and to Fili An’s point, employers who don’t “get” it and hire based on what’s shown on just the paper will lose out the good candidates who may not fit all the boxes. until recruiters/employers are more flexible, education will still be valued over passion as hiring criteria.

In a perfect world education and passion should be of the same thing. Also, I’ve long ago came to the conclusion that education isn’t intended to give you knowledge but rather develop special skills and abilities. If an employer is testing the fresh BA graduates on what they’ve learned in school, then he’s missing the point. I’d focus on asking them for how school affected them and how their perception of life and their profession evolved throughout their college life.

But that’s just my point of view.

In some ways this is true, but I would add that people should not avoid education to follow through on their passion.

A passion can be best acted upon when you have the structure and disciplined thinking that comes from a strong formal education.

WB Yeats dealt with this issue in The Second Coming, where he warned that breaking with the past too strongly with Passionate Intensity can lead to uneducated mob rule. Certainly something I would not advocate!

The Second Coming

Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.

That said, you are correct, when considering candidates I care more about their passion than previous experience or qualification. I think that is in part a reaction against people who think and cultures where (France in particular) a degree conveys privileges.

I believe in a strict meritocracy.