4 ms·

Funny, I have a software development with AI degree, and I can't get anything - not even tech support. Why do they come out with these stupid stories?

• gaius 16y ago
  Why? Because despite surface appearances, the BCS is a lobbying group for employers. They want talent to be a commodity. That means "cheap" and "interchangeable". And it doesn't matter if engineer A isn't any good from that point of view; what matters is that engineer B is a 1-for-1 replacement. I saw this as well when I was doing Mech Eng at college: time and time again, we were told, by the IMechE, our supposed professional body, that there was a huge shortage of mechanical (and other) engineers. I gather from physicists and chemists that they are told, there is a huge shortage of scientists. But any fule kno, the laws of supply and demand apply. I still get contacted by recruiters in engineering, offering me in some cases less than half of my present salary to go back...
  • arethuza 16y ago
    I'm sure professional bodies also like to see as many members as possible to increase their revenues and influence.
  • DrJokepu 16y ago
    I have cancelled my BCS membership after one year. My membership wasn't even marginally useful for me in any way, their magazine constantly reminds me that they have absolutely no idea what's really going on in technology and they keep spamming me with their stuff I don't care about.
    • gaius 16y ago
      Lawyers and doctors professional organizations are more like guilds. But the IMechE, the BCS et al actively work against the best interests of their individual members! The IMechE at least has the basic function of granting CEng to those that need it; there is no reason for anyone to be a BCS member at all.
      • zandorg 16y ago
        Actually one of the magazines I got from the BCS (circa 2005) was saying how great outsourcing is. I wasn't so enthusiastic and didn't agree with the article.
  • zandorg 16y ago
    Ah, just a name drop: I met the President of the BCS (at the time) Wendy Hall at the Hypertext 2003 conference. I told her I was working with Ted Nelson (without whom she wouldn't have got so far) and she looked confused, as if not working for grants/funding was an unusual thing.
    • gaius 16y ago
      If you look at something like this: http://www.bcs.org/server.php?show=nav.8710 http://www.bcs.org/server.php?show=nav.8710 - they're selling to IT management, they are very far from being an organization to represent the rank-and-file. Doubtless - that old British classism rearing its head - they would say that the managers are the "professionals" and the actual practitioners are mere labourers, like miners.
• almost 16y ago
  Do you believe this to be, solely or in part, due to outsourcing?
  • zandorg 16y ago
    I put it down to my pre-degree qualifications being poor (when the degree is a 2:2), and a lack of work experience in the field.
    • almost 16y ago
      Right, so probably nothing to do with outsourcing or this article. I believe the normal advice is to go get some of your work out there, contribute to open source projects or something. Make yourself more attractive to employers (or maybe even try and be your own boss)
• jasonkester 16y ago
  You would seem to be an outlier then. Good developers are nearly impossible to find, and don't stay on the market for long. I'd bet that if you dropped a few links to projects you've done in your spare time during your job hunt, you'd have people here asking for your resume. (assuming, of course, that you've been building projects in your spare time and that they're good.)
  • alexgartrell 16y ago
    +1. I've actually gotten a handful (3 or 4) of people here encourage me to apply various places.
  • zandorg 16y ago
    Hi, I reserve the right to think that nobody will be bothered, but here it is anyway: http://www.sanfransys.com/pretext/ http://www.sanfransys.com/pretext/ [Software to rip text from colour images and return a new image with text in 8-bit grayscale]
• ig1 16y ago
  I've done recruitment of graduate developers in the UK before, and there aren't anywhere enough decent developers graduating. Many companies can't even fill their quotas for how many graduates they want to hire. If you're a competent developer and you're not getting interviews then I'm guessing it's probably your CV that's letting you down. edit: if you want someone to review your CV feel free to email me.