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> Actually, with respect to finding a better job, the problem has less to do
> with
> *knowing* what to do (which isn't all that complicated) than with
> resolving to
> actually do it. The work-a-day world can can easily leave one feeling
> drained
> and thoroughly disinclined to take on as demanding a project as conducting
> a
> proper job search.
"Take time to sharpen your saw"
I forgot who told me that, it was probably quoted from some management fluff
book, but it's true. It's better to take a break from your routine and try
to optimise it, it will be beneficial in the long run, even if it means you
don't get as much work done that day. And by optimise, it could just be
writing a program in Haskell to speed up some repetitive task, reorganising
your entire workload, or even looking for a new job.
I'm always quoting that to our Japanese colleagues because they seem to work
such long hours so inefficiently, and often give the "we don't have time"
excuse for not doing something.
> 2. Make a short list NOW of places where you would like to be working in
> two
> years and establish communications with both the human resources
> department AND
> the department(s) that you would like to work for.
This link may help, if you can't think of enough places:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/career_and_jobs/best_100_companies/best_100_tables/
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>> Heh. Now tell me something I don't already know. ;-) [Such as how to
>> *find* a better job... that'd be useful!]
>
> Actually, with respect to finding a better job, the problem has less to do with
> *knowing* what to do (which isn't all that complicated) than with resolving to
> actually do it.
Probably not complicated if you know what you're doing. I haven't got a
clue. Sure, I've tried the obvious things, but those haven't worked. So
now I'm kinda not sure what's next.
> The work-a-day world can can easily leave one feeling drained
> and thoroughly disinclined to take on as demanding a project as conducting a
> proper job search.
Yeah, that's true enough. Sometimes I struggle to find the motivation to
do stuff I *like* doing, damnit! (It can be very hard to try to motivate
yourself to do stuff when you know nobody is actually going to care one
way or the other.)
Actually, I've been thinking about maybe taking a week off work so I can
spend some time doing this "for real". Unfortunately every place of
business shuts 20 minutes before I get home. [Quite maddening really!]
If I had a week, I'd be able to go places and speak to people and stuff...
> 1. Don't wait until you NEED a new job to look for a new job.
Heh. I'm tempted to leave this job right NOW, even though I have nowhere
else to go! But clueless as this company is, they've been around for 20
years, and I don't suppose they're going anywhere real soon. They'll
just continue to blunder on, making spectacular financial losses, as
they always have.
> 2. Make a short list NOW of places where you would like to be working in two
> years and establish communications with both the human resources department AND
> the department(s) that you would like to work for. Be very explicit that your
> interest is specific, serious, focused and long-term and that you are NOT
> merely inquiring in regard to current posted openings.
OK, I fail here. I cannot think of *any* company I'd actually want to
work for.
I mean, theoretically working for somebody like Yamaha or Korg or even
Nokia "sounds" realy neat. But actually? I have no clue who would really
be worth working with. My dad works in a laboratory, which "sounds"
really cool, but actually... isn't.
I did look into a list of big-name technology companies to see where
they have bases of employment. IIRC, Nokia, HP and Erricson have big UK
bases, but they're nowhere near where I live. Yamaha has a big place in
my city, but I think that's manufacturing not R&D. Korg has a base here
too, but I couldn't find any data without speaking to a human. That's
about as far as I got.
> 3. Create and *maintain* a library of job search support documents such as
> resumes in various formats, references, recommendations. college transcripts
> and examples of your work so that you can take advantage of any opportunity
> INSTANTLY using top quality documents.
I have an up-to-date CV. Spent lots of money on consultants to help me
sharpen it. It's currently available online at Monster.co.uk. Every now
and then some random agency contacts me, asks me a few questions, and
then is never heard from again.
It says on my CV "references available on request", but it strikes me
taht I don't actually *have* anybody I could point them to. Nobody knows
me! All the management in my current place of work recently changed, so
nobody in management here really knows anything about me. My university
shut down when I graduated. I don't have any "friends" or anything...
As for examples of my work... it strikes me that I've almost never
produced a "finished" program in my life. That's not a good thing. And
obviously, nobody is going to employ me to program in Haskell; they'll
want C, C++, Java or VB (or maybe some scripting language). I haven't
touched any of those in years now.
And then there's the minor detail that although I know a lot of stuff
about stuff... how many people actually need to know what a Huffman tree
is? None. Nobody needs to know this. It serves no useful purpose. And
Warp is probably right: I'm not a very good programmer.
> 4. Always send important communications in BOTH electronic and paper format.
You can't do that without a postal address. (And stamps. Do you have any
idea how hard it is to purchase stamps?!)
> 5. Keep records of whom you have contacted and when. Never allow more than
> ninety days to go by without renewing a contact. Only make contact more
> frequently than this after you have established a relationship with a specific
> individual who has expressed a positive interest.
Fair enuf...
--
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*
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On Wed, 18 Jun 2008 14:44:15 +0100, Invisible <voi### [at] dev null> wrote:
>
>You can't do that without a postal address. (And stamps. Do you have any
>idea how hard it is to purchase stamps?!)
Petrol stations!
--
Regards
Stephen
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> And then there's the minor detail that although I know a lot of stuff
> about stuff... how many people actually need to know what a Huffman tree
> is? None. Nobody needs to know this. It serves no useful purpose.
Of course it does, it is evidence that you are *willing* and *capable* of
learning such things. That is more important than what you actually know.
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>> And then there's the minor detail that although I know a lot of stuff
>> about stuff... how many people actually need to know what a Huffman
>> tree is? None. Nobody needs to know this. It serves no useful purpose.
>
> Of course it does, it is evidence that you are *willing* and *capable*
> of learning such things. That is more important than what you actually
> know.
Certainly a point worth making, and one I always try to emphasise. Heck,
that's how I got *this* job in the first place! ;-)
I think anybody who decides to "learn PostScript" in their lunchbreak
just out of boredom is a fairly unusual type of person.
--
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*
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Invisible wrote:
> ...OK, actually I can only think of 2 things to use a Min Heap for:
>
> 1. A heap sort.
>
> 2. Building Huffman trees.
>
> Can anybody else think of a good use for a Min Heap? (Or even a Max Heap?)
Answer:
http://wordaligned.org/articles/top-ten-tags
--
Computer Lie #1: You'll never use all that disk space.
/\ /\ /\ /
/ \/ \ u e e n / \/ a w a z
>>>>>>mue### [at] nawazorg<<<<<<
anl
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Invisible <voi### [at] devnull> wrote:
> ...OK, actually I can only think of 2 things to use a Min Heap for:
> 1. A heap sort.
> 2. Building Huffman trees.
Priority queue.
--
- Warp
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Warp wrote:
> Priority queue.
See, I knew Warp would come up with a good answer...
--
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*
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Invisible wrote:
> A Huffman code is a similarly straight-forward idea.
Tell that to Huffman. ;-)
Seriously, put together some essays and/or whitepapers about this stuff,
explaining it. You might be able to get a job teaching, or find a
publisher who will pay you to write a book. If you can write clearly
enough to teach complex stuff like this to youngsters, you can have a
pretty good career.
If nothing else, go to your local high-school and ask them if anyone
needs tutoring in computer programming.
--
Darren New / San Diego, CA, USA (PST)
Helpful housekeeping hints:
Check your feather pillows for holes
before putting them in the washing machine.
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Invisible wrote:
> Plus, all their software development stuff clearly says all over it
> "prior experience of developing large-scale applications is an absolute
> requirement". So I guess I fail, right there.
Yoda would think otherwise. You can only fail if you don't try.
Well, that's not quite true. But believe me, you won't get past the
phone interview if they're actually serious about that.
> Hmm. Tell me something - all that stuff I just posted? Does it make any
> semblance of comprehensible sense?
Quite! That's what people are trying to tell you. You explain things
very clearly.
--
Darren New / San Diego, CA, USA (PST)
Helpful housekeeping hints:
Check your feather pillows for holes
before putting them in the washing machine.
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