OT: Degrees and Certifications (was: Re: OT: RE: John's being aPITA, again. Ignore, everyone. (Re: Two for the road, Report from Clerk & Nonstandard Subtotals))

[Fairlight]

On Wed, Mar 16, 2005 at 08:01:45AM -0500, GCC Consulting may or may not
have proven themselves an utter git by pronouncing:
> She asked me why her son couldn't make the system work, I told her he
> needed to get a job with a company, at the entry level, so he could learn
> his craft.

Which is why I'm glad I was an office temp for several years.  Despite
some people's attempts to use that fact to shame or belittle me, I found
it invaluable experience in many different environments--from restaurant
management, to banking, to insurance, to fashion design, etc..  In
specific, it gave me a feel for each type of environment in which I
worked.  In general, it gave me a firsthand look at all procedures from the
operator/employee level on upward, both by self-observation, observation
of my peers (we had groups of us doing data entry at various places),
and observation of management.  I also got to see firsthand exactly what
mistakes MIS/IT is likely to make, and got a feel for how to avoid the same
pitfalls.

Personally, I think a few years in the "lowly" trenches can do wonders
for a person's understanding.  It won't improve the -technical- quality
of your code; only study and practise can do that.  But when it comes to
UI design, ease-of-use consideration, and especially an appreciation for
bulletproofing software against the office temp du jeur, or indeed, any
employees that are a few fries short of a Happy Meal when it comes to
utilising a system--the experience is invaluable.  The experience helps you
compensate for those missing fries.  (The fries, incidentally, usually go
missing on the way from McD's to home--it so often seems like such a long
drive...I don't believe I ever did make it home with -every- fry still
present and accounted for!)

I wholly concur with your observations.  They mirror my own.  Anyone can
study and be conversant in coding and business philosophy and rules.
That's trivial, assuming they're committed to spending the time and
making the effort.  It's quite another to undertake it from a design
standpoint and still come up with something that's not only workable but
elegant--and not outmoded by the time it's released.  I like to remember
the bank that had its own IT -subsidiary- design software for its in-house
trust department.  When they rolled out the software after 2 years of
development, the software matched all the requested design specs, but
things had evolved so much that the system was entirely unusable and was
sent back to be reworked--and while they were at it, would they please
add X, Y, and Z features that were never conceived the first time around?
I would hazard a guess that such a cycle won't usually end until other
parties get involved.

Excellent anecdote and observations you presented, Richard.

> As the saying used to go (in ancient times) - that degree and 15 cents
> will get you on the NY subway.

I've never heard that one before, but I like it.  Thanks for sharing!
But it makes one wonder -why- people place so much importance on someone
having a degree.  Back when my father was still in air freight, some of
the companies he worked for (and others he had contact with) were starting
to mandate college degrees even for truck drivers.  That seems patently
ridiculous, since it means so little and is so irrelevant to the job
at hand.  And it's only gotten worse in the last 15 years.  I fail to
understand the thought processes behind the illogic of the situation.  Feel
free to enlighten me--it's something that I've been curious about for quite
some time.

mark->
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