Re: Testing job applicants

[Brian Inglis <Brian.dot.Inglis@SystematicSw.ab.ca>]

On 7 Sep 1999 09:25:51 GMT,
Chris.omitthisbit.Brown@arm.andthisbit.com (Chris Brown) wrote:
>In article <g961r7.bq.ln@fenelon.com>, Pete Fenelon  <pete@fenelon.com> wrote:
>>
>>There's obviously something good going on in Cambridge, and has been
>>for a long time, but it seems that at least in the recent past there
>>was some tendency to deter people from doing Computer Science 
>>at undergrad level.
>>
>>I had an offer from Cambridge, but at the time (86 entry) I got the
>>impression that Computer Science, at undergrad level, was something
>>regarded as a dumping ground for mathematicians, engineers and Nat Sci
>>people who washed out in Part 1s. (I'd applied to go in via Part 1 Nat
>>Sci). There wasn't a CS Part I at the time, and the admissions people I
>>met seemed much keener to keep me as a scientist...
>
>Fortunately this changed somewhat a couple of years before I arrived,
>although it's rumoured that the maths department do still try and
>poach the occasional compsci undergrad. The Compsci undergraduate
>course is now a full three year course, although you must still take
>one natural sciences subject (plus natural science mathematics) in the
>first year (most people take physics). I think they've extended the
>options for the first year since I graduated.
>
>>I felt as though my chosen subject was something they'd rather not have
>>in their nice old university. Kind of odd since I'd grown up reading
>>about Turing and Wilkes and so on...
>
>Sorry you had such a negative experience. I guess one of the
>disadvantages of the collegiate system is that interview experiences
>can vary greatly. As you say, there's a history of computing going
>back a long way here (and inded, the Cambridge Diploma in Computer
>Science is the oldest formal CS qualification in the World).
>

Just ask SKB!
Thanks. Take care, Brian Inglis 	Calgary, Alberta, Canada
-- 
Brian_Inglis@CSi.com 	(Brian dot Inglis at SystematicSw dot ab dot ca)
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