Re: not enough real programmers? (was Re: Byte Magazine: 18 Vintage issues, 1985-1986)

["jsnyder" <jsnyder@trelis.com>]

> > The 'skills shortage' is really an inability of the industry to bring
> > in and evaluate employees. Preferring to expend endless time on the
> > theoretical 'perfect fit' employee that can start from day one.
> >
> > I blame 'personnel services' somewhat. The hiring manager can specify
> > his 'ideal employee' and create a 'skills shortage' for that job with
> > no real expectation of finding his 'superman'. It costs them nothing
> > unless the service finds the person they 'need'.
>
> That's probably a lot of it.
>
> The only solution I can see is to bypass the HR department.  Have the boss
> tell *them* that he wants to hire you, don't rely on HR to bring you to
> the attention of the boss.  It's not in their interests to do so, and in
> fact the interests of the HR department are completely opposite to both
> your interests and the boss's interests...
>
This has been my experience over the last six months that I have been
looking for a job;  25 years in the industry, h/w and s/w design.  But I
don't fit neatly into the skill sheet that the HR droids use.  I even had
one tell me that I didn't have the required qualification of writing
'firmware' even though my resume lists 10 years of embedded work.  Thank
goodness I have adequate resources to sit it out.

-Joe