Subj : Re: Software Job Market Myths To : comp.programming,comp.software-eng From : Chris Hills Date : Wed Aug 17 2005 07:18 pm In article , Phlip writes >Chris Hills wrote: > >>>You guys just had two domestic terrorist attacks and you don't think >>>"colour" is a problem in UK? >> >> We have had several hundred terrorist attacks in the last couple of >> decades. Mainly by white people. Colour is not a problem in the UK >> workplace. >> >> In fact in the last two terrorist attacks age was more of an indicator >> than colour. Only the young tend to be idealistic enough for suicide >> bombs. > >Then I apologize for thinking you might be "ageist", dude. I stand >corrected. ;-) No problem. You often need to take age (among many other factors) into account which is not the same thing as being ageist. My example may have bee poor by suggesting it may not work to have one old engineer in a team of very young ones. BTW I am 48 and have children of 19 and 21 who speak a completely different language etc (though they have stolen all my Bob Dylan, Bob Marlely, Deep Purple, Led Zed and David Bowie CDs!) The original point for asking for the age was to gauge what fraction of the working life the resume covered. Though resumes for contractors tend to be different to those for permanent staff. Permies tend to list by companies worked for whereas contractors by skills and example projects. However there is a world of difference between a 25yo with 5 years experience and a 55 yo with 5 years "relevant" experience. When you interview you are not just looking for a skill set you are looking for a person to fit into a team or company. This does not mean everyone is the same. You may want some "young blood" to bring innovation in to a stable (tired?) team or some one older to stabilise a young team. You may choose some one with poorer skills who you get on with over a genius who nit picks and argues with everything you say. Why? Because the job will get done and with a lot less stress. The other person might have been technically capable of getting the job done faster but if they cause friction within the team the job may not get completed in time and there will be a lot of unhappy people. Someone once said to me that these unmanageable geniuses end up as contractors where they can work from home without integrating with humanity... I think that may be true in some cases but not for the majority though after being your own boss working from a home office for a decade (or two) are you ever likely to integrate well into some one else's company? ....But I normally work in a leopard skin thong and listen to Wargner's Ring on 11! -- \/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ \/\/\/\/\ Chris Hills Staffs England /\/\/\/\/ /\/\/ chris@phaedsys.org www.phaedsys.org \/\/\ \/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/ .