<p>Pizzagirl, you are referring to things I lump into the category “street smart”. the best candidates I hired were first, street smart, second, good character, and third, book smart.</p>
<p>And I agree with your perspective. It is possible for a book/school skill development focus throughout high school and college to actually inhibit a person developing street smarts/skills which will ultimately be far more important, than, for example, understanding the differences between Freud and Jung (or fill in any other technical knowledge).</p>