[aklug] Re: Jobs - OT?

Lol, when I interviewed last for an ASD IT job they wanted a unix person then at
the conclusion of the interview gave me a "test" to determine my skills with
MS-SQL, MS IDEs and MS APIs. While I was expert in integrating MS systems with
*nix, I declined the test as I did not have any of the skills the test
addressed; and I was crossed of their list..... I did have a similar experience
at ASD though when asked about configuring workstations, and the interviewers
did not understand how I was answering their questions....
I don't know who "us" are ;=} but all but VocEd teaching staff at ASD use Macs
(some 3000 users) and OS X is a great OS especially for teachers. PC's cost of
ownership has always been outrageous..... But perhaps the real issue facing ASD
is that they never developed an SA culture whether the focus of IT was to
facilitate the user though Mike may (or may not) have something to say here -
lol. ASD hiring I think is crippled because of the narrow mindsets - and I think
they do have a culture of fear derived from their broad ignorance.

One of the suggestions made by the BRT was the examination of a move to
providing students with a linux based laptop (a contract for 25000 laptops would
have brought the price of a netbook down dramatically and could have resulted in
a real tech training program for high school students to support such
purchasing, with the cost written off as against savings in curriculum, etc.) An
effort to provide laptops to students became so bloated that the final cost was
over an order of magnitude higher than needed...... which of course rendered the
experiment unaffordable on a large scale. Similarly, efforts to buy laptops
for teachers, in failing to address ownership with teachers, potentially will
once again fail as equipment obsolescence is faced, as happened when Jeff Wood
first announced rotational leasing some years ago.

Nevertheless, and perhaps because they did meet their enemy in the mirror, they
almost always have an IT job or two advertised..... and perhaps the prospect of
filing a workman's comp claim over job based nervous distress is not a deterrent
to at least being employed, gainfully or otherwise (and some of the folk at ASD
have done some great work, though don't let anyone know I said that.)

On 4/7/2010 10:42 AM, Tim Gibney wrote:
> A similar issue with language skillset matching to obtain a job is
> happening at ASD in regards to tech workers.
>
> I was one of people who tried to interview for a technical support
> position at ASD. I was turned because all the questions were Macintosh
> related and I was a Windows and Linux guy. A third of the questions I
> mentioned how to find a solution with the unix shell. I guess it is
> easier to select "About This Macintosh" to find the software version
> than to mention uname -s. Kind of kicking myself as I corrected myself
> after mentioning uname but I blew the interview after that :-)
>
> Anyway ASD could train pc users as 95% of us use pcs and not macs. I
> guess my a+, MCSE, and bachelors degree meant still untrainable and a
> risk. I wish my wife would have left me get a mac a couple of years ago
> ugh.
>
>
> On Wed, Apr 7, 2010 at 8:58 AM, Marc Grober <marc@interak.com
> <mailto:marc@interak.com>> wrote:
>
> While I agree with James that HR staff are clueless (once I was =20
> screened out of an SA job because the languages I listed were not on =20
> the approved list though no specific language nor programming =20
> experience were required) so are many hiring managers. The key I
> think =20=
>
> is making the screening cut and then making the interviewers feel =20
> comfortable.
>
> The hiring manager is not concerned with your degrees. The reason to =20
> get a bachelors degree is to broaden your universe, not to pick up =20
> marketable skills in the narrow sense.
>
> The real world is dysfunctional in many respects - Dilbert is more =20
> accurate than you could ever imagine. I have been pink slipped
> because =20=
>
> in saving an employer thousands of dollars I unwittingly embarrassed =20
> the infrastructure that had approved those unnecessary expenditures
> ;) =20=
>
> While some argue there are no jobs ASD regularly complains about
> being =20=
>
> unable to retain qualified IT staff....
>
> Today I would have to say that networking is the most important =20
> gateway to employment (except perhaps for the unemployable older =20
> members of the "white male Internet hegemony", as one person put it).
>
> I don't know of many gods placing folk in paying positions though,
> and =20=
>
> as employers gods can be pretty deadly - I would stick with more =20
> conventional methods as well as looking for internship opportunities =20
> and overseas markets.
>
>
>
> On Apr 7, 2010, at 2:03 AM, Christopher Howard <choward@indicium.us
> <mailto:choward@indicium.us>> =20
> wrote:
>
> > -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
> > Hash: SHA1
> >
> > James Tweet wrote:
> >> You may be able to get your foot in the door if you get a bunch
> of =20=
>
> >> Microsoft certifications. If you want to move up then you will
> need =20=
>
> >> a degree. My advice to you is to suck-it-up, take it like a man
> and =20=
>
> >> finish your degree.
> >>
> >> Secondly when a job description states "BS in Computer Science
> or =20
> >> equivalent experience." It means you need a BS in Computer =20
> >> Science. The HR people have no clue what equivalent experience
> to a =20=
>
> >> BS in Computer Science would be. So any resume without a BSCS is =20
> >> either filed in the trash or put on the bottom of the pile.
> >>
> >>
> >> Third, business people believe anyone who has a BSCS must be a =20
> >> computer genius. It's like a golden ticket or something.
> >>
> >> Finally, every semester more and more people are graduating from =20
> >> college with a BSCS. You will be competing with them for jobs
> and =20
> >> they will get first pick.
> >>
> >> I am 38 years old and I'm going to UAA to finish my degree.
> >>
> >> James
> >>
> >
> > Judging by a few of the responses I received, I just want to make
> > something clear: My original e-mail was not meant as some kind of
> call
> > for sympathy, or as a complaint about the difficulties I finding work
> > after college. Whether I spend the rest of my life working as a
> Burger
> > King fry cook, or as a vice president at Google, God will take
> care of
> > my needs. I simply wanted to let you guys know that I'm out job =20
> > hunting,
> > in case you should happen to run across anything you think I might be
> > interested in. And let me express my appreciation to those of you who
> > have thrown me some good tips.
> >
> > James, thanks for the advice, and I can see how having a BS in =20
> > Computer
> > Science would definitely brighten up a r=C3=A9sum=C3=A9. Rest
> assured, =
> howeve=20
> > r,
> > that my educational decisions are based on more than a simple
> > calculation of personal manhood. I have been a college student
> for =20
> > seven
> > years now, and if I thought it was in my best interested to make it
> > eight, or nine, or ten years, I'd have more than enough of the
> resolve
> > needed to make it happen.
> >
> > - --
> > Christopher Howard
> > http://linuxprogrammingforums.com
> > http://indicium.us
> > http://theologia.indicium.us
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> > =3Dmn3W
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Received on Wed Apr 7 11:20:36 2010