On Mon, 06 Aug 2012 20:43:49 +0100, Orchid Win7 v1 wrote:

>>>> Not for the right employer.
>>>
>>> Yeah, well, there aren't too many of those around.
>>
>> That's your experience, maybe.  Others have a different experience.
> 
> There are a huge number of companies out there. Not all of them are any
> good though. ;-)

Even given your limited experience, that's an astute observation. :)

>> I've fought this one for a long time.  I refused to get certifications
>> and relied instead on having proven experience.  That did disqualify me
>> from some jobs (Iomega once upon a time) - but I used it as an employer
>> litmus test; if they were more interested in the piece of paper than in
>> my actual abilities, I wouldn't want to work for them anyways, because
>> if there was ever a question about who was right on something, it'd be
>> the one who earned the certification rather than the one who had the
>> experience.
> 
> Amen.

What it means is when you *do* find the right place, they respect you for 
the right reasons.  For me, that is worth a lot.

>>> Don't give a damn about any other qualities you may have. If you don't
>>> already know X, you're no good to us.
>>
>> If they're trying to fill a very specific need, then that becomes a
>> rather important qualification.
>>
>>> Because, let's face it, a guy with a weak knowledge of X is far more
>>> desirable than a day with the capacity to learn everything there is to
>>> know about X, Y, Z, Q, W, V and R and then some. Right?
>>
>> In some cases, yes, actually.
> 
> I could understand "in some cases".
> 
> What I'm rather bemused about is the "in ALL cases" part. I have yet to
> meet a single employer who was the /slightest/ bit interested in what I
> might be capable of learning.

As you observed, there are a lot of companies out there.  So it's not 
"all cases", it's just "all cases within [your] experience".

>> That's why I have someone else to do that for me. :)
> 
> Nice...

You could probably do so as well.  You write well enough (that's what I 
end up doing) - but the person I'm working with deals primarily with US-
based companies.  I could ask her if she knows anyone who does what she 
does in the UK, though, if you like.  She may.

One thing that is *really* helpful in this particular line of work is an 
ability to learn new technologies quickly.  That becomes a HUGE asset.

Jim

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