Subj : Re: Software Job Market Myths
To   : comp.programming,comp.software-eng
From : Joe Wright
Date : Sun Aug 14 2005 11:26 pm

CBFalconer wrote:
> "Peter K." wrote:
> 
>>Chris Hills <chris@phaedsys.org> writes:
>>
>>
>>>It gives no idea of age, qualifications companies worked for etc.
>>
>>                      ^^^
>>
>>Age is not a valid piece of information for hiring people in many
>>parts of the world.  At least, an employer can't use it as a deciding
>>factor when hiring.
> 
> 
> In the US.  Other countries may well have different laws.  Even in
> the US employers can draw age conclusions from experience, etc. and
> quietly drop you in the circular file.  They just can't openly use
> it as a criterion.  This requires careful trimming of the resume to
> at most the past 30 years.  Even then, you will appear to have
> sprung full grown from the ashes.
> 
Experience can be a real killer. From an interview some time ago..

" You have more experience and better skills than our President. Why 
would you want to work for us? "

But I am gainfully 'engaged' if not 'employed' at present, because I 
sell myself as competent and dedicated to the several goals of the 
enterprise. I am their "Senior Programmer/Analyst".

There is no one in corporate management with clue about what a 
programmer does. They think Excel macros are programs.

I do most of my 'stuff' for them in Visual FoxPro. As part of Visual 
Studio 6.0, FoxPro can write simple .xls spreadsheets easily. Everybody 
has Excel. "Hey Joe, gimme a list of ... in a spreadsheet." Easy.

The 'Enterprise' is a database application written for Informix to run 
on Sun OS. I installed Samba on the Sun box almost six years ago. Nobody 
else knows what Samba is.

I have had to program ksh, SQL, C and Clipper for this outfit. Nobody in 
the company knows what any of these terms mean.

I am successfully 'engaged' because I offer perceived value to the 
enterprise. They like me and I'm good at my stuff.

Now, at 65 years old, I wouldn't waste anybody's time filling out an 
Employment Application.

If I need another job, I will find it among my 'network' or create it 
from whole cloth.

-- 
Joe Wright
"Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler."
                     --- Albert Einstein ---

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