Product knowledge training is about methodically educating employees, partners, and customers about the ins and outs of a company's products or services. For employees and partners, it's the essential working knowledge they need to confidently sell, support, and deliver the product. For customers, it's the know-how they need to adopt it smoothly and get the most value from it.
One of my favorite movies is Good Will Hunting. Will Hunting (played by Matt Damon) is a 20-year-old janitor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Although he works a blue-collar job, he is secretly a self-taught genius with an extraordinary gift for mathematics and an exceptional memory. One day, he anonymously solves a complex math problem left on a chalkboard by Professor Gerald Lambeau, astonishing the faculty.
I was like, 'What do you mean, I can actually work and take some classes?' I didn't even know there were apprenticeships out there, because I thought it was something of the past. That was my dream-to go into some field of engineering-so it was great to find something like AT&T, which has an apprenticeship program where you can jump into it, which later becomes software engineering.
LinkedIn is taking steps to prove that job candidates really have they skills they claim. The Verified AI Skills program unveiled in January involves LinkedIn partnering with AI tool providers to automatically validate and display a user's proficiency directly in their certification section. The initial partners include Lovable, Replit, Relay.app, and Descript, which will track AI proficiency of candidates using their tools to create AI apps.
Work changes fast. New tools arrive, roles grow, and processes shift. Often, the training just doesn't keep up. That gap is learning debt. It builds up quietly and shows up in small ways. Like a normal week turning into a scramble because one key person is on vacation. Let's look at what this looks like in daily work, why we ignore it, and how to start paying it down.
Young people are "experiencing higher education differently, and that is shaping much of what parents are saying," said Lammers. "[Parents] are reacting to the questions their children are asking and trying to find the best way to help them navigate the next steps."
It can be scary to borrow large student loans to finance an expensive college degree. There is a market failure, however, every time a student does not attend their preferred college, study their preferred major, or pursue their preferred career because they are afraid of student loans. Students should be free to pursue their passions - not forced into second-best choices because of the cost of the degree or the prospect of a lower income in the future.
While overall more people are choosing college, there are important shifts happening in where students are going and where they're not. Enrollment at private four-year colleges is down. Fewer people are enrolled in master's degree programs. But enrollment is up at four-year public universities and at community colleges. There, it's driven by students choosing short-term credentials tied to the workforce.
