Jeff Moden (2/9/2014)
mtucker-732014 (2/9/2014)
A few weeks ago I read a paper by some sociologists about the stress of searching for work in different cultures (call me an infovore!), specifically making a comparison between looking for work in the US and looking for work in Israel. According to this research people found job search much more stressful in the US because you have a culture that emphasises personality over competenceNot quite true... at least, not for me nor where I work. We want good people all the way around. They have to fit the team and that means being competent enough to actually get work done. In order to get work done, you have to communicate with people not only to get the requirements but to get some help on the tough spots. For sure, when you first work in a new environment, everything is a "tough spot" because of esoteric knowledge of the systems required and documentation alone doesn't answer all of those questions. We don't want some arrogant jerk or some lame sot that won't be able to communicate without pissing everyone off. There's no reason at all why someone can't be both competent AND a good team member. As on the 8 Ball League I used to play on, there's a huge difference between a good shot and a good player and both can be experts at 8 Ball.
Jeff, I think you are picking up "social skills" where mtucker said"culture". They are different things. Maybe he was thinking of a real problem: Someone who wears the right fraternity ring from Ivy League or the right class ring form Annapolis (USNA) or West Point (USNA) is "cultured", anyone who doesn't may be competent but isn't cultured, and hence is much less employable. I dont like it at all, and I don't like it's equivalent in the UK or in the rest of Europe (despite having schooling that puts me on the "cultured" side), because it often keeps good people out. It doesn't happen everywhere, not even in half the companies that employ people like you and me, but it does happen far too much.
Tom