Re: Testing job applicants

[edick@hotmail.com (Richard Erlacher)]

On Tue, 7 Sep 1999 19:48:30 -0500, William Hamblen
<bud@mycomputer.invalid.us> wrote:

>In alt.folklore.computers Steven R. Wheeler <swheeler@xpert.net> wrote:
>: ... (or no degrees but a music/languages background) ...
>Didn't IBM once upon a time actively recruit musicians as trainee
>programmers?
>
======================================================
Yes, IBM did, back in the early '60's seek out people with
personalitites and backgrounds imphasising their "imaginative" side
with little or now emphasis on their formal education.  Things have
changed, apparently.

Today's college student, in general, can barely read and comprehend a
piece of prose which would have fallen well within the capabilities of
a 14-year old back in the '60's.  What's more, today's graduate, again
in general, has no notion whatsoever of sentence structure, as it was
taught by sentence diagramming, etc, back in the '50's and early
'60's, particularly as a tool for grammatical/syntactical analysis for
the purpose of understanding a difficult sentence.  Today's graduate
blames the writer for his inability to understand.  I blame the
graduate, since he's unwilling to put in the time and effort to learn
this most basic of tools.

When I engage the services of, or hire, an individual, I want to know
how well he can do things.  This is measured by accomplishment.  How
"smart" he/she is doesn't mean anything if what's lacking is
application.  The most important criteria are (1) ability to
understand what's required/specified to get a job ccompleted, and (2)
the willingness to do whatever it takes to get it done.  

This means no whining about the tools, language, schedule, etc.  It
just requires application of available resources.  

If a person writes badly, it's because he didn't read enough.  Correct
grammar, syntax, and orthography are the mark of a person who's
interested in getting the job done right.  Sloppy handwriting, poorly
constructed sentences, "flow-of-consciousness" writing style, and
frequent syntax errors (seldom detected by a spelling checker) are
clear marks of an intellect lacking in the discipline to perform well
at anything over the long haul. 

Imagination is a vital problem solving tool. It is necessary though
not sufficient.  The ability to get a job done is learned slowly by
repeated successful exercises, like getting the work in school done on
time and to specifications, learning to listen carefully to
instructions so the "right" job gets done, and working methodically to
prepare a decent workpiece.