|
Nah, we don't need to discuss this here. Grunts, invective, and cuss words ain't germane to the topic of "How to Post Well."
As far as how long I've been around, it's since before C was a readily available choice for programming. Programming was just a part of my career path. If you're really interested, you can view an old resume synopsis on my site.
If you want to know about judging a book by its cover, this is a true story:
In 1989 or thereabouts, I needed to hire an engineer/programmer. Just one. My company put a blind ad in the paper and I got maybe 500 resumes. To be fair, I personally interviewed every single person for a minimum of one hour. Yeah, right, sure I did.
The first thing I did was toss all the pastel colored ones in the trash. You know, the ones provided to graduating students by the placement office. The odds are very, very good that I missed an opportunity to hire a very sharp person. Sorry, mom, how was I to know? Your child's looked just like all the others, but for the name.
My next step was to select all the ones where the applicant's abilities appeared to EXCEED my requirements. That still left a lot.
Once those were in hand, I began to judge the books by their cover. Grossly unfair. All else being equal, if one was clear and crisp and one was done on an ancient typewriter with a faded ribbon, guess how the choice was made between the two? They're MY eyeballs, right?
Ten people were scheduled for and notified of a telephone interview. Six were there to answer the phone at the appointed time. The other four didn't get a second chance. Grossly unfair. How do I know Joe's mother hadn't just been rushed to the hospital following an accident?
Two people got face to face interviews. I knew which one I was going to hire. The other one had an excellent resume, experience in projects very similar to the one I had opening up. His problem was that he claimed to have been project leader on a certain project (for another company) a couple of years previously. His BIGGEST problem was that I had been the leader for that project. He got an interview solely for the reason that I wanted to see his face when he walked into my office. Mean, huh? I still laugh about ol' Ed's face.
Being like everyone else isn't necessarily good -- look at all those deep-sixed pink resumes. Being a maverick isn't necessarily good. Most mavericks (by the actual definition of the word in cattlemen's circles) get their cojones cut off.
It's YOUR career. It's YOUR persona. It's YOUR choice. It's YOUR responsibility. Not mine, and not your mom's.
Programming professionally concerns a lot more than correct syntax or barely adequate functionality. Some of my posts tend to address these kinds of issues. Others might just present a coded solution to the immediate problem of an OP. One never knows, do one? (Climbs down off soapbox). I'm done.
|