-----------------------------------------------<snip>-----------------------------------
Us computer people, we have a lot of power. We can do at least as much
or more damage (even if we are royally incompetent) such as a nurse, a
doctor, an electrician, a plumber or some such professional.
What are your thoughts about having some sort of certification for
working with computers? Like a doctor or nurse or pilot or even a flight
attendant? I mean, come on, a plumber?
We seem to be a lot that isn't very well - what is the word? There is no
governing body that checks out our qualifications. It is mainly just
between us and the interview. Ok, sometimes a university degree helps,
but still it isn't the same as being qualified.
For me this isn't a bad thing, but I am just a boy taking advantage of
the situation. I was just thinking what are you guys' thoughts about this.
Many of you were working with OS/360 the year I was born. 1964. A good
year. :)
Kindest regards
Lindy
--------------------------------------------<unsnip>-------------------------------------
Lindy, you're right in that we have no "governing body" as such. But we
have a sort of "tacit" form of governance: each other.
It can be very easy for someone to to rattle off the "alphabet soup" of
acronyms, etc. in any field, but knowing when to use them can be a whole
different story. I've had prospective employees come to me all primed
and rarin' to dazzle me with acronyms, only to find that I know the
acronyms too. They were told to expect only a "Human Resources" type to
deal with, who wouldn't know a printer from a card punch it they landed
on his toes. When they talk about their skills in Assembler, I ask them
to write a simple program to copy one file to another. (I had a white
boarxd in my office.) We then would critique the result. Sometimes the
program was very good: short and effective. Other times, the result was
a disaster. One couldn't do it at all. And HE was supposed to be the
Assembler expert!
Bottom line: you MIGHT dazzle us with brilliance; you certainly CANNOT
baffle us with BS.
Breaches in integrity and/or honesty usually become well known fairly
quickly, via local grapevines. Or, on very rare occaissions, the news
media. Years ago, there was a theft of $1 million from the First
National Bank in Chicago. The thief is known, his method is known.
Lacking is the evidence to go to trial. But he doesn't work in IT any
more, and never will, at least in greater Chicago. That particular
individual has managed to alienate most of the people he once called
friends in other ways as well.
In summary, I think we're equally served by our own efforts at
self-policing; no separately constituted policing body could really do
much more.
(Curious: "Lindy" as a Christian name, or a contraction of another name?)
Rick
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