Mike's Minute: Snobs are complaining about Defence Force criteria

A touch of the ol' intellectual snobbery reared its head with news that the Defence Force dropped education criteria last year. 

As a person who had no time for school and could not wait to get out into the world, I was, and still am, very grateful for the idea that you choose the person and not the piece of paper when it comes to work. 

When I started, School Certificate and UE were what you needed to get into the media, or at least to have a crack. 

These days you need a degree. I can assure you the quality of those graduates has not changed one iota as a result of several years of study. 

The military is an awfully difficult place to recruit for, especially in a country like ours. 

Just what is it you are offering? We don't do a lot; we don’t have a lot of equipment and we don’t fight wars. We keep peace and patrol. 

So in a world where work-life balance and work from home and 4-day weeks are commonplace, average pay, Waiouru, and a lot of early rises aren't exactly calling cards. 

So you simply now need three years of school. You don’t even need Level 1 NCEA. 

Here is the thing – some people aren't into school. I know this because I was one of them. 

Not all life choices, work choices, or skills are gained by passing Year 11 maths. 

The military is as much about attitude and aptitude – it's a structured environment and it is designed for a specific type of person. 

In places like America, they recruit people who may well struggle to get regular work. That is the way it is and it's a simple truth. They offer dental and medical in a country where you may not be able to afford it. 

They offer a career and travel and opportunity in careers and trades you may not have even thought of. 

Here you can be an auto technician, plumber or diver. They are the jobs on offer in the military with no skills. Could you do that in civilian life? No. 

Being good with an engine does not mean you are good in class. 

These are doors of opportunity 

If the military through necessity can make it work, who are these outside snobs who still believe that exams and results are the sole key to employment? 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Touch the old intellectual snobbery, I thought yesterday rearing its
head with news that the Defense Force dropped education criteria
last year. So, as a person who had no time
for school and could not wait to get out into
the world, I was, and still am, very grateful for
the idea that you choose the person, not the piece
of paper when it comes to work. When I started school,
certain ue, well what you needed to get into the media,

(00:21):
or at least have a crack at it. These days
you need a degree, and I can assure you the
quality of those graduates has not changed one iota as
a result of several years of study. The military is
an awfully difficult place to recruit for, especially in a
country like ours. I mean, just what is it you're offering.
We don't do a lot, We don't have a lot
of equipment. We don't fight wars, We peacekeep and weed patrol.
So in a world where work life balance and work

(00:43):
from home and four day weeks a commonplace, average pay
WAYOUU and a lot of early rises aren't exactly calling cards,
are they. So you simply now need three years of school.
You don't even need level one NCEEA to join. So
here's the thing. Some people aren't into school. And I
know this because I was one of them. Not all
life choices, work choices, or skills are gained by passing

(01:04):
year eleven maths. The military is as much about attitude
and aptitude. It's a structured environment. It is designed for
specific types of people. In places like America, they recruit
people who may well struggle to get regular work. That's
the way it is. It's a simple truth. They offer
dental and medical in a country where you may not
be able to afford it. They offer a career and
travel and opportunity. Careers and trades you may not have

(01:26):
even thought of. Here. What are they offering? Auto technician, plumber, diver.
These are jobs on offer in the military with no skills.
Could you do that in civilian life? No, you couldn't.
Being good with an engine doesn't mean you're good in
a classroom. These are doors of opportunity. If the military,
through necessity, can make this work, who are these outside
snobs who still believe that exams and results are the

(01:48):
sole key to employment. For more from the Mic Asking Breakfast,
listen live to news talks that be from six am weekdays,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio,