Test Finds College Graduates Lack Skills for White-Collar Jobs

[Martinus]

It's a common expression in M&A world ("completion deliverable" is something that is done at the completion of the deal, as opposed to being a condition precedent to completion). I guess for this reason CdM may start to oppose it.

[Jacob]

I dunno, it seems to me like it may have been coined so management types can talk about their process in the abstract without knowing what's really going on.

Well... sometimes management has to talk about their process in the abstract, and whether they know what's really going on or not is irrelevant.

[alfred russel]

It's also a useful term when you want to narrow down and nail someone down on what the point of some project or task is - "What is the deliverable?" is a good question to force out the bullshit, blahblahblah rhetoric crap that middle management stuffs into everything.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever - what is it that you expect to come out of this effort - what is the deliverable?"

Which is totally unfair.

Middle management is only blabbering about the BS stuff because upper management put in their objectives to take action on the BS stuff, and blabbering is what they are doing to so they can meet some nebulous objective.

Upper management put that stuff in middle management objectives because legal told them they needed to have some evidence that their organization cares about some topic in the event of future litigation.

[Berkut]

BLAHBLAHBLAH whatever.

What do you need me to DO?

[CountDeMoney]

It's a common expression in M&A world ("completion deliverable" is something that is done at the completion of the deal, as opposed to being a condition precedent to completion). I guess for this reason CdM may start to oppose it.

It's common enough in consultancy, project management and even professional writing so I was deliwering deliwerables long before lawyers like you decided I didn't have to anymore.

[DGuller]

Maybe it is a term that makes sense and has useful appliacability in the technical world getting used in a more sloppy manner elsewhere?

We use the word all the time, and it is well understood to mean some tangible "thing" that has to be delivered - the outcome of some project, task, or effort. The deliverable. The thing to be delivered.

Perfectly useful word.

Almost every meaningless corporate-speak buzzword started out as a useful word, before it got corrupted by people who need to say something when they have nothing to say.

[Sheilbh]

Smells like certifications, not degrees.

All of those are in my CV. None have certificates and I've got a BA which shows a reasonable level of intelligence.

If the issue is things like literacy then I think the problem starts way before uni. I agree with Marty on most other things.

[garbon]

Smells like certifications, not degrees.

All of those are in my CV. None have certificates and I've got a BA which shows a reasonable level of intelligence.

If the issue is things like literacy then I think the problem starts way before uni. I agree with Marty on most other things.

You note those on your CV? Those look like they could at best be filed under "basic office skills."

[Eddie Teach]

deliwering deliwerables

[CountDeMoney]

Smells like certifications, not degrees.

All of those are in my CV. None have certificates and I've got a BA which shows a reasonable level of intelligence.

If the issue is things like literacy then I think the problem starts way before uni. I agree with Marty on most other things.

You note those on your CV? Those look like they could at best be filed under "basic office skills."

Not all of us can get by with just one word on our resume, Cardinal.  Some of us actually need to identify our specific competencies and proficiencies.   

[Sheilbh]

You note those on your CV? Those look like they could at best be filed under "basic office skills."

You'd be amazed the number of people who can't use spreadsheets

When they learn I've even done a bit of coding

[garbon]

Smells like certifications, not degrees.

All of those are in my CV. None have certificates and I've got a BA which shows a reasonable level of intelligence.

If the issue is things like literacy then I think the problem starts way before uni. I agree with Marty on most other things.

You note those on your CV? Those look like they could at best be filed under "basic office skills."

Not all of us can get by with just one word on our resume, Cardinal.  Some of us actually need to identify our specific competencies and proficiencies.   

With email etiquette?

Also that word in question is on page 2 of mine.

[CountDeMoney]

With email etiquette?

Especially since there's no voicemail etiquette anymore.

[derspiess]

You'd be amazed the number of people who can't use spreadsheets

Yeah.  Some of my bank customers-- bookkeeping types-- lock up in fear when I walk them through our recommended balancing procedures on a spreadsheet.  The spreadsheet has all the calculations built in, so that all you have to do is enter some figures from reports and you're done.  Amazes me how many of them print out the spreadsheet and try to complete it by hand.

[Barrister]

I felt very proud of myself the other day.  I was struggling with a moderately complex employee theft case - there were 40-50 small thefts that added up to a considerable sum, but I couldn't get my numbers to match up.  Then I remembered this is exactly what you use a spreadsheet for.

So I dusted off my copy of Excel, remembered how to do a spreadsheet.  That little spreadsheet then in turn wound up being my roadmap for the entire case, and was what led a notoriously difficult to obtain a conviction from judge willing to actually convict someone.