NetNews Offline 2/NetNews Offline Volume 2.iso/news/comp/lang/c++-part1/1071

Internet Message Format | 1996-08-06 | 3.4 KB

Path: hpbs2500.boi.hp.com!charleyb
From: [e-mail] (Charley Bay (Contract))
Newsgroups: comp.lang.c++
Subject: Re: Difficulty hiring people with C++ experience.
Date: 8 Jan 1996 21:42:28 GMT
Organization: Hewlett-Packard Co., Greeley, CO, USA
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: >(Glenn Smith) wrote:
: >>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?

James Moore ([e-mail]) wrote:
: Once you have professional experience, my experience has been that no
: one cares what your degree is.  [snip] Possibly they might ask
: a few more specific technical questions in an interview, but I don't
: think I've ever had an interview where I couldn't convince the person
: across the table that I knew what I was doing.

Ditto.  If you're good, nobody cares.  My BS degree is in Forestry.  Big
deal...nobody cares.  I was good at Forestry, and graduated first in my
class, but most companies have never asked about it.

Like my dad always said, "A college degree means only one thing: that you
can learn."  A graduate degree, I'll add, simply means you are very
patient and jump through hoops when told and (1) you love the material
or (2) you can stomach anything for a while.

Now, I take only the most challenging and exciting jobs.  I have
several standing job offers at all times.  How can this be?

Be very good at what you do.  Be the best at something, but know
that there is always somebody better (so find them and learn from
them).  No topic in this field is not worthy of absolute devotion
and study, because they all benefit one's raw logical understanding
of what is possible in the science.

Find something you like and get books.  Read them.  Be THE expert
on that topic.  You like files?  Know everything about inodes, how
different OS treats them, devices, descriptors, etc.  You like
GUI front-ends?  Know the trade-offs of the various tools and
languages, and know _very_well_ at least one of them.  If you
know EVERYTHING about SOMETHING, then somebody needs you.  Also,
this goes back to the point so many others make here:  It's so
terribly difficult to find exceptional people (you've got to start
being exceptional somewhere).  Even if the company doesn't like the
one thing at which you are an expert, it shows that you are CAPABLE
of being an expert.  That's a big deal, and this capability for
excellence is what I look for when I hire.

For me, it's the C++ language (I've read the WG twice), OOA&D (always
reading), and an eye for project management ("heads up").  There's
always stuff you don't know, but with an open mind and a constant
accumulation of knowledge/experience, you should eventually become
that exceptional person (if you are hungary).

BTW, I've never taken a CS class, but I've taught hundreds of them.
When I go back to school, it's not for my BS in CS:  It's for my
PhD in CS.  The degree won't be to impress people, but for
furthering the science. (Save a few research or academic
positions, I don't need it to get great jobs).

--
--charley                              #include <stdisclaimer.h>
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