

Dear Employers: You're Doing it Wrong - barrettabrooks
http://livingformonday.com/business-and-careers/open-letter-employers/

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geebee
Complaint #1: Colleges are not training for the skills that I need. Everyone
we hire comes out of college completely lacking the skills we need to be
successful. Colleges are failing at their jobs.

This is a serious problem, badly exacerbated by the typical programmer hiring
process. I think it can be summed up like this: employers want people who just
graduated from college ten years ago.

Two huge factors here.

First - employers want the kind of skills that typically take as much as a
decade to develop even in entry level hires, but programmers are often hired
based on whiteboard interviews that essentially amount to an oral exam on data
structures and algorithms. The way this is handed in reality is that
experience programmers typically need a few weeks to re-load this information
in "exam ready" memory prior to interview. Essentially, we periodically study
for exams when we look for jobs.

Second - if you get through your CS degree very quickly, with no time off, no
graduate work, no stumbling and finding your career path, you'll be in your
early 30s by the time you have this decade of experience [1]. Account for the
more common winding path of life, and you're in your mid to late 30s. At this
point, many programmers feel that their days may be numbered as technical
workers [2].

[1] of course, you gain this gradually and become more valuable at each step -
it's not like a light switches on at a magical 10 year mark.

[2] I've heard a lot that makes me worried and not all that worried about
this. I think the attitude that people shouldn't be programming after 35 or 40
may be fading. Hope so.

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devinmontgomery
Dear Employees: We don't actually think millennials are lazy and spoiled. But
employing people is hard, and we make mistakes too. It would be great if there
was a way forward other than us firing lists of grievances back and forth at
each other.

We agree that a fix to this pain point would be valuable. Create it and maybe
we'll come work for you.

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memracom
Hmmm... They ask for feedback, but what they really want is praise. All they
want is praise.

Seems a fair thing to ask. After all psychologists have learned that praising
people for what they do right, is far more effective than criticising them.
Unfortunately too many managers are only out for their own jollies in
criticising their team members and simultaneously pulling the wool over the
eyes of their own employer, because, let`s face it, the business actually
wants all team members to be effective and constantly improving. Praise does
that.

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jloughry
Upvoted because I think the perspective in this article needs to be discussed,
but I think the author is going to get some flames.

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Superleroy
He has some good points but the general tone is a bit too harsh imo.

