Subj : Re: Software Job Market Myths To : comp.programming,comp.software-eng From : blmblm Date : Sat Aug 13 2005 05:40 pm In article , Richard Heathfield wrote: [ snip ] >As a matter of fact, I think they are more or less irrelevant. I've had to >teach CS graduates how to write programs because they were hired on the >false assumption that anyone with a CS degree would know this. And one of >the most clueless programmers I ever talked to was a Microsoft employee. >(If you think about it, that isn't actually an MS-bashing statement!) How so? didn't someone at MS hire the clueless one? something I'm not getting here. [ snip ] >With that thought in mind, if I were designing an application form, I would >not bother to put an age field on there, or even a DOB field, despite my >earlier point about it being a useful indicator. And that's because I >wouldn't bother putting a former employer section or a qualification >section on the form. Instead, I'd put in an aptitude test. [ snip rest of process for deciding whom to hire ] This sounds sensible, but it seems to me that it would screen out people who don't "test well", i.e., people who aren't very good at demonstrating their abilities under a particular kind of pressure that doesn't seem entirely relevant to what you'd want them to do on the job. Or is that not a concern? (P.S. Nice to have you back here.) -- | B. L. Massingill | ObDisclaimer: I don't speak for my employers; they return the favor. .