[thelist] RE: Does web design have afuturein'highwage'countries? (wasQuestion])

Ken Schaefer ken at adOpenStatic.com
Mon Jul 26 08:00:27 CDT 2004


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "RUST Randal" <RRust at COVANSYS.com>
Subject: RE: [thelist] RE: Does web design have
afuturein'highwage'countries? (wasQuestion])


Ken Schaefer wrote:

: > I disagree. A good programmer is going to pick up any
: > language. A good network engineer will find work anywhere
: > (it's not like TCP/IP is industry specific). IT workers can
: > adapt as well.
:
: I agree with that sentiment, but we are seeing many, many
: people who can't get jobs in any line of IT after being laid
: off. I know of several.

That happens in any industry (some people can't get jobs). However, I used
to support a careers centre which helped thousands of people each year. The
people who can't get jobs generally (not all):

a) they can't sell themselves well enough in an interview - sometimes it
just because they get nervous and flustered, sometimes it because they
downplay their achievements, and sometimes it's because they show off
otherwise irrelevant details rather than concentrating on what the
interviewer is asking about.

b) their resume writing skills suck (for example, a job application calls
for "attention to detail", and their resume contained spelling or
grammatical errors) - I've been on about a dozen selection panels, and the
number of resumes that I have too look at like this is simply incredible.

c) their attitude sucks (some people get bitter and twisted, or think that
jobs should be handed to them on a platter). Some are also not prepared to
accept that their skills are no longer in demand (and that they'd have to
accept a pay cut).

d) they simply don't understand anything other than technical imperatives -
they can't communicate concepts like security to users in terms that users
understand (risk management, business continuity, strategic advantage, etc).

e) there is some discrimination (younger people, older people etc), which is
unfortunate, but isn't the fault of the job seeker

I went to the US Monster.com site. There are 4500 jobs listed for Network
Engineer alone. Given that about 75% of jobs are not advertised, that
indicates that there are still plenty of jobs out there.

Cheers
Ken




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