>> On the other hand, somebody taught in a classroom would have a complete
>> coverage of the subject, not just bits and pieces of it.
> 
> With advanced topics, it's rare that a classroom experience will give you 
> truly complete coverage of the subject.

No, but it's hard to learn advanced stuff when you don't have a thorough 
understanding of the basics yet.

> You seem to do very well with self-study.  That's not a bad thing, and 
> many employers prefer people who say that they are self-motivated to 
> learn new things.  Often times they'll prefer that over scads of formal 
> education, contrary to what the job posting says the minimum requirements 
> are.

Yeah, well, you can't really put that in a CV or an application.

>> I worry though - on paper, I don't sound very impressive at all. Will I
>> ever get past the initial deselection?
> 
> You don't sound impressive to you because you're you.  Don't guess at 
> what other people are or aren't impressed by, and trust those of us who 
> say that you are impressive.

I sound good to you guys because you know what I'm actually like. On a 
CV or a job application, there isn't much space to communicate stuff, 
and I fear I don't have the magical words that make me look impressive.

>> It's a web form. Any 6 year old with a web browser can submit an
>> application. They must be getting several hundred million *per hour*.
> 
> Doubtful that they're getting that many per hour.

Hell, somebody somewhere probably has a PHP script hitting that form 
trying to see whether the CGI has any buffer overrun vulnerabilities 
which are exploitable. :-P

>> Obviously they will have been prepared for this, and will have an
>> automated system of some kind to filter out the garbage. I just hope
>> they don't filter *me* out!
> 
> Well, we'll see - if they do for some reason, then it's on to the next 
> opportunity.  And the next.

Sure. They do grow on trees, after all...

>>> Give it a couple of days, and if you don't hear anything, write back.
>> Don't have a way to do that.
> 
> Or call them.  I'm sure their office is listed in the phone book or the 
> number is available on the website.  Be creative in finding a way to 
> contact them, especially a company like Wolfram would likely be impressed 
> by the application of some problems solving techniques to ensure that 
> they got the application.
> 
> Hell, it may even be part of why they didn't send an automated 
> response. :-)

Well I can't see any contact details on their website at all. (Not an 
uncommon occurrance, actually.) I suppose I could just drive round 
Oxford until I see a fricking big building with Wolfram written on it...

-- 
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*

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