Does accomplishments count as experience?

Question

If someone was applying for a job and their resume said that he worked in your industry for 12 years, but didn't list any accomplishments, and another person had a resume that said they worked in your industry for 4 years, and listed many accomplishments on their resume, which one would you hire? Which one seems more experienced?

Answer 1

I would vote for McCain and Palin of course  

Answer 2

No, they're generally two different categories in one's resume.

Answer 3

Palin is not accomplished or experienced in anything other than giving birth.

Sorry it had to be said.

Answer 4

Defiantly the the second one.

Answer 5

It's not the length of time. It's what one has DONE with the length of time.

I'd go for the person who has used their time wisely, and not the person who sat back on their laurels.

Answer 6

let me say that if I were hiring a CEO,

and my choices were an employee from my company with 14 years experience or anyone with executive experience of running things already for only a few years.

sorry guy, but I choose the exec.

every time.

My company is too important for on the job training and too important to put someone in that has no experience.

I would hire the 14 year person IF they enrolled in my management program and worked their way into a VP spot. Also, if they went to school for "business and economics" NOT for a lawyer!

I need a realist to run my company, NOT a smooth talking lawyer that will debate everything.

See, in this world, you must be able to get past the "debating" and make quick decisions. NOT stand around thinking about it or debating it.

Answer 7

I'd trust the 12 year w/ accomplishments apposed to the 4 years w/ no accomplishments...

Answer 8

Neither.

The one with 12 years experience and no accomplishments is probably a stick in the mud who will drain my business.

And the one with 4 years experience and many accomplishments is a sycophant on the fast track to middle management.  Which means he doesn't know his job well enough to do it.

Answer 9

That's actually a pretty good analogy, but the answer is not so clear cut.

First of all, most people off the street can't name the legislative accomplishments of ANY Senator. Name one thing Ted Kennedy has done. Name one thing Robert C. Byrd (the old dude who's served like 238957 terms) has done. If the Senator manages to get his name tied to the bill - "McCain-Feingold Campaign Finance Reform", for example - they have an outside shot at being remembered. Anyway, the point I'm making here is that accomplishments in the Senate are pretty hard to measure by populist standards.

The other problem with your analogy is that Obama cannot be said to have "more accomplishments" on his resume no matter how you slice it. Heck, it's even hard to argue that McCain has "more" accomplishments. It's not like they hand out certificates at the end of the year to the best Senator. In fact, there exists no objective measure for what a "good" Senator is. Besides getting re-elected, there lacks a single clear and objective metric for success as a Senator. This unfortunate fact muddles your analogy significantly, and reinforces the argument that the office of President is a fairly unique position that is difficult to approach from traditional "job vacancy" angles.

Anyways, to give you a straight answer to your original question, I'd go with the person with 4 years and accomplishments. The only reason to believe the 12 year guy is better is because he has learned extra things in his years on the job. But if the novice has already amassed more awards than him, then clearly he's doing something wrong, or the novice is just doing the job much better from the get-go. But, like I said - the comparison of this to the Presidential choice is anything but clear cut.

Answer 10

Accomplishments and Experience is best, but accomplishments is more important than experience. I am from Illinois and half of the time that Obama has been in the Senate, he has been running for president an only voting PRESENT more than any other senator.

Answer 11

Not Palin.