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- Newsgroups: comp.lang.c++
- Path: netcom.com!gmandel
- From: gmandel@netcom.com (Glenn Mandelkern)
- Subject: Re: Difficulty hiring people with C++ experience.
- Message-ID: <gmandelDKw681.FDo@netcom.com>
- Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest)
- References: <hNOHm5-.gs678@delphi.com> <4con3u$a24@news1.usa.pipeline.com>
- Date: Tue, 9 Jan 1996 02:14:25 GMT
- Sender: gmandel@netcom5.netcom.com
-
- In article <4con3u$a24@news1.usa.pipeline.com>,
- <grantp@usa.pipeline.com> wrote:
- >On Jan 07, 1996 03:27:51 in article <Re: Difficulty hiring people with C++
- >experience.>, 'gs678@delphi.com' (Glenn Smith) wrote:
- >
- >
- >> [... irrelevant portions deleted ..] I eat, sleep,
- >>dream programming, (except at work)
- >
- >I eat, sleep, dream programming -- including at work! :-)
- >Amazing! I get paid (and quite well) for what I love to do.
- >
- >>Someday I will find the time to get a BSCS, since without it most
- >>interviews may go badly. How does someone like me (programmer
- >>nerd) land a job that let's me use OOD without the BS CS label
- >>required?
- >
-
- The degree is in fact required in many places. The employer may
- understandably raise some red flags as to why you may not have it. Many will
- not even look at you without a degree; their reasoning is basically that
- if you did not see it fit to stick to something for 4 years, then what
- kind of sense of dedication and responsibility could you bring to a job?
- With the thousands of applicants available for a given position,
- the lack of degree provides the equivalent of quick bailing code found
- at the top of many C & C++ functions, i.e.,
-
- if (!degreed)
- return; // don't even bother
-
-
- Then again, a smart employer sometimes realizes the need for someone who
- deviates from the norm. That may just be the right complement to his team.
- Managers with this kind of insight and risktaking posture, however, are rare.
- One manager I spoke to once paraphrased a famous educator by saying, "School
- tends to change our children from question marks into periods. So I am
- always looking for people who were not taken in by this in their education
- and are always exploring." I later found out his employees came from varied
- backgrounds, some with degrees, some without. Ironically, this manager worked
- for a company that made educational productions. I could tell that this
- manager was not into rote thinking nor learning. At the same time, he was
- very willing to work together with many very amicably.
-
- Maybe you can find such a manager who believes in you and your abilities
- and will even encourage you to get a degree through his company's tuition
- reimbursement program. The degree is really just another thing to add
- to your toolbox.
-
- But neither you nor employer should expect guarantees from a degree.
- Your degree will not promise you job security nor the OOD position you want.
- Sometimes employers sob at length as to how safe they tried to play
- it all in hiring only the brightest, yet their project failed immensely
- anyway. But like the above manager cautioned me at an earlier age,
- just because you follow all the steps in something does not mean that
- you will get the 'A' like you did in school.
-
- >It's tough. There's so many out there who claim to eat-sleep-etc.,
- >but don't, and the potential employer must weigh the verifiable
- >facts more than verbal 'bragging'.
- >
-
- The one thing you do not want to lose as a result of your education
- is your uniqueness and flexibility in problem solving--that is vital
- in the most progressive software organizations today. Sometimes, I still
- rely on some self-taught inspirations from BASIC days, such as
-
- IF LEFT$(TIME$(), 5) = "08:00" THEN POKE 2401, &H47
-
- That was my junior high way of remembering to go to school building #2401
- at 8:00AM. &H47 is my first initial in hex, 'G'. Living and breating
- programming this way made me want to pursue software.
-
- Similar to a joke I've seen posted on the net several times about the
- evolution of a C++ programmer, I have written similar things in my daily
- planner as C++ classes and drivers. So when buying a new vehicle close
- to the time I was learning C++, I wrote a class hierarchy to go about
- making my purchase. Originally I wanted a car, but for the kinds of
- things I like to do, a pickup truck worked out better. I remembered
- my OO diagrams and C++ header files as I went around different showrooms.
-
-
-
- >BTW, employers read this newsgroup too. I now and then
- >do some hiring and I remember postings of people such as
- >Glenn.
-
- Another Glenn thanks you. FWIW, I have a BSEE.
-
- --
- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
- Glenn Mandelkern "Hee, hee, hee, hee!" -- Questor the Elf
- gmandel@netcom.com "When passion runs deep,
- San Jose, CA you're playing for keeps" -- Keith Emerson
- Games, GUI's and Entertainment What does Motif sound like in the key of C++?
-
-