Re: ANNOUNCE: Vacant Job Positions

In article <3120B741.3482_at_crl.com>, john b <jointprd_at_crl.com> wrote:
>Correct my summary of this issue if I'm wrong.
>
>1) Corporate America does not recognize that there are very competent
>"non-degreed computer" people out there.
>2) Corporate America is probably bypassing a great source of knowledge.
>3) Most of corporate America is prejudice.
>4) All things equal, a degree will always win out.
>5) Having a degree does not make you any better than anyone else.
>6) Not having a degree more than likely will limit initial opportunities,
> but if persistent things will work out.
>7) Good experience is worth just as much as a degree.

Well I guess that's a good summary of one half of the issue :-). First of all, a degree is valuable for many reasons that have nothing to do with getting and doing a good job; surely you have heard about the importance of a broad liberal arts education. But a degree should also be an occupational asset. College exposes one to subjects and opinions one would never have explored on one's own. Young degreeless programmers are unlikely to know much about the more theoretical and abstract ideas of computer science or about the history of computer science. They may be able to perform well at a narrow job, but the overcompartmentalized environments in which they will thrive are just those that support the cancerous growth of monolithic programs.

All that said, it must be conceded that many degrees hardly approach the liberal ideal. Getting a degree from some colleges is probably of little value to anyone smart and motivated enough to be a good programmer.

>
>Just to share a personal experience, I recall working with two newly
>hired people. One degreed, the other one not. They both were terrible
>programmers. Both of them got fired. Both of them got what they had
>coming. The company I worked for was just as eager to get rid of the
>degreed person as quickly as the non degreed person. Hmmm.... maybe we
>should start a post about people fired instead of hired.

So? Obviously not everyone with a degree will be stellar or even adequate. But I hope you're rethinking your hiring strategies to better weed out incompetent applicants.

>Hell, then we
>would probably get the ACLU in here. "The firing of this degreed person
>was a blatant attempt to undermind the acedemic standards of this great
>nation of ours. I say that his civil rights were not only unfairly
>sabotaged, but the firing is also a threat to every degreed person out
>there. If you think this firing will stop here, you're kidding yourself.
>Every degreed person should see this as a threat to their very being."
>
>Yeah, whatever.

The ACLU has done a tremendous amount of good work in the advancement of civil rights. If you disagree with some stance of theirs, by all means take them up on it; I certainly don't agree with all of their positions. However thoughtless remarks like this only serve to make thousands of people who only know through your postings think that you are a bigot or perhaps just a fool.

Grant Received on Wed Feb 14 1996 - 00:00:00 CET