Re: OT: Employment Security Options
On Sat, Apr 18, 2009 at 11:39 PM, Joshua Judson Rosen roz...@geekspace.com wrote: Jim Kuzdrall gnh...@intrel.com writes: I doubt anyone will go start a guild today. The working conditions just aren't bad enough. American professionals live very well by world standards. What's the System Administrators Guild up to, these days? There is the HTML Writers Guild http://www.hwg.org/ It has always been a good place to get quality online training at excellent prices[1]. However, I don't think they have succeeded at being recognized as the certification mark or standard of excellence -- although they've stated that as an objective. http://www.iwanet.org/area.asp?id=1 [1] When I took classes, member pricing for a class was $40. Now they are more like $120. When I took classes at HWG, I took intro to Perl from Rich Bowen - Apache Foundation Member. ~ Greg -- Greg Rundlett Web Developer - Initiative in Innovative Computing http://iic.harvard.edu camb 617-384-5872 nbpt 978-225-8302 m. 978-764-4424 -skype/aim/irc/twitter freephile http://profiles.aim.com/freephile ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
Re: OT: Employment Security Options
On Friday 17 April 2009 23:25, virgins...@vfemail.net wrote: From: Jim Kuzdrall gnh...@intrel.com Date: Fri, 17 Apr 2009 18:32:56 -0400 My wife made a suggestion that seldom gets discussed, guilds. The medieval guilds established several tough-to-reach competence grades for their members, spanning apprentice to journeyman to master. They strictly enforced their workmanship and knowledge standards. They often, in effect, insured the quality of the work done by their members by leaning hard on them to straighten out any problems that were reported. snip Might this concept be modified, updated, and revised to meet the needs of today's technical experts? That's what the Microsoft certifications are for, right? Or computer science degrees, Professional Engineering license, or FAA pilots license. But one goal of these certifications is just the opposite from that of a guild; that goal is to produce as many certificate holders as possible to keep the wages down. The certificate programs serve the corporate sponsors who use the trainees, not the interests of the workers. In addition, guilds kept the techniques of their craft secret, where possible. (The Microsoft guild's secret would have been ctrl-alt-del, sssh don't tell anybody.) I doubt anyone will go start a guild today. The working conditions just aren't bad enough. American professionals live very well by world standards. Jim Kuzdrall ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
Re: OT: Employment Security Options
We do have guilds today. They're called unions. -- TARogue (Linux user number 234357) Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it. -William Arthur Ward, college administrator, writer (1921-1994) ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
Re: OT: Employment Security Options
Jim Kuzdrall gnh...@intrel.com writes: I doubt anyone will go start a guild today. The working conditions just aren't bad enough. American professionals live very well by world standards. What's the System Administrators Guild up to, these days? -- Don't be afraid to ask (Lf.((Lx.xx) (Lr.f(rr. ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
OT: Employment Security Options
For the tenth time in 10 years (the third time in the last 12 months), I'm looking for a new job... snip Sadly, I think it's an example of an all-too-common experience for Technology workers over the past decade...snip I can also see a bunch of ways that it wouldn't work. I'm sure it is an idea that is way too risky for some people to touch. Still, every time I think that it's a stupid idea, I ask myself if I'm satisfied with the way things work now. I'm not. The job search process is tedious, grossly opaque, lop-sided and inefficient... It wouldn't hurt to try some of those initiatives - again. As an old veteran of the technical industry, I concur that the captains of industry place very little value on our skills or respect for the hard work it take to acquire them. But, we best not wait for that to change! I solved the problem for me by starting my own company. It worked out well, but if you are looking for job security, that is the wrong direction to head. If you value independence and control more than money, security - or even your family in many sad cases - go for it. Unions are suggested from time to time. They are the anthesis of being professional or your own boss. (Few engineers or programmers behave as true professionals - adding to the perception problem.) Not many engineers find unions an attractive answer. My wife made a suggestion that seldom gets discussed, guilds. The medieval guilds established several tough-to-reach competence grades for their members, spanning apprentice to journeyman to master. They strictly enforced their workmanship and knowledge standards. They often, in effect, insured the quality of the work done by their members by leaning hard on them to straighten out any problems that were reported. History tells us that their quality work was valued beyond its cost, making the guild members highly sought. The guild set the pricing guide lines for each grade. The number of guild member was kept slightly below demand. The guilds, in many cases, did not try to prevent others from plying the trade - although some guilds got powerful and nasty eventually. With the concept of a guild, there are no strikes against the employer, the journeyman sets his price for the job (within guide lines), the journeyman, not the guild, contracts with the employer, etc. Might this concept be modified, updated, and revised to meet the needs of today's technical experts? Jim Kuzdrall ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
Re: OT: Employment Security Options
From: Jim Kuzdrall gnh...@intrel.com Date: Fri, 17 Apr 2009 18:32:56 -0400 My wife made a suggestion that seldom gets discussed, guilds. The medieval guilds established several tough-to-reach competence grades for their members, spanning apprentice to journeyman to master. They strictly enforced their workmanship and knowledge standards. They often, in effect, insured the quality of the work done by their members by leaning hard on them to straighten out any problems that were reported. snip Might this concept be modified, updated, and revised to meet the needs of today's technical experts? That's what the Microsoft certifications are for, right? i=0; while [ $i -lt 64 ]; do echo -n ha...; i=$((i+1)); done ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
