Palantir Thinks College Might Be a Waste. So It's Hiring High-School Grads.
(Monday November 03, 2025 @11:41AM (msmash)
from the how-about-that dept.)
- Reference: 0179952058
- News link: https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/11/03/1620202/palantir-thinks-college-might-be-a-waste-so-its-hiring-high-school-grads
- Source link:
Palantir launched a fellowship that recruited high school graduates directly into full-time work, [1]bypassing college entirely . The company received more than 500 applications and selected 22 for the inaugural class. The [2]four-month program began with seminars on Western civilization, U.S. history, and leaders including Abraham Lincoln and Winston Churchill. Fellows then embedded in client teams working on live projects for hospitals, insurance companies, defense contractors, and government agencies.
CEO Alex Karp, who studied at Haverford and Stanford, said in August that hiring university students now means hiring people [3]engaged in "platitudes." The program wraps up in November. Palantir executives said they had a clear sense by the third or fourth week of which fellows were succeeding in the company environment. Fellows who perform well will receive offers for permanent positions without college degrees.
[1] https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/careersandeducation/palantir-pilots-fellowship-to-challenge-traditional-college-pathways/ar-AA1PFbIo
[2] https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/04/13/2342232/palantirs-meritocracy-fellowship-urges-high-school-grads-to-skip-colleges-indoctrination-and-debt
[3] https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/08/05/1712253/no-one-cares-about-elite-degrees-at-palantir-ceo-tells-investors
CEO Alex Karp, who studied at Haverford and Stanford, said in August that hiring university students now means hiring people [3]engaged in "platitudes." The program wraps up in November. Palantir executives said they had a clear sense by the third or fourth week of which fellows were succeeding in the company environment. Fellows who perform well will receive offers for permanent positions without college degrees.
[1] https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/careersandeducation/palantir-pilots-fellowship-to-challenge-traditional-college-pathways/ar-AA1PFbIo
[2] https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/04/13/2342232/palantirs-meritocracy-fellowship-urges-high-school-grads-to-skip-colleges-indoctrination-and-debt
[3] https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/08/05/1712253/no-one-cares-about-elite-degrees-at-palantir-ceo-tells-investors
They want people that cannot leave (Score:2)
by gweihir ( 88907 )
Because they have no degrees and only Palantir-specific skills.
I would call this scheme despicable, repulsive and deeply evil.
Basic Life Skills? (Score:2)
by cmseagle ( 1195671 )
Setting aside whether a college education itself provides value, as a hypothetical hiring manager I would be a bit nervous hiring someone who's never demonstrated that they can feed themselves, clothe themselves, and make it to scheduled appointments (ie, classes and meetings) without the oversight of mom and dad. Obviously having a college degree doesn't correlate perfectly with abilities in those areas, and you could demonstrate the same with a few years work experience. But hiring out of high school intr
Indoctrinate them young (Score:2)
by dskoll ( 99328 )
Yeah, we don't want anybody with actual critical thinking...
Actually, all these horses are the same color. (Score:2)
The four-month program began with seminars on Western civilization, U.S. history, and leaders including Abraham Lincoln and Winston Churchill [...] hiring university students now means hiring people engaged in "platitudes."
"Jack, just say 'libruls', this is taking forever."
Re: (Score:3)
The solution seems simple. Hire smart people from all those conservative schools. Or are they having trouble finding any?