[wplug] OT: Going back to school (college/trade)

[George Larson]

On Tue, Sep 1, 2009 at 9:07 PM, Drew from Zhrodague <drew at zhrodague.net> wrote:
>
> > However, I would consider the fact that tools go in and out of fashion
> > quickly, but a good background and good grasp of fundamental concepts
> > will be more beneficial and last a lot longer.
>
>        Hm, I find it very hard to get through HR people without having a
> college education, in spite of my varied experience. However, I've been
> able to work with some pretty good folks on some pretty interesting
> stuff anyway. Depends on the shop, and whichever HR person they have
> manning the gates -- if they even have an HR person.
>
>        Some shops are more interested in how you fit into the culture, how
> well you can learn what they need you to do. These are usually more fun.
> Networking, I think, is more important than anything else when trying to
> get a gig.
>
>        My experience is anecdotal. I've never landed a job wearing a suit to
> the interview, and nobody wants a one-page resume anymore. Only one job
> I've had, did someone complain about my long hair.
>
>        Where do you wanna end up? Think about this, and imagine what kind of
> job you want. Make sure you have a clear career path, and take the steps
> to get there. Gaining some experience may be more helpful than taking
> classes.
>
>                Did I mention that I have a recruiter blog?
>
> --
>
> Drew from Zhrodague             http://www.pghwireless.net
> drew at zhrodague.net              http://dorkbot.org/dorkbotpgh
> http://www.WiFiMaps.com         http://www.hackpittsburgh.org
>
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Since OP wanted advice about night classes and collegiate experience,
this is even further off (off off-topic?).  However, I have a few
points I would like to share.  I apologize if I'm merely blathering.
In my own defense, I'm home with some nasty illness and on a variety
of medications.

I've been doing independent contracting for over 15 years and my day
job is 'software engineer' in a LAMP environment at a company that
consists predominantly of  IT and sales.  We do have a bunch of people
in cubes handling the day-to-day but my impression is that those are
not great jobs because they seem to turn over pretty quickly.

Every time I tried going to college, it didn't work out.  Multiple
co-workers of mine have masters.  In the dozen people in the group, I
think I am the only one without a degree.  Beyond that, I'm a tattooed
and pierced kinda guy.  These are challenges in our field(s) but they
are not death writs.

HR is often, in practice, the enemy.  I don't have any dislike for the
people behind the policy -- but the technique has many shortcomings
for people like me.  Often, they simply have a list of criteria and
they really don't know much about the subject.  The approach that I
have used is to call and ask for the name of the IT manager.  I still
follow the regular procedures -- but I also send a resume and letter
directly to the manager, so they can form an opinion.  For example, I
have developed a lot in PHP and ASP.  I've not worked with ColdFusion
but if you're needing a CF programmer, I can probably pick it up.  The
manager is much more likely to recognize that than the HR person.

I suggest you should study interview techniques if you have an
interview.  I think that I landed my current job because they emailed
me a list of subjects that would be touched in the interview.
Actually, there was a test.  However, I developed a site, using PHP,
that addressed all of those subjects.  Then I threw in a page that
allowed the visitor to view the code of any page on the site -- so
they could observe my writing style.

The last point I have is one that I don't like, but I think that not
understanding it has hurt my efforts in the past.  A resume is not a
legally binding document.  I always have (and always will) be honest
on mine.  However, we all know that a lot people in our field(s) add
'flavor'.  What that means to you is that you can put things on your
resume that won't be on an application -- and you're not at risk for
termination if they later realize they aren't true.  You can claim to
be a chess master, ninja, zombie or to have invented the webternets
and, if you don't write it on the application, then you're fine.