3 ms·

I can't get hired at my current gig because I don't have a degree (but they'll let me be a contractor...). The joke is the PhD fellows and principals don't wan

I can't get hired at my current gig because I don't have a degree (but they'll let me be a contractor...). The joke is the PhD fellows and principals don't want some Linux hacker that never went to college fixing all their code that doesn't work. Edit: shit/code

anthk 3y ago
Fixing shit is not a task of an engineer, but a technician.
- FirmwareBurner 3y ago
  Centering a div for six figures also doesn't make you an engineer.
- Uptrenda 3y ago
  At my last job I was hired to fix security issues found in some code being audited. I didn't 'write' or design the code myself. Yet the process was really just the same as regular software engineering. I wrote new code to implement algorithms that were missing, fixed validation logic, improved testing, and wrote some simple scripts to make working with some of the file formats easier. I'd have just been a 'technician' to you but IMO: it involved all the same skills as if I'd have designed it myself. You still need to know what all the code does well enough to have written it and have the skills to improve it. So I'm not sure the distinction really matters here.
- aeonik 3y ago
  Not gonna lie. This perspective leaves a very bad taste in my mouth. Why do you think engineers don't or shouldn't fix things? Isn't the very idea of designing a system: solving a problem, and isn't problem solving synonymous with "fixing a problem". One can choose to implement various formal and rigorous methods throughout a process, but at the end of the day it's all the same activity.
- msmenardi 3y ago
  as an ex-technician, I'd have to agree. With the caveat that they should choose how they want to fix your shit.
- vdaea 3y ago
  This is some bitter truth, hence the downvotes.
  - thelastparadise 3y ago
    How do you downvote on hn?
    - vdaea 3y ago
      You need to have a certain amount of karma points to see the downvote arrow. I think 500 so you're almost there.
neilv 3y ago
> I can't get hired at my current gig because I don't have a degree (but they'll let me be a contractor...). Is the reason imposed by a party external to the employer, maybe a regulator? Or is it arrogance/ignorance of a strongly university-connected organization? Or is it intended as an pretext to get the work of some people with preferable terms?
- bluedino 3y ago
  Company policy, pretty standard with large "scientific" companies. Supposedly the requirement has been lifted but most team leaders and VP's are still reluctant. If the employee eventually fails they can still use "well, he graduated from Purdue he should have succeeded"

anthk 3y ago

Fixing shit is not a task of an engineer, but a technician.

FirmwareBurner 3y ago
Centering a div for six figures also doesn't make you an engineer.
Uptrenda 3y ago
At my last job I was hired to fix security issues found in some code being audited. I didn't 'write' or design the code myself. Yet the process was really just the same as regular software engineering. I wrote new code to implement algorithms that were missing, fixed validation logic, improved testing, and wrote some simple scripts to make working with some of the file formats easier. I'd have just been a 'technician' to you but IMO: it involved all the same skills as if I'd have designed it myself. You still need to know what all the code does well enough to have written it and have the skills to improve it. So I'm not sure the distinction really matters here.
aeonik 3y ago
Not gonna lie. This perspective leaves a very bad taste in my mouth. Why do you think engineers don't or shouldn't fix things? Isn't the very idea of designing a system: solving a problem, and isn't problem solving synonymous with "fixing a problem". One can choose to implement various formal and rigorous methods throughout a process, but at the end of the day it's all the same activity.
msmenardi 3y ago
as an ex-technician, I'd have to agree. With the caveat that they should choose how they want to fix your shit.
vdaea 3y ago
This is some bitter truth, hence the downvotes.
- thelastparadise 3y ago
  How do you downvote on hn?
  - vdaea 3y ago
    You need to have a certain amount of karma points to see the downvote arrow. I think 500 so you're almost there.

neilv 3y ago

> I can't get hired at my current gig because I don't have a degree (but they'll let me be a contractor...). Is the reason imposed by a party external to the employer, maybe a regulator? Or is it arrogance/ignorance of a strongly university-connected organization? Or is it intended as an pretext to get the work of some people with preferable terms?

bluedino 3y ago
Company policy, pretty standard with large "scientific" companies. Supposedly the requirement has been lifted but most team leaders and VP's are still reluctant. If the employee eventually fails they can still use "well, he graduated from Purdue he should have succeeded"