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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.
I couldn't in good conscience vote for either of 'em. Obama too clueless, McCain too pandering to the religious crazies.
"You can either have software quality or you can have pointer arithmetic, but you cannot have both at the same time."
I couldn't vote for either of them either. Obama was too much of a socialist (judging by his record) and interested in big-government solutions, and Palin was too much of a religious nutcase. Remember, a vote for McCain was really a vote for Palin, as he has one foot in the grave and one on a banana peel. Hasn't he had 4 cancers already?
Yes you might be improving your skills at programming faster than the other students as you put more time and effort into this. But they might be putting more time and effort into social skills... getting laid isn't as simple as in-out-in-out.... these other people are perfecting their in-out skills so that when your struggling to keep a girl happy their thinking more about what to do with the money they have. Yes they might be medioka at programming but it's more than likely your medioka at "social skills", if you get my drift....
I never really understood just how reactionary people can truly be until this past election cycle (and the subsequent aftermath)
The most sickening bit is that people seem perfectly content to sarcastically cheer on the failure of the president and the economy.
Say what you want about Obama's policies -- I personally don't agree with a number of them. However, you've got to cut the guy some slack -- he got thrown headfirst into one of the worst crises seen by the country in the greater part of a century.
I have a difficult time imagining that another politician would do much better (especially given that the Senate and House still have a fair bit to say in the matter). McCain simply didn't understand the economy, and Ron Paul would have silently rested on his pile of gold as he watched the world burn around him.
I don't think there was ever a promise of blank-check handouts or an easy ride. I don't think that anybody who was listening could have possibly interpreted it as that. Obama's speeches and statements on the economy -- even dating back to the election -- have been sobering, if not outright depressing. There's no magic bullet, and he knows it.
One promise that Obama has not faltered on is the accountability of himself and his staff, which is a surprising and dramatic departure from any politician in recent memory. This helps us learn from our mistakes, and grow as a result. This alone makes me trust him more than any of the other guys.
-- If you try to fail and succeed, which have you done? - Uli's moose
You've resorted to denigrating Obama to argue your opinion about whether not a generation of workers suck.
Here's to hot beer, cold women, and Glaswegian kisses for all.