No it isn't. I've done a lot of interviewing during the dotcom bubble and since. I usually play the technical hardass role.
If you don't know things that you claim to know, you lose. If you try pretending to know about things that you clearly don't know, you're probably going to lose. That is, if you logically piece together what you do know about the topic and make some inferences, e.g. "I don't know for sure, but based on what I do know I'd say this," that's okay. But if you try to bluff and end up spewing bullshit, you lose.
Your resume goes in the round file if there are spelling or grammar errors -- I know no one is perfect, but surely you have friends who can write? Failure to locate and utilize resources like that loses a lot of points, because if you're not resourceful about getting a job, you're not going to be resourceful on the job either.
has it occurred to youthat if they're still in their infancy after this many years, it might be because they really suck and no one wants to waste time making them or developing for them?
Get a small notebook instead: this one seems to be well-reviewed.
Re:Old news - they handled my brother
on
Space Burial
·
· Score: 1
He tried to duplicate the exact circumstances of that thing with the irrational particle accelerator, a liquid lunch and a pair of rubber bands?
If it was important, I'd use a modem and a real pager (much better coverage than cell phones).
I detest, no, make that Detest, no, make that CANNOT ABIDE Nextel's service. Mainly it's the horrific Motorola handsets with their primitive UI and bugs like the "you've got a voicemail" alert that never ever stops. But the walkie-talkie function isn't something I've ever liked either.
oh, that's easy -- just break the service so it doesn't work and people quit using it!
That seems to be AT&T Wireless's plan, anyway. Last year it was terribly slow, then it started to get unreliable, and now my Nagios emails just bounce after a day or two of wandering around in the AT&T email system. According to their website I'm still using the right address, but something ain't right.
Because we're not everyone else, we're better see? Now shut your pie-hole before we have to come bomb your pissant country six inches closer to sea level.
Uh, they didn't have any choice. Robotics were notoriously poor in the 17th century. Luckily, there were plenty of poor people and prisoners who would do nearly as well, so guess who got to go? Shockingly enough, survival rates were dismal for quite a while.
It's called a cynic. The attitude is "the enemy of my enemy is my friend", and the result is a feeling that it's perfectly alright for the gubmint to do whatever it likes as long as my interests are furthered or at least not immediately compromised. Long-term compromise is alright.
This post seems to assume that people who aren't "talented" deserve to have high-end jobs in what's hot when they graduate?
Look, if you have brains and dedication and confidence in your capabilities, study whatever you want. Get the philosophy degree, have fun, and make sure that you're keeping an eye on something to make money with too. There's plenty of opportunity for part-time work in fields that will make money, and by trying lots of them out you will probably find one that captures your interest about the time that the "educational" system manages to grind the last ounce of passion out of philosophy for you.
If you don't have the brains and dedication, following the brass ring of what's hot now or in four years is a waste of everyone's time -- you're not going to make it through the interview, and if you do somehow get a job you'll still be the first one against the wall when times get tough. You might want to seek fulfillment in a less competitive arena.
It can be done, but it's not easy. When my trusty Nokia died, I went to the nearest AT&T Wireless store to replace it. I handed the first salescretin my phone and said "I want one just like it, please." They must have offered me seven high-end phones with color and camera, then another five low-end phones with crappy batteries and non-existent antennae (also the nasty low-end Nokia UI, much worse than the high-end).
Finally, they gave up and flagged down the senior salescretin who had been hiding in the back. He took one look at my dead phone and sold me the updated version for $150. It's slightly larger and has a blue screen instead of a green one. The end.
more to the point, the relationship with life was much different. This life was considered a relatively brief stage (and was frequently a lot briefer than we enjoy) before a hefty chunk of purgatory and the really important time in heaven or hell, waiting for the final judgement.
So, spending a few extra minutes writing was not that big of a deal, that's time you're not spending on sinning.
Another potential factor is that very few people could read the vernacular, and few could even read Latin. A smaller audience leads to more care being taken for the product, IMHO.
Bingo. I will not buy computer products that do not make themselves easy to use in my chosen computing environment. Probably the least open-source friendly device I own is my laptop, since laptops are simply unfriendly, but even there it works well enough to be Linux-only.
The pool is smaller, and it's harder to stay in. My company is interviewing right now, and people in your boat are a fair chunk of the applicants. In our opinion, the certificate isn't as important as what's in your head -- if your cover letter is well written, says you've been studying the things we need you to know, and demonstrates that you read the job posting and are sincerely interested in doing the work (as opposed to getting paid), then you'll probably get an interview. Expect to be grilled on what you've said you can do though: saying you know Perl because you've run some scripts written by other people is going to get you escorted to the door.
I would seriously evaluate your interest in IT though -- if you love geeking out so much that you spend personal time on it, you'll probably be able to find a spot somewhere out there, though it may be an insultingly entry-level position. If you can afford to do so, would you take it and try to claw your way back up? With the exception of salespeople, everyone I know who preferred doing something else with their evenings is doing something like selling insurance or waiting tables. Harsh, but there it is -- maybe the world needs more CPAs than MCSEs.
"Treaties, to god-damned hell with treaties! We have no treaties. In fact, we don't need treaties. I don't have to show you any stinking treaties, you god-damned cabron and ching' tu madre!"
--Liberally adapted from Treasure of the Sierra Madre
I might have had something similar get started in a Fry's, only it went:
[sales rep-tile] "Can I help you?" [me] "Nah." [sales rep-tile] "."
Of course, I also spent about twenty minutes longer than I intended to trying to find (a) USB-serial connectors and (b) the hidden pile of non-sexy, non-Mac-oriented USB-serial connectors that sell for 50% of the price of the drivel foisted off onto the drooling Macophytes asking for a way to hook their antique geegaw up to their newest toy.
Revolutionary War and the War of 1812. However, we certainly do prefer to win, and in order to ensure victory we balance our budgets with a very large military slice.
America is not very different at all from the classic Roman Empire, IMHO. I'm just hoping that we can take a page from the British on how to get out of the empire business without the home country being overrun by barbarians.
Slashdot Mirror
No it isn't. I've done a lot of interviewing during the dotcom bubble and since. I usually play the technical hardass role.
If you don't know things that you claim to know, you lose. If you try pretending to know about things that you clearly don't know, you're probably going to lose. That is, if you logically piece together what you do know about the topic and make some inferences, e.g. "I don't know for sure, but based on what I do know I'd say this," that's okay. But if you try to bluff and end up spewing bullshit, you lose.
Your resume goes in the round file if there are spelling or grammar errors -- I know no one is perfect, but surely you have friends who can write? Failure to locate and utilize resources like that loses a lot of points, because if you're not resourceful about getting a job, you're not going to be resourceful on the job either.
has it occurred to youthat if they're still in their infancy after this many years, it might be because they really suck and no one wants to waste time making them or developing for them?
Get a small notebook instead: this one seems to be well-reviewed.
He tried to duplicate the exact circumstances of that thing with the irrational particle accelerator, a liquid lunch and a pair of rubber bands?
If it was important, I'd use a modem and a real pager (much better coverage than cell phones).
I detest, no, make that Detest, no, make that CANNOT ABIDE Nextel's service. Mainly it's the horrific Motorola handsets with their primitive UI and bugs like the "you've got a voicemail" alert that never ever stops. But the walkie-talkie function isn't something I've ever liked either.
oh, that's easy -- just break the service so it doesn't work and people quit using it!
That seems to be AT&T Wireless's plan, anyway. Last year it was terribly slow, then it started to get unreliable, and now my Nagios emails just bounce after a day or two of wandering around in the AT&T email system. According to their website I'm still using the right address, but something ain't right.
A BEOWULF CLUSTER of MFM drives should do it! Clustering solves all problems!
I realized that mistake right after clicking submit... argh, to have used the preview button! Oh well.
The Evolution Control Committee has provided you with a little something along those lines:
t io n%20Control%20Committee%20-%20The%20Fucking%20Moon .mp3
:-)
http://evolution-control.com/sounds/The%20Evolu
The album is quite amusing, please consider buying it to make up for the slashdotting
Because we're not everyone else, we're better see? Now shut your pie-hole before we have to come bomb your pissant country six inches closer to sea level.
:-)
Er, or something like that
Uh, they didn't have any choice. Robotics were notoriously poor in the 17th century. Luckily, there were plenty of poor people and prisoners who would do nearly as well, so guess who got to go? Shockingly enough, survival rates were dismal for quite a while.
of course. I was just trying to answer your question, not defend the answer :-)
probably because that "if done correctly" part can be really hard.
Oh, I thought it was going to be codenamed ABBA. You know, like this.
It's called a cynic. The attitude is "the enemy of my enemy is my friend", and the result is a feeling that it's perfectly alright for the gubmint to do whatever it likes as long as my interests are furthered or at least not immediately compromised. Long-term compromise is alright.
This post seems to assume that people who aren't "talented" deserve to have high-end jobs in what's hot when they graduate?
Look, if you have brains and dedication and confidence in your capabilities, study whatever you want. Get the philosophy degree, have fun, and make sure that you're keeping an eye on something to make money with too. There's plenty of opportunity for part-time work in fields that will make money, and by trying lots of them out you will probably find one that captures your interest about the time that the "educational" system manages to grind the last ounce of passion out of philosophy for you.
If you don't have the brains and dedication, following the brass ring of what's hot now or in four years is a waste of everyone's time -- you're not going to make it through the interview, and if you do somehow get a job you'll still be the first one against the wall when times get tough. You might want to seek fulfillment in a less competitive arena.
It can be done, but it's not easy. When my trusty Nokia died, I went to the nearest AT&T Wireless store to replace it. I handed the first salescretin my phone and said "I want one just like it, please." They must have offered me seven high-end phones with color and camera, then another five low-end phones with crappy batteries and non-existent antennae (also the nasty low-end Nokia UI, much worse than the high-end).
Finally, they gave up and flagged down the senior salescretin who had been hiding in the back. He took one look at my dead phone and sold me the updated version for $150. It's slightly larger and has a blue screen instead of a green one. The end.
yeah, he could be really good too. I suggested Tim Curry elsewhere, and I still think he'd be great.
really, really ought to be Tim Curry.
more to the point, the relationship with life was much different. This life was considered a relatively brief stage (and was frequently a lot briefer than we enjoy) before a hefty chunk of purgatory and the really important time in heaven or hell, waiting for the final judgement.
So, spending a few extra minutes writing was not that big of a deal, that's time you're not spending on sinning.
Another potential factor is that very few people could read the vernacular, and few could even read Latin. A smaller audience leads to more care being taken for the product, IMHO.
Scotty! I need more slashdot subscriptions!
We cannae do it cap'n! There's just not enough value to the users!
Damn the users Scotty, I've got to pay for the home T1!
Bingo. I will not buy computer products that do not make themselves easy to use in my chosen computing environment. Probably the least open-source friendly device I own is my laptop, since laptops are simply unfriendly, but even there it works well enough to be Linux-only.
The pool is smaller, and it's harder to stay in. My company is interviewing right now, and people in your boat are a fair chunk of the applicants. In our opinion, the certificate isn't as important as what's in your head -- if your cover letter is well written, says you've been studying the things we need you to know, and demonstrates that you read the job posting and are sincerely interested in doing the work (as opposed to getting paid), then you'll probably get an interview. Expect to be grilled on what you've said you can do though: saying you know Perl because you've run some scripts written by other people is going to get you escorted to the door.
I would seriously evaluate your interest in IT though -- if you love geeking out so much that you spend personal time on it, you'll probably be able to find a spot somewhere out there, though it may be an insultingly entry-level position. If you can afford to do so, would you take it and try to claw your way back up? With the exception of salespeople, everyone I know who preferred doing something else with their evenings is doing something like selling insurance or waiting tables. Harsh, but there it is -- maybe the world needs more CPAs than MCSEs.
"Treaties, to god-damned hell with treaties! We have no treaties. In fact, we don't need treaties. I don't have to show you any stinking treaties, you god-damned cabron and ching' tu madre!"
--Liberally adapted from Treasure of the Sierra Madre
I might have had something similar get started in a Fry's, only it went:
[sales rep-tile] "Can I help you?"
[me] "Nah."
[sales rep-tile] "."
Of course, I also spent about twenty minutes longer than I intended to trying to find (a) USB-serial connectors and (b) the hidden pile of non-sexy, non-Mac-oriented USB-serial connectors that sell for 50% of the price of the drivel foisted off onto the drooling Macophytes asking for a way to hook their antique geegaw up to their newest toy.
Hey, there's another stereotype!
Revolutionary War and the War of 1812. However, we certainly do prefer to win, and in order to ensure victory we balance our budgets with a very large military slice.
America is not very different at all from the classic Roman Empire, IMHO. I'm just hoping that we can take a page from the British on how to get out of the empire business without the home country being overrun by barbarians.