NetNews Offline 2/NetNews Offline Volume 2.iso/news/comp/lang/c++-part1/924

Internet Message Format | 1996-08-06 | 3.8 KB

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From: [e-mail] (Warren Young)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.c++
Subject: Re: Difficulty hiring people with C++ experience.
Date: Mon, 08 Jan 1996 12:12:38 GMT
Organization: Kennedy and Associates
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[e-mail] wrote:

>On Jan 07, 1996 03:27:51 in article <Re: Difficulty hiring people with C++
>experience.>, '[e-mail]' (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?
>
>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'.

But a BSCS doesn't mean a whole lot more.  Sure, it says that you've
been exposed to a certain amount of CS and that you've been forced to
use some of it, but that's it.  It says nothing about your actual
ability to write code (or design, or whatever).

I'm biased, though: I don't yet have a degree, and by choice; I can't
stand standardized education, because it's often too slow for me, and
I refuse to be held back.  It can also be too fast for me, forcing me
to keep up or die but I also refuse to be pushed.  Sure, I may be
_able_ to keep up, but if I feel moved to learn something in more
detail than required, I can't do that.

Another problem I have with learning any scientific or mathematical
subject is the contrived examples.  I never learned about binary trees
until I had to use one, and then I learned _everything_ about them.
Unless I actually have a need for a particular tool, it's more
important to me to know that something _can_ be done than to be able
to do it.  Finally, and most fatal to my chances of being degreed is
that I don't like being told _what_ to learn, and when.  Even if I
wanted to know everything that the course covered, I'd still want to
learn it in my own order.

Yet I am a professional programmer.  So how did I do it?  I got a job
for a small company that was willing to take a small gamble by hiring
a grunt programmer for low pay.  As long as the pay is sufficient to
live comfortably on, it's a good way to get "into" the industry,
because you're getting real experience, and you're creating references
for when you try for a "real" job.  Or, you can parlay the grunt job
into a real job as you prove your worth.  Meanwhile, you should be
getting paid enough to both live comfortably _and keep learning_.  I
spend a healthy chunk of my salary each year on education, so that
now, three years after I was hired, I feel that I know more about CS
than the average new BSCS graduate.

I'm not stopping there, either.  The books I'm getting now aren't even
close to required reading.  Before, most everything I learned had an
immediate or near-future impact to the programs I was writing
(although I could have probably "coasted" a lot more than I did and
still been useful to the company).  Now, the books I read have to do
with subjects that are of more peripheral interest to the company --
books on design and team programming, for example, when we do nothing
so large that we really need to use such techniques.

One caveat: I haven't started looking for the "second" job yet, so all
you have is my opinion that my current skills could get me another
real CS job.  Take this advice accordingly.

So, are you voracious for knowledge and willing to endure a rocky
start, with no guaranteed takeoff?  If so, you may be able to pull
something similar off.  If not, bite the bullet, get the BSCS degree,
and find a job in a 9-5 conformity shop.

= Warren --