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We don't need a union per se, but a professional association (aka guild) would be fantastic. As professionals we need to stop letting employers be the sole arbi
by bkeroack 11y ago
We don't need a union per se, but a professional association (aka guild) would be fantastic. As professionals we need to stop letting employers be the sole arbiter of competency, and we also need to institute a code of engineering ethics that is independent and based on sound theory and practice (rather than whatever the business wants at any given time).
Imagine being SEOA (Software Engineer Association of America) Level 1 certified and never having to do Fizz Buzz at an interview again. Or a Glassdoor-like employer database that gives you a clue what you might be walking into. Independent health insurance coverage, etc. There could be lots of great ways it would improve the average engineer's life.
- kasey_junk 11y agoAlso imagine not being able to get a job because you tried to implement some new and cutting edge process or program and were black balled for life. That's also what guilds do.
- xenophonf 11y agoI shudder in horror. While I personally am your average classically trained CSSE grad, many of my friends and family are autodidacts who created for themselves very successful careers in IT and software engineering. I cannot see how a guild would help them, and frankly the deplorable state of modern IT certifications plus the similarly large pool of friends and family who do _and_ don't test well would make me continue to Fizz Buzz (and more) potential recruits no matter who says they've got programming chops.
- Kalium 11y agoThe ACM already has a reasonably sound code of ethics.