Re: Career questions: databases

Neil wrote:
> Not to pound this into the ground, but I think, with any technology, there
> are various aspects of the technology that one could be proficient in
> without being proficient in all aspects of the technology. (Perhaps one
> could postulate that being proficient in all or nearly all aspects of a
> technology might be a definition of being "expert").

Pound away ... it is an important topic.

> When I worked onsite as a contractor, I was both involved with hiring
> individuals, and was hired by individuals. Typically, when one was looking
> for a candidate for a position, what was required was that one was
> proficient in various aspects of the technology, not all aspects. A person
> may say, "I've never done this or that, but I've done this and that," and
> that would be enough, since we weren't looking for someone "expert" in the
> technology, but merely "proficient" in the technology.
>
> So for someone to put on their resume that they are "proficient" in a
> technology because they can work with some aspects of a technology, but not
> necessarily all aspects, is, in my opinion, very legitimate. That could be
> all that a client is looking for.

I agree. There are part of Oracle in which I would claim proficiency and there are others where I know I am not. For someone to write: "I am proficient in these areas of a technology" makes perfect sense. But to claim you are proficient in the Oracle 10g database, for example, makes me look to see whether your last name is Jacobs or Kyte.

> But I agree that many people put items on their resume if they just
> "breathed" on it or had the most basic of experience in it. That's
> illegitmate. But not being expert, but being proficient to perform tasks,
> even if not all tasks, is, in my opinion, a legitimate reason to put it on
> one's resume.
>
> Neil

And with this I think we have achieved at least a two person consensus.

-- 
Daniel A. Morgan
University of Washington
damorgan_at_x.washington.edu (replace x with u to respond)
Puget Sound Oracle Users Group
www.psoug.org