Rhys Morgan wrote: > > Sorry did not mean to be arrogant, like I said it was just a rant really > i have been searching for weeks for jobs which from experience i have > done better quicker and more competently than people who have degree > level qualifications and falling at every hurdle some would say its my > own fault for not going to university and gaining said qualifications > but at that age I decided to join the parachute regiment instead and now > have a wife and baby ( wife is in uni studying to be a midwife ) so > its not viable for me to go back to education. > > Anyway apologies to any CS grads that I have upset I was not presuming > to be better than you just speaking from the experience of CS grads I > have met in the past ( and their errors I've had to correct ) > Rhys,
I have degrees in "Mathematics and Computation", so I'm _almost_ one of the "CS Grads" in question :-) I personally wasn't offended by your rant. I too have met many people who I consider excellent in IT - some of whom have no academic qualifications (but, of course, some who do.) In part, I agree with the sentiment - at the risk of making a sweeping generalisation, those of us who studied IT at University almost 20 years ago were, compared with those going off to Uni this week: - A) a far smaller percentage of our age group, and - B) typically more motivated by a fascination in understanding how to make things works than in the income prospects that such a degree might bring about :-) Obviously, many currently studying IT are motivated just as we are, but, from anecdotal evidence, no longer represent 100% of those on such courses. As an aside to others on the list, if you ARE about to start Uni - WELL DONE - I applaud your decision, and hope it works out for you - by virtue of being on this list you've already demonstrated a "vocation"... however, expect to meet people on your course who are doing it because they think it's where the big bucks lie [1]. As an aside to others of that age-group on the list, if you are about to start something OTHER than Uni - WELL DONE - I applaud your decision, and hope it works out for you. However, I would caution you, when applying for jobs, to make comments like that on an open list. The manager who is about to interview you may well BE a CS grad, and take personal offence, and count this against you. (Heh, I've met some IT Managers who had IT degrees who I wouldn't trust to run a whelk stall [2].) On the flip side, however, you may find that someone reading this shares your views and IS in a position to offer you a job - so it may all work out. The general principle of "don't slag off a large part of your potential customer-base [3] on a forum that is easily readable by Google" holds though :-) Regards, PS - under the circumstances, I'll write it out some letters so you know my biases :-) Mark Harrison, BA, MA, MBCS NOTES: [1] - it isn't particularly, BTW, but that's another subject for another day. [2] - I'm a better entrepreneur than I am a manager, BTW, see point [1] above :-) [3] - I tend to use the word "customer" in the sense of "anyone who you might potentially provide a service to, or who has the ability to influence such a buying decision", and class "hire" as a special case of "buy"... -- [email protected] https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.kubuntu.org/UKTeam/
