Damus (7/22/2008)
jay holovacs (7/22/2008)
Wayne West (7/22/2008)
I'm sorry, but I'm not really seeing anything new here. "Degrees and certifications are no indicator of quality." "We want team players." "We want flexible people." If they believe that degrees and certifications are not an indicator of quality, then tell their HR departments to stop asking for them. ....Alas, requiring certs is another part of CYA, especially in the hiring world where claims of bias or discrimination in hiring can be a legal minefield. It passes off much of the work of evaluating a prospect to a third party.
IT knowledge does not exist in a vacuum. More often than not, the IT skills you refer to are reflected in other aspects of a person's life and interests. Is this the type of person whose first instinct is to pick up a tool when something goes wrong around the house or the car? Is it the kind of person who is constantly reading, who is trying to improve their personal space (house, car, garden) through tinkering? Or are they completely passive, getting through, or wanting everything to be pre-packaged for them?
I have some colleagues who do not own a computer at home. When asked why? they answer, they have no need for it.
I do not believe in a programmer without a computer at home.
I do not believe in a programmer who does not tinker with programs at home.
I do not believe in a programmer who does not play computer games.
I don't agree with you 100%, maybe 95%. That said, I have twice as many PCs at home as I do people living there! For video games, I have never owned a Sega Genesis, but have owned everything else. Nook Tablets, kindles, iPads, iPhones, iPods, well I don't have a iPad Mini yet! As to the part you quoted above about picking up a tool, the only thing I don't do on my car is transmission repairs. The only thing I don't do on my house is roofing (too steep) and some furnace repairs. There is not a single area of repair on my home that I have not done at some point, roofing and heating simply being things I chose to no longer do.
Where I disagree is that I do respect that people need to step away from work. I have no programmers that were excellent, but that chose to not program at home. Generally I think you are correct, but there are some limited exceptions.
Dave