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On 29/08/2012 9:46 PM, Orchid Win7 v1 wrote:
>>> In summary, this test boils down to "how much stuff can you Google about
>>> VB.Net in just 30 minutes?"
>>>
>>
>> So! What is wrong with that?
>
> I believe the purpose of the test was to find out if you *know* VB,
That is what you are taught at school.
> not whether you can Google it really, really fast. ;-)
>
This is RL
And what Jim said.
>> It is a tool of the trade, now. That and the F1 key.
>
> This makes me sad.
>
It makes me sad that makes you sad.
>> Good luck with it. :-D
>
> Thanks. Luck is what it'll take...
Yes we all need luck.
--
Regards
Stephen
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>> I believe the purpose of the test was to find out if you *know* VB,
>
> That is what you are taught at school.
>
>> not whether you can Google it really, really fast. ;-)
>
> This is RL
> And what Jim said.
Sure. I mean, who needs a solid background understanding of a complex
problem in order to solve parts of it?
> Yes we all need luck.
No. Some of us are GOOD...
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On Thu, 30 Aug 2012 07:39:12 +0100, Orchid Win7 v1 wrote:
>>> I believe the purpose of the test was to find out if you *know* VB,
>>
>> That is what you are taught at school.
>>
>>> not whether you can Google it really, really fast. ;-)
>>
>> This is RL And what Jim said.
>
> Sure. I mean, who needs a solid background understanding of a complex
> problem in order to solve parts of it?
The number of that kind of complex problem in today's business world is
relatively small, unless you are into engineering, complex software
development, or a similar field.
As a service economy, though, most "problems" are customer service
problems, and those are relatively easy to resolve.
>> Yes we all need luck.
>
> No. Some of us are GOOD...
Being good isn't enough. I'm actually *very* good at the things I do,
but so far all I've found that's a good fit is contract work. But I'm
picky.
Jim
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>>> I believe the purpose of the test was to find out if you *know* VB,
>>
>> That is what you are taught at school.
>>
>>> not whether you can Google it really, really fast. ;-)
>>
>> This is RL
>> And what Jim said.
>
> Sure. I mean, who needs a solid background understanding of a complex
> problem in order to solve parts of it?
>
You need a solid background and understanding to answer the "please
describe how you would solve this moderately complex problem" type
questions and a B.A. in Googleology won't help for those, but you don't
need to clutter your brain with all the various switches to the grep
command.
As one of my teachers used to say: "You don't need to remember all of
this stuff [he was talking about various heat transfer differential
equations]... You just need to remember in which book you read it!"
--
/*Francois Labreque*/#local a=x+y;#local b=x+a;#local c=a+b;#macro P(F//
/* flabreque */L)polygon{5,F,F+z,L+z,L,F pigment{rgb 9}}#end union
/* @ */{P(0,a)P(a,b)P(b,c)P(2*a,2*b)P(2*b,b+c)P(b+c,<2,3>)
/* gmail.com */}camera{orthographic location<6,1.25,-6>look_at a }
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On 31/08/2012 07:01 PM, Francois Labreque wrote:
> As one of my teachers used to say: "You don't need to remember all of
> this stuff [he was talking about various heat transfer differential
> equations]... You just need to remember in which book you read it!"
Sure. But if you don't even know what the hell a differential equation
/is/... Well, maybe you can find the answer in a book. But I would
suggest you won't do very well trying to solve questions that come up in
the real job rather than in a test paper...
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On Fri, 31 Aug 2012 20:07:08 +0100, Orchid Win7 v1 wrote:
> On 31/08/2012 07:01 PM, Francois Labreque wrote:
>> As one of my teachers used to say: "You don't need to remember all of
>> this stuff [he was talking about various heat transfer differential
>> equations]... You just need to remember in which book you read it!"
>
> Sure. But if you don't even know what the hell a differential equation
> /is/... Well, maybe you can find the answer in a book. But I would
> suggest you won't do very well trying to solve questions that come up in
> the real job rather than in a test paper...
I've worked a number of jobs since I took differential calculus, and I've
never had to use it. (Though arguably, I have actually used it, but it
wasn't a necessity - I was curious about the rate that a change was
taking place in, don't even remember what it was now).
Jim
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> On 31/08/2012 07:01 PM, Francois Labreque wrote:
>> As one of my teachers used to say: "You don't need to remember all of
>> this stuff [he was talking about various heat transfer differential
>> equations]... You just need to remember in which book you read it!"
>
> Sure. But if you don't even know what the hell a differential equation
> /is/...
Which was the point I was making in the previous paragraph.
--
/*Francois Labreque*/#local a=x+y;#local b=x+a;#local c=a+b;#macro P(F//
/* flabreque */L)polygon{5,F,F+z,L+z,L,F pigment{rgb 9}}#end union
/* @ */{P(0,a)P(a,b)P(b,c)P(2*a,2*b)P(2*b,b+c)P(b+c,<2,3>)
/* gmail.com */}camera{orthographic location<6,1.25,-6>look_at a }
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On 29/08/2012 12:08 PM, Invisible wrote:
> OK, so last week I had a call about a possible job in Oxford. That's a
> bit of a long way, but it's shorter than my current commute.
Actually, it turns out it's only 5 miles shorter. On the other hand, I
tried driving over there to see if I could find the place, and even at
3pm almost all of the roads along the route were absolutely wedged
solid. And this isn't even rush hour. It took almost 2 hours to get
there - twice my current commute time. Oh, and once you get there, there
is NO parking anywhere. The ONLY way to park is to use the lame-ass
"park and ride" system.
Clearly I will not be looking at any further jobs in Oxford. The journey
is just insane. I got stuck at one singe junction for 20 minute
straight. This is at 3pm on a Friday afternoon. I hate to imagine what
rush hour is like. (!)
> On Friday, I got a call to say that first I have to pass a test. On
> VB.Net, of all things. So, uh, yeah... That's totally going to work out
> then! :-P
OK, well, the job spec clearly says they're looking for a VB programmer.
I have never done any VB coding (as a cursory glance at my CV will
readily confirm).
Firstly, this raises the interesting question "why the hell are they
even interviewing me?" Especially given how badly I did with the test
they sent. Presumably the purpose of a test is to weed out the people
who are completely unsuitable, so they can concentrate on the people who
show at least a minimal aptitude for the work.
An equally valid question - and one which I fully expect that they will
ask me - is why the /hell/ I'm applying for a VB job when I know nothing
about VB. (!)
The truthful answer, obviously, is that I went through the jobs list and
applied for almost every single job in sight, without really paying much
attention to the action specification. I took this approach under the
(perfectly reasonable and subsequently confirmed) assumption that almost
nobody I applied to would even bother to reply to me. I applied for this
job thinking "what's the worst that can happen?" It turns out, the worst
that can happen is that you get interviewed for a job you're not really
interested in, and not skilled for.
(If this were C#, I would be interested. I can probably learn that
fairly easily. Hell, I've already started. But VB is just a bit too
crappy for my taste...)
None of this is stuff you want to say in a formal interview. So the
question is... what the heck am I going to tell these guys? They're
offering a job that's almost impossible to commute to, coding in a
language I dislike. So why the heck did I apply?
Sometimes I think maybe I'm not really cut out to be a sentient human
being...
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On Sun, 02 Sep 2012 20:52:19 +0100, Orchid Win7 v1 wrote:
> None of this is stuff you want to say in a formal interview. So the
> question is... what the heck am I going to tell these guys?
You do the interview and see if perhaps there's something closer to what
you're looking for - that may be why they asked you in anyways - and if
it doesn't look like a good fit, you thank them for their time and leave.
You don't need to say anything beyond that.
Jim
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On 9/2/2012 12:52, Orchid Win7 v1 wrote:
> is at 3pm on a Friday afternoon. I hate to imagine what rush hour is like. (!)
Around here, 3PM on a friday afternoon is the most rushing of rush hour. By
5PM, everyone has already left early for the day.
> None of this is stuff you want to say in a formal interview. So the question
> is... what the heck am I going to tell these guys? They're offering a job
> that's almost impossible to commute to, coding in a language I dislike. So
> why the heck did I apply?
They won't ask you why you applied. If they do, tell them "because I'm
interested in learning new things and I am confident I can do the job." Let
them make an offer before you turn it down.
--
Darren New, San Diego CA, USA (PST)
"Oh no! We're out of code juice!"
"Don't panic. There's beans and filters
in the cabinet."
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