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Narcissistic College Graduates In the Workplace?
SpuriousLogic writes "I work as a senior software engineer, and a fair amount of my time is spent interviewing new developers. I have seen a growing trend of what I would call 'TV reality' college graduates — kids who graduated school in the last few years and seem to have a view of the workplace that is very much fashioned by TV programs, where 22-year-olds lead billion-dollar corporate mergers in Paris and jet around the world. Several years ago I worked at a company that did customization for the software they sold. It was not full-on consultant work, but some aspects of it were 'consulting light,' and did involve travel, some overseas. Almost every college graduate I interviewed fully expected to be sent overseas on their first assignment. They were very disappointed when told they were most likely to end up in places like Decater, IL and Cedar Rapids, IA, as only the most senior people fly overseas, because of the cost. Additionally, I see people in this age bracket expecting almost constant rewards. One new hire told me that he thought he had a good chance at an award because he had taught himself Enterprise Java Beans. When told that learning new tech is an expected part of being a developer, he argued that he had learned it by himself, and that made it different. So today I see an article about the growing narcissism of students, and I want to ask this community: are you seeing the sorts of 'crashing down to Earth' expectations of college grads described here? Is working with this age bracket more challenging than others? Do they produce work that is above or below your expectations of a recent college grad?" We discussed a similar question from the point of view of the young employees a few months back.
Do you still wear an onion on your belt?
I deserve your job, because my mommy and daddy said I was very speshul!
They just don't realize that the show is, "The Office".
I have been sent exciting places like Indianapolis.
Oh, I used to lie awake at nights, dreaming of being sent to Indianapolis. Or was it nightmares.
Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. - Voltaire
Quote at bottom of /. page:
"You will be advanced socially, without any special effort on your part."
Well, there you go.
"They were pure niggers." – Noam Chomsky
I made millions selling karma futures, back before the economy turned bad.
Uh, guy? I think you're the one they're talking about in the article.
Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
And what happened to the future of the ancient Greek people? Conquest by Alexander the Great and annexation by the Romans.
Let me translate that from the original Greek for you: "Hey, you kids get off my lawn!"
God, schmod. I want my monkey man!
I agree with you almost completely except for who to blame. It wasn't Mom and Dad who told everyone they were special, it was that evil, evil man Mr. Rogers.
Your brain is not a computer.
I am a tech writer, you insensitive clod!
Spellcheckers are for pussies, I just read everything twice ...
... sometimes.
As a recent engineering grad, I can attest that I wasn't exactly impressed by the typical duties of most of the positions I was interviewing for. I always pictured myself doing more R&D and design with my engineering degree, but that wasn't really what I was seeing out there. I've since decided to change my career path a bit go to grad school. After I finish I expect I will try to work as a technology entrepreneur or a professor at a university.
I'm nothing special, I've just been using computers and programming for a long time. I learned BASIC when I was 7.
But you are special. You are a special kind of asshole, the kind who thinks "Why oh why isn't everyone just like me?"
My god, you must be one insufferable twit.
A lot of bosses have Narcissistic Personality Disorder.
How can I get this? Are there courses I can go on?
Get your own free personal location tracker
I am a tech writer, you insensitive clod!
Not for long! I'm programming robots to do technical writing.
"I assumed blithely that there were no elves out there in the darkness"
The most entertaining way of seeing this in action is watching Simon Cowell telling the utterly terrible American X-Factor contestants just how much they suck.
To do something right, you often have to roll up your sleeves and get busy.
Stick one of these up on the wall, and just go with it.
Yes, I have worked with six languages: HTML, CSS, Javascript, AJAX, XML and TXT.
Don't understand why I can't get a job?
Oh dear.
I think I might be a narcissist too.
A better one than you, mind.
I stand corrected.
It's much easier to pretend to agree with a narcissist than to argue with them.
Apocalypse Cancelled, Sorry, No Ticket Refunds
yah, 'cept the students have degrees like EE, ME, CS and MBA etc and still need lotsa help forming complete and accurate sentences. Once in awhile, one almost says what they think they are saying. Usually, they are able to go to the bathroom by themselves.
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