Re: Looking for advice -- up to the job?

["Susan Patrick" <susan -dot- patrick -at- fti-ibis -dot- com>]

"Anonymous" <anonfwd -at- raycomm -dot- com> wrote in message news:160399 -at- techwr-l -dot-  -dot-  -dot- 
>
>
> Forwarded anonymously on request. Please reply to the
> list if you want the original poster to see your message. EJR
> &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
>
> I've been programming for many years, and in C/C++ for seven years.
> I have a misleadingly impressive cv because I've changed posts as
> successive employers discovered I was not really up to the job.
> My salary rose accordingly (nearly 30K pounds sterling).
>
.....message snipped

Dear Anonymous,

I'm sorry this isn't going to be a very sympathetic note, but I think you
might need a different point of view. I don't think finding an easier job is
your best solution; instead, I think you're better off improving your skills
to the point where you can get a better job.

Here's my husband's story: He's a programmer with a bachelor's in computer
science. He graduated from university, then took two years off to travel and
work in an unrelated field. He did find a job initially, but was laid off
after a few months. Since then (a period of almost a year), he hasn't been
able to find steady work. He's been applying everywhere, but has been a
victim of the bad economy and an outdated skillset. So what is he doing?
He's finally bitten the bullet, and is taking night courses to specialize
and update his skills. We both realize this is the best way to improve his
chances of getting work in his field.

>From the other side of the fence, I have to wonder what your co-workers have
been going through. I've worked with people who didn't have the skills they
advertised. They were pleasant, hard-working people too, but I ended up
cursing them when I had to spend my time redoing the work they hadn't done
properly in the first place, if at all. Sorry if that's harsh, but you did
say that your CV is "misleadingly impressive".

I appreciate that you are going through a hard time now, and I wish you
luck. You're very fatalistic when you say you could "talk [yourself] back
into a C++ or technical writing job and fail again." Put that effort into
improving yourself, and set yourself a new course.

Susan Patrick
susan -dot- patrick -at- fti-ibis -dot- com
Salesclerk, FTI Bait Shop
There's no can of worms we can't open.

-----------------------------------
Forensic Technology, Montreal
www.forensictechnologyinc.com





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