: "Don't pay For Your MBA."

https://www.nopaymba.com/

I was intrigued and Laurie & Started a conversation.

Laurie asked how I would view a potential MBA student who completed the equivalent of an MBA online, but it wasn't "official" meaning there was no credential. BUT, all the material was completed. She wanted to know from an EMPLOYERS perspective in a position to hire, would I view it as credible. The Short answer was YES, if.....

I wrote the article which you can view on Hustle or Bust

https://www.hustleorbust.com/2014/10/09/an-employers-perspective-on-line-no-pay-mba-vs-traditional-mba/

Here was my takeaway: If a student is driven & innovative enough to cobble together courses from all different sources at little/no cost, and actually DEMONSTRATES that they learned the material WITHOUT taking on massive debt.......that's EXACTLY the kind of innovative & driven person I want to work with.

HOWEVER, I can not say if I'm unique in my view or not. At the heart of heart of Laurie's concern was "I'm working hard, but it's not conventional, will it matter?" A very fair concern, especially in 2014.

Source: Jason Lange Ted Talk: Is college still worth it?

So here's what we will do for the Brick by Brick Apprenticeship.

Your not just going to learn on-line. You will leave ZERO doubt that you KNOW the material, and you can demonstrate it. I know of no better way to capture this learning then a personal blog. Journal your courses, learning, struggles, course by course. Integrate your classes with specific assignments at PAVERART.

The Education component of Brick by Brick is NOT about us asking you every now and then "how's school going?" We will be meeting on it often, reviewing your blog, bringing the online education world into your world of work.

Sound challenging?

Doubt this will work? Here's a challenge:

* Spend 20 minutes skimming 20+ articles on Hustle or Bust. You don't need to read each one, and you certainly don't need to go through all 200 posts. Then ask yourself:

"Does this person demonstrate a certain level of subject matter expertise he's writing about?"

When you build your digital portfolio/blog, this is what you will be demonstrating, over time: Subject matter knowledge. And you'll be building a critical skill, communicating through the written word, while simultaneously picking up digital marketing and web development skills.

Few people right out of high school have a digital portfolio/blog......