That's what they wanted, more than anything else.  COBOL.  Of course, this
was for an entry-level programmer job that would probably lead to nowhere.
But that's what he was telling this local college to teach, because
companies like them still needed COBOL very badly.  I just sat their and
stared.  I couldn't believe it.
  -----Original Message-----
  From: Dana Tierney [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
  Sent: Wednesday, October 01, 2003 12:23 PM
  To: CF-Community
  Subject: Re: CF Salary Range


  there are still people in the world hiring for cobol? yeesh

  Josh Remus writes:

  > depends.  If I were hiring a job which would be strictly coding in "X
  > Language" (whether it be CF or whatever), I might be tempted to hire an
"X
  > Programmer."  I certainly wouldn't hire someone who had a liberal arts
  > degree and no experience coding X.  But if there were a liberal-arts
person
  > who had solid X Programming experience, I would jump on them
immediately.
  > Get the best of both worlds there.
  >
  > I honestly believe there shouldn't be a job in IT that doesn't include
"Must
  > be able to speak to non-IT people."  But I can understand that in a
large
  > enough organization (or even a small one that was doing primarily
  > development) you can probably also get away with hiring the poor
  > communicator.
  >
  > I sit on a local 2-year college's CIS advisory board, and all I say
almost
  > every time is "more liberal arts classes, better communication skills."
But
  > there are those (say at the local hospital network, which is the largest
  > employer in the area) that are looking for a single-skill person (in
that
  > case, COBOL, god bless those idiots).
  >
  > My company is small (and getting smaller), and everyone needs to be able
to
  > communicate & learn just about anything.  It's just not an option to
have
  > anything else here.
  >
  >   -----Original Message-----
  >   From: Dana Tierney [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
  >   Sent: Wednesday, October 01, 2003 10:32 AM
  >   To: CF-Community
  >   Subject: Re: CF Salary Range
  >
  >
  >   ok, if you define the job to include "must be able to speak to non-IT
  >   people" then I suppose you are right. I certainly think the liberal
arts
  >   are valuable - the interdisciplinary honors classes I "wasted" time on
in
  >   college were some of the best time I ever invested -- but if you
really
  > had
  >   to define a core skill for a code it would be proven ability to code,
no?
  >
  >   Dana
  >
  >   Josh Remus writes:
  >
  >   > As far as I'm concerned, there's no coder-job that I can justify
someone
  > who
  >   > cannot communicate these days.
  >   >
  >   > If you have a well-defined hierarchy with enough people (IE: you
have
  >   > several coder-types underneath a manager who HAS communication
skills &
  >   > techie-skills), perhaps people with poor communication skills can
still
  > be
  >   > excellent coders, as long as they never have to get beyond that
level OR
  >   > speak coherently to someone other than their manager.
  >   >
  >   > I think the days of the stereotypical "IT-type hidden in the dark
room"
  > are
  >   > over.  Or are beginning to be over.  I think a well-rounded
education
  > that
  >   > includes a significant portion of liberal arts exposes a person on
HOW
  > to
  >   > learn anything & communicate effectively, which in the long-run
makes a
  > more
  >   > adaptive & effective employee.
  >   >
  >   > But that's just my opinion.  And I certainly know CS-types who CAN
  >   > communicate effectively.  I just know plenty who can't.  A good
liberal
  > arts
  >   > major can learn ANYTHING.  A significantly-focused engineering-type
  > degree
  >   > teaches the person ONE thing very well, but nothing else.
  >   >
  >   > My dos pesos.
  >   >   -----Original Message-----
  >   >   From: Dana Tierney [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
  >   >   Sent: Wednesday, October 01, 2003 10:12 AM
  >   >   To: CF-Community
  >   >   Subject: Re: CF Salary Range
  >   >
  >   >
  >   >   to personal development. but to ability ot do the job?
  >   >
  >   >   Dana
  >   >
  >   >   Josh Remus writes:
  >   >
  >   >   > I have a great degree in General Studies.  I was originally a
music
  >   > major,
  >   >   > switched to CS, dropped out of school, and that was the only
degree
  > I
  >   > could
  >   >   > go back and complete in reasonable time.
  >   >   >
  >   >   > However - having said that - except for specific
engineering-type
  > jobs
  >   >   > (which I don't considering cf-coding, in general), I think a
  >   > well-rounded
  >   >   > humanities/arts degree means much more than a CS one.
  >   >   >
  >   >   > Not to start a flame war.  I know too many CS/CE-types who have
no
  >   > ability
  >   >   > to communicate in any medium.
  >   >   >   -----Original Message-----
  >   >   >   From: Matthew Small [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
  >   >   >   Sent: Wednesday, October 01, 2003 9:49 AM
  >   >   >   To: CF-Community
  >   >   >   Subject: Re: CF Salary Range
  >   >   >
  >   >   >
  >   >   >   I would like to know how many people on the list actually have
a
  >   > CS/MIS
  >   >   > degree.
  >   >   >
  >   >   >   I do.
  >   >   >
  >   >   >   - Matt Small
  >   >   >     ----- Original Message -----
  >   >   >     From: Dana Tierney
  >   >   >     To: CF-Community
  >   >   >     Sent: Wednesday, October 01, 2003 9:37 AM
  >   >   >     Subject: Re: CF Salary Range
  >   >   >
  >   >   >
  >   >   >     OK, I will concede that the SQl class was helpful. And
despite
  > the
  >   > focus
  >   >   > on
  >   >   >     PASCAL in comp sci 1 and 2, I learned a lot about
programming
  > per
  >   > se.
  >   >   > But
  >   >   >     whether I could have learned the same material without being
  > present
  >   > in
  >   >   > a
  >   >   >     classroom from 10 to 11 on Tuesdays and Thursdays is what I
am
  >   >   > questioning.
  >   >   >     I think so...
  >   >   >
  >   >   >     Dana
  >   >   >
  >   >   >     Dana
  >   >   >
  >   >   >     Jeffry Houser writes:
  >   >   >
  >   >   >     >   If the classes you took focused on a language, I can
  > understand
  >   > how
  >   >   > they
  >   >   >     > may not be applicable to web development.  But, a good
  > curriculum
  >   > will
  >   >   >     > concentrate on theory.  I apply programming theory every
day.
  > I'm
  >   >   > sure
  >   >   >     > that many will agree that to get anywhere when building
  > dynamic
  >   > web
  >   >   > pages
  >   >   >     > you need to know something about database design.
  >   >   >     >
  >   >   >     > At 01:05 AM 10/1/2003 -0500, you wrote:
  >   >   >     > >
  >   >   >
  >   >   >
  >   >   >
  >   >
  >   >
  >
  >


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