money?

[danny_galaga]

---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- dude. Move to Australia! I'm a postman. I earn $22.40 an hour. After ONE year at most jobs in Australia, you are entitled to 4 weeks leave a year. That's pretty crap they treat you like that with all your qualification and experience with their equipment...

Well where Daywane works, there are probably not big spiders, poisonous snakes, bugs, malaria.  I'm sure it is fun walking around in 100+ degree weather with a nice and heavy pack on your back, or sloshing through the flood season in your waders.  I'm sure you have other pitfalls that you fail to mention, but $22.40 sounds like pretty good danger money to me.  I would need an air conditioned postal van first, and I would want a nice senior logistics position while you are at it. 

Sign me up!   

No malaria in Australia, or rabies either, which can't be said for your neck of the woods ;-)

This is average weather for Brisbane, where I live



We ride motorbikes to deliver mail here. Also, there are about as many taipans in Brisbane as there are rattlesnakes in Los Angeles. The pitfall I didn't mention of the major floods we had last year is not something exclusive to Australia. I believe it's possible to have floods in the US too.

I think the movie Crocodile Dundee has a lot to answer for if that's how you imagine a city in Australia to be. There are quite a few North Americans living in Australia, one's who were no doubt a little more adventurous than you. In fact, just at my branch, there are two Americans and a Canadian, out of a total of maybe 40 staff. No North American who has moved to Australia who I have ever met has wanted to go back.

There are pitfalls to Australia of course. Manufacturing is drying up, which is what Daywane is involved in. And real estate is overpriced.

Now all the jesting is out of the way, Daywane, you have no debts. You own your own house. Could you get a part time job that pays ok? Maybe even where you work? Part time still means more sex at home (",)

[kahlid74]

---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- dude. Move to Australia! I'm a postman. I earn $22.40 an hour. After ONE year at most jobs in Australia, you are entitled to 4 weeks leave a year. That's pretty crap they treat you like that with all your qualification and experience with their equipment...

Well where Daywane works, there are probably not big spiders, poisonous snakes, bugs, malaria.  I'm sure it is fun walking around in 100+ degree weather with a nice and heavy pack on your back, or sloshing through the flood season in your waders.  I'm sure you have other pitfalls that you fail to mention, but $22.40 sounds like pretty good danger money to me.  I would need an air conditioned postal van first, and I would want a nice senior logistics position while you are at it. 

Sign me up!   

No malaria in Australia, or rabies either, which can't be said for your neck of the woods ;-)

When I saw Malaria I lol'd, and was going to respond and then I saw the posts author was Ark and was like oh, NM.

I don't have very much perspective for the OP here.  I've worked in my current field for close to 9 years now.  I hold a BA and won't look to go back for my masters for at least another 10 years.  Any issues I've had with employers or pay I've solved by finding a new job.  I've never had a problem finding a new job even in heavily saturated markets (I work in IT).  I was the architect of infrastructure for several DC's at manufacturing companies a few years ago and I still hold it as one of the humblest experiences of my life.  Manufacturing is a different world entirely.

At the end of the day, you need to find something to do where you won't dread going to work in the morning.  Certainly there are days you may not feel like it, but you need to be able to get up and feel confident in yourself and the road map you've laid out for yourself.  I'm personally not a fan of getting fired/going on unemployment for the hell of it nor am I am fan of quitting just because without something else lined up.  I will however say that in light of the situation the OP is in, perhaps quitting and taking some time to look at the big picture might be beneficial.

[Dervacumen]

We don't need money, but until a better alternative is on the horizon it's not going anywhere.
I don't think now would be a good time for a career change.  I've been looking for work for almost a year and a half.  Well over a thousand resumes.  Good qualifications.  Tried to apply to pick cherries and was turned down because I don't have three years of cherry picking experience.  At least I have other projects keeping me busy and bringing in some dough.  I wouldn't mind a job for $18 an hour in town here.  Better than $450 a week.
Stay working while you find something else.

[ark_ader]

When I saw Malaria I lol'd, and was going to respond and then I saw the posts author was Ark and was like oh, NM.

I comments are not getting you to respond.  Oh Well.

I've worked in my current field for close to 9 years now.  I hold a BA and won't look to go back for my masters for at least another 10 years.  Any issues I've had with employers or pay I've solved by finding a new job.  I've never had a problem finding a new job even in heavily saturated markets (I work in IT).

 

That is nice to know, and I am glad it is working for you, but today to work in IT (25 years experience helps) you need at least a BSc or a M.Sc, and hold some certifications.  I'm studying for my Prince 2 practitioner exam, hoping it will give me a better position for a teaching post.  Education is the key for success for any decent job, especially when you competing against all the new kids fresh out of Uni.  BA's in IT unless it is design doesn't get you very far.

[ChadTower]

That is nice to know, and I am glad it is working for you, but today to work in IT (25 years experience helps) you need at least a BSc or a M.Sc, and hold some certifications. 

 

I work at a Fortune 25 company in a senior IT role.  I would be shocked if I learned that 10% of our IT employees had a Masters degree in anything.  Most of them don't have a Bachelor's and don't know much more than the very specific skills needed to perform their role (if they know that much).  We're talking a company subject to every financial, health, and retail regulation in North America.  We operate in all time zones from Hawaii to Puerto Rico.

You do not need a Bachelor's or a Master's to get an IT job.  It helps but there are probably more people without them than there are with them.

[drventure]

You do not need a Bachelor's or a Master's to get an IT job.  It helps but there are probably more people without them than there are with them.

+1

I think it helps if you're looking to get into mid-senior level software dev roles, but there's lot of entry level dev and general IT positions floating around right now. You need to be able to demonstrate reasonable competence with PCs, networks etc, but even then, in many cases, you may not even need that.

[ChadTower]

I wouldn't trust some of the people I work with to competently make me a sandwich.

[AtomSmasher]

I wouldn't trust some of the people I work with to competently make me a sandwich.

It's been my experience this is the case with anyone who's gotten a phd (at least with the dozen or so people I work with who have phd's).  It's seems getting this degree changes engineers so they no longer are able to do anything practical (like make a sandwich) and spend all their time in the theoretical.  Instead of spending a month crunching the numbers to find out if this ratio of peanut butter and jelly is optimal (only to find out your numbers are wrong anyways), just take a minute to make the sandwich now and find out right away.

[Dawgz Rule]

You do not need a Bachelor's or a Master's to get an IT job.  It helps but there are probably more people without them than there are with them.

+1  I have been working in IT management for years and most of the people that work for me do not have a degree.  I do believe that a degree and/or certifications can help get you in the door for an entry level IT position but most advancement seems to be driven by performance and skills that are acquired on the job. 

[flashiv]

I wouldn't trust some of the people I work with to competently make me a sandwich.

It's been my experience this is the case with anyone who's gotten a phd (at least with the dozen or so people I work with who have phd's).  It's seems getting this degree changes engineers so they no longer are able to do anything practical (like make a sandwich) and spend all their time in the theoretical.  Instead of spending a month crunching the numbers to find out if this ratio of peanut butter and jelly is optimal (only to find out your numbers are wrong anyways), just take a minute to make the sandwich now and find out right away.

My fiancee has a PHD and she makes a damn good PB and J sandwich.

[daywane]

my wife is a house wife and she makes darn good   

[danny_galaga]

my wife is a house wife and she makes darn good   

Atom, what's with the phd bashing. If you go for a phd, there is a very specific goal in mind. Only guy I know who has one, is a physicist. His thesis was on mapping a periodic table of anti-matter. How on earth could he forgo a phd in lieu of the practical? Practical what?

IT and phds, not much help for Daywayne at the moment anyway...

[AtomSmasher]

my wife is a house wife and she makes darn good    

Atom, what's with the phd bashing. If you go for a phd, there is a very specific goal in mind. Only guy I know who has one, is a physicist. His thesis was on mapping a periodic table of anti-matter. How on earth could he forgo a phd in lieu of the practical? Practical what?

IT and phds, not much help for Daywayne at the moment anyway...

This is just my experience with anyone who has a phd.  I'll give an example of practical:  We had a guy with a phd in Nuclear Engineering (or something like that) and he kept complaining about banging his knuckles every time he unplugged these connectors.  I then thought about how I did it (use my thumb to push off my other hand) and explained how I did it to him.  He said "These things should of come with instruction manuals."  

This is a small trivial case, but it happens on a weekly basis.  I can give you far worse cases, but you'd need to sign an NDA for the details, such as where a problem researched for a year by one of our phd's, was solved by someone with a Masters in less then a week simply because he ran a bunch of experiments instead of doing the math and crunching the numbers (keep in mind the guy with the phd was completely against running the experiments).

I'm sure it's not everyone with a phd, but it definitely is the case with all of them that I've worked with.  There's actually one guy at our company who is about to get his phd and we often make the joke that hopefully he doesn't get ruined once that happens  Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying they're stupid, not at all, they're very smart people (mostly).  It's just that all of their intelligence is focused on the theoretical.

[ark_ader]

That is nice to know, and I am glad it is working for you, but today to work in IT (25 years experience helps) you need at least a BSc or a M.Sc, and hold some certifications. 

 

I work at a Fortune 25 company in a senior IT role.  I would be shocked if I learned that 10% of our IT employees had a Masters degree in anything.  Most of them don't have a Bachelor's and don't know much more than the very specific skills needed to perform their role (if they know that much).  We're talking a company subject to every financial, health, and retail regulation in North America.  We operate in all time zones from Hawaii to Puerto Rico.

You do not need a Bachelor's or a Master's to get an IT job.  It helps but there are probably more people without them than there are with them.

I'm not talking about Walmart technical support.  Go out and have a look at the requirements of some of the developer positions, the Project Management positions, etc. 

I work at a Fortune 25 company in a senior IT role.

Looking at your post count and how much work a valuable senior IT <insert title here>  at a Fortune 25 company does on average.  And your point is? 

[drventure]

Go out and have a look at the requirements of some of the developer positions, the Project Management positions, etc.  

True, but be careful of putting too much stock into posted position requirements. I've seen many instances where the posted requirements were cobbled up by some HR person who had no idea what the actual requirements for the position really were.

One example (only slightly related, granted...) is that every single telecommute gig I've landed (5 over the last 12 years, one lasting 5 years) didn't even mention telecommuting as an option in the posted reqs.

Another posted for "7+ years exp with multithreaded dev" when, once I talked to the actual hiring manager, what they really were looking for was someone who knew the basics of multithreaded work and could come up to speed quickly on their particular library inhouse.

Often, at least in tech work, you have to read between the lines.

[danny_galaga]

my wife is a house wife and she makes darn good    

Atom, what's with the phd bashing. If you go for a phd, there is a very specific goal in mind. Only guy I know who has one, is a physicist. His thesis was on mapping a periodic table of anti-matter. How on earth could he forgo a phd in lieu of the practical? Practical what?

IT and phds, not much help for Daywayne at the moment anyway...

This is just my experience with anyone who has a phd.  I'll give an example of practical:  We had a guy with a phd in Nuclear Engineering (or something like that) and he kept complaining about banging his knuckles every time he unplugged these connectors.  I then thought about how I did it (use my thumb to push off my other hand) and explained how I did it to him.  He said "These things should of come with instruction manuals."  

This is a small trivial case, but it happens on a weekly basis.  I can give you far worse cases, but you'd need to sign an NDA for the details, such as where a problem researched for a year by one of our phd's, was solved by someone with a Masters in less then a week simply because he ran a bunch of experiments instead of doing the math and crunching the numbers (keep in mind the guy with the phd was completely against running the experiments).

I'm sure it's not everyone with a phd, but it definitely is the case with all of them that I've worked with.  There's actually one guy at our company who is about to get his phd and we often make the joke that hopefully he doesn't get ruined once that happens  Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying they're stupid, not at all, they're very smart people (mostly).  It's just that all of their intelligence is focused on the theoretical.

Ok, but you make it sound like getting the phd makes them dumber. I'm pretty sure your knuckle busting friend was a clutz BEFORE he got his phd.

My phd friend loves cricket and hockey. He captained a hockey team. Once he got his phd, I'm pretty certain he was still good at playing hockey...

[AtomSmasher]

I'm pretty sure your knuckle busting friend was a clutz BEFORE he got his phd.

That very well could be, all I know is I wouldn't trust anyone I know with a phd to make me a sandwich

[MonMotha]

To get things done, a committee should consist of at most 3 individuals, two of them absent.

[ChadTower]

I'm not talking about Walmart technical support.  Go out and have a look at the requirements of some of the developer positions, the Project Management positions, etc. 

I'm not talking about Walmart tech support either.

True, but be careful of putting too much stock into posted position requirements. I've seen many instances where the posted requirements were cobbled up by some HR person who had no idea what the actual requirements for the position really were.

^^^^ This.  After 17 years in software development and IT I can tell you the above is 100% true.  The bigger the organization the further the HR person is from the actual jobs.  They often don't know a damn thing about what any of the terms, certifications, or technologies mean.  It's very common to get an HR person that will mark a candidate off because he said he has "10 years of enterprise java but has never used Maven" where Maven isn't even really a job requirement.  Then we end up with a resume with only 1 year of java but claims to be a Maven expert presented as the best candidate. 

I have lost count of the amount of times someone has been brought in with a long list of certifications that may as well have been printed on toilet paper because the guy has never been in an actual corporate production environment.  Who cares if you took a 3 week class on Server 2003 when you don't understand the functional differences between 32 and 64 bit operating systems?  I swear if I have to explain to one more MS Certified Admin WHY a given application platform should run on a 64 bit OS I'm going to punch him.  One would think that a guy making 6 figures would just look at the Architecture Document, see 64 bit OS, see the runtime resource requirements, and understand.

[kahlid74]

When I saw Malaria I lol'd, and was going to respond and then I saw the posts author was Ark and was like oh, NM.

I comments are not getting you to respond.  Oh Well.

I've worked in my current field for close to 9 years now.  I hold a BA and won't look to go back for my masters for at least another 10 years.  Any issues I've had with employers or pay I've solved by finding a new job.  I've never had a problem finding a new job even in heavily saturated markets (I work in IT).

 

That is nice to know, and I am glad it is working for you, but today to work in IT (25 years experience helps) you need at least a BSc or a M.Sc, and hold some certifications.  I'm studying for my Prince 2 practitioner exam, hoping it will give me a better position for a teaching post.  Education is the key for success for any decent job, especially when you competing against all the new kids fresh out of Uni.  BA's in IT unless it is design doesn't get you very far.

A masters in IT is looked upon highly for positions on the level of eVP/VP/SVP/CIO for 1000+ person companies.  Directors, managers, architects, team leads, senior engineers have no need for a masters unless they personally would want one.  I've worked at companies of many sizes and this is my direct experience in the field.  Your statement above is what I hear from people all the time who describe the IT field but don't actually live in it.  It's inaccurate.

I've worked with engineers who have no college degree all the way to those who have masters.  It makes little difference.  Someone either has the drive for IT or they don't.  No amount of certifications/degrees will give them that drive.  Just as well no amount of degrees/certs will save them when they get in an interview with me.  You either know it or you don't.  Even if you don't know it, if I think you can learn it and I like working with you, I'll hire you with a GED if that's all you have.

[ark_ader]

True, but be careful of putting too much stock into posted position requirements. I've seen many instances where the posted requirements were cobbled up by some HR person who had no idea what the actual requirements for the position really were.

^^^^ This.  After 17 years in software development and IT I can tell you the above is 100% true.  The bigger the organization the further the HR person is from the actual jobs.  They often don't know a damn thing about what any of the terms, certifications, or technologies mean.  It's very common to get an HR person that will mark a candidate off because he said he has "10 years of enterprise java but has never used Maven" where Maven isn't even really a job requirement.  Then we end up with a resume with only 1 year of java but claims to be a Maven expert presented as the best candidate. 

I have lost count of the amount of times someone has been brought in with a long list of certifications that may as well have been printed on toilet paper because the guy has never been in an actual corporate production environment.  Who cares if you took a 3 week class on Server 2003 when you don't understand the functional differences between 32 and 64 bit operating systems?  I swear if I have to explain to one more MS Certified Admin WHY a given application platform should run on a 64 bit OS I'm going to punch him.  One would think that a guy making 6 figures would just look at the Architecture Document, see 64 bit OS, see the runtime resource requirements, and understand.

A masters in IT is looked upon highly for positions on the level of eVP/VP/SVP/CIO for 1000+ person companies.  Directors, managers, architects, team leads, senior engineers have no need for a masters unless they personally would want one.  I've worked at companies of many sizes and this is my direct experience in the field.  Your statement above is what I hear from people all the time who describe the IT field but don't actually live in it.  It's inaccurate.

I've worked with engineers who have no college degree all the way to those who have masters.  It makes little difference.  Someone either has the drive for IT or they don't.  No amount of certifications/degrees will give them that drive.  Just as well no amount of degrees/certs will save them when they get in an interview with me.  You either know it or you don't.  Even if you don't know it, if I think you can learn it and I like working with you, I'll hire you with a GED if that's all you have.

Both posts were similar so I just wanted to respond jointly.  I agree with you both 100%.  I cannot count how many people I had to train fresh from college with no practical and plenty of home but no corporate experience.  That was like 5 years ago, and unfortunately things have drastically changed since then.  The technology sectors have emptied their redundant resource pools and there is much more competition for positions.  If I wanted my old job back I would need a 4 year degree with a 3.0 or higher average and either an A+ or MCP.  It is as simple as that.  You have an advantage of discussing the subject from within, try looking at it as a qualified Joe looking for a job.

It is getting your foot in the door, and if you do not have the bare minimums, good luck!

p.s. I can get my old job back without a degree (I have a BSc anyway), but if I want a crack at my bosses job I have to ace this next year. 

Just curious:  How many of you that work in an IT capacity (management, network, development or 3rd level) take the time out and teach community college? 

[trekking95]

first of all. I need to say I am recovering from a nervous break down.
but I do to have say a thought hit my brain I can not shake.

This might sound stupid at first. But think hard on it.

Question: As a human race , why do we need money?
why can we not produce and consume as needed?
and take as needed.

I see money only as a social status  

You watch Star Trek, right? They get along fine with no money but only after World War 3, warp drive and the Vulcans showing up.
I would just stay with the money. 

[shmokes]

You watch Star Trek, right? They get along fine with no money but only after World War 3, warp drive and the Vulcans showing up.
I would just stay with the money. 

Ignoring for a moment that anything is possible in fiction . . . the moneyless society in Star Trek has nothing (or at least very little) to do with World War 3, warp drive, or Vulcans. None of those things would have much impact on the utility of money. The existence of the replicator, on the other hand, virtually eliminates material scarcity of any kind. While it's at it, it also eliminates a good percentage of menial jobs. Even still, that society would have to be pretty rigidly structured--in ways that are bound to be considered unfair by a good chunk of the population. In one episode, I think it might have been the series finale, Picard is shown as owning an enormous vineyard on Earth. Obviously most people can not have such a large and desirable piece of property. And the replicator can't very well replicate a big vineyard for you to live on. Moreover, if I recall correctly, this is a family vineyard, i.e., it's been being passed down through the generations. Seems a bit unlikely that money would be eliminated but inheritance and aristocracy would survive.

On the other hand, maybe Picard doesn't own a big vineyard. Maybe it wasn't real--each inhabitant of earth just gets a holodeck, so they can pretty much live however/wherever/whenever they want. Speaking of which, what happens if you spend a long time on the holodeck and you eat a bunch of food, which your body subsequently metabolizes? What happens when you leave the holodeck? It seems like it would be horrible.

[Le Chuck]

Holodecks have built in replicators for foodstuffs.  Everybody knows that. 

[shmokes]

That seems problematic. Like, if you're at a restaurant and someone suddenly says, "Computer, end program," it seems like suddenly a bunch of liquid and food would come crashing down to the floor. I suppose they could, like, use the transporter to make it all disappear, but that's obviously not happening in the show. And what if someone's swimming in a big lake in the holodeck when another crew member unwittingly opens the door from the other side? The lake would have to be replicated (cos the water could easily be ingested), but once the door opened, without the rule of holodeck matter ceasing to exist outside the holodeck, millions upon millions of gallons of water would come rushing into the halls of the star ship. That could have serious health and safety implications.

[Vigo]

Holodecks were serious health and safety hazards. Every other week it replicates Moriarty or some other mastermind villian to wander the ship. They were probably a calculated risk to stave off cabin fever. They were also probably very similar to the replicator anyway, so replicating and disintegrating only food that is not consumed seems likely.

I'm also guessing replicator food tastes like sculped feces. I'm pretty sure the replicators are hooked directly to the ship's septic system. Why would you need an orchard if you could replicate an apple. It's kinda obvious that replicator food is mostly only appealing to the crew of a ship that doesn't get real food for months on end. Right now we have frozen dinners and twinkies and canned food, doesn't mean we don't still need to buy fresh food anymore.

[Le Chuck]

Replicated items are assembled on a molecular level and are identical to the original data sample.  Just read Diamond Age by Stephenson - all makes perfect sense.

[HaRuMaN]

lol

[shmokes]

Replicated items are assembled on a molecular level and are identical to the original data sample.  Just read Diamond Age by Stephenson - all makes perfect sense.

But still . . . did the computer take a lowest common denominator approach, a la Applebee's/Chili's? It could be a problem. For example, Picard is always all, "Computer, tea, Earl Grey, hot." I happen to drink Earl Grey tea most mornings, and I tell you the difference in flavor between brands is monumental. I suppose the computer might have the data sample for like a million different brands and Captain Picard just went into settings beforehand and selected his personal favorite as default. But if it's just defaulting to, like, Lipton or something you can see the problem.  

[Le Chuck]

Replicated items are assembled on a molecular level and are identical to the original data sample.  Just read Diamond Age by Stephenson - all makes perfect sense.

But still . . . did the computer take a lowest common denominator approach, a la Applebee's/Chili's? It could be a problem. For example, Picard is always all, "Computer, tea, Earl Grey, hot." I happen to drink Earl Grey tea most mornings, and I tell you the difference in flavor between brands is monumental. I suppose the computer might have the data sample for like a million different brands and Captain Picard just went into settings beforehand and selected his personal favorite as default. But if it's just defaulting to, like, Lipton or something you can see the problem.  

These are the uptown problems of a cashless future society.  Beats the ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- outta cancer and aids. 

[Vigo]

Space Prank: Set Picard's default tea setting to some obscure tea made from fermented pig ---steaming pile of meadow muffin---.

[trekking95]

Replicated items are assembled on a molecular level and are identical to the original data sample.  Just read Diamond Age by Stephenson - all makes perfect sense.

But still . . . did the computer take a lowest common denominator approach, a la Applebee's/Chili's? It could be a problem. For example, Picard is always all, "Computer, tea, Earl Grey, hot." I happen to drink Earl Grey tea most mornings, and I tell you the difference in flavor between brands is monumental. I suppose the computer might have the data sample for like a million different brands and Captain Picard just went into settings beforehand and selected his personal favorite as default. But if it's just defaulting to, like, Lipton or something you can see the problem.  

These are the uptown problems of a cashless future society.  Beats the ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- outta cancer and aids.  

In their future there was no sickness, as in when they said colds were something people got a long time ago. Okay there was some disease (McCoy had arthritis, unless he was joking) but not as much of it in the later series.

With the tea I would think that there was only one type of Earl Grey, why have different brands when there is no money and no brand competition? It would just be the classic one from back when Earl Grey made it.

And in the holodecks the food and drinks would be real.
But why would the water in a lake be replicated when there is no need to drink it?
I think the safety thing in the holodecks is lame, if just any self aware holo-program can override them why are they in place? There should be nothing to override, the safety protocols should be there and that's all there is too it. No real bullets, self aware programs, wild creatures, Klingons, WW2 soldiers running through the ship, problems where if the holodeck is shut off the people in there are dematerialized, etc. Nothing like that. No risk at all with an override by a Captain, alien, program, virus, just nothing. But there would be no plot for the shows then, now would there?  

[trekking95]

You watch Star Trek, right? They get along fine with no money but only after World War 3, warp drive and the Vulcans showing up.
I would just stay with the money.  

Ignoring for a moment that anything is possible in fiction . . . the moneyless society in Star Trek has nothing (or at least very little) to do with World War 3, warp drive, or Vulcans. None of those things would have much impact on the utility of money.

Well warp drive had to be there for the Vulcans to show up and show humans how to work to benefit mankind by exploring space and improving themselves, not just work to fill up their bank account. When you work for benefiting something like that there is no need or want and therefore money is useless. WW3 would also show people that life is not about power and nuking the crap out of people to get it. But that only works if the Vulcans are there to clean up the nuclear mess, otherwise there are better (safer) ways to learn that.

[Vigo]

With the tea I would think that there was only one type of Earl Grey, why have different brands when there is no money and no brand competition? It would just be the classic one from back when Earl Grey made it.

Tea is kinda not just a brand thing though, it varies quite a bit from even where the tea leaves are harvested. The actual original recipe is probably not even known. I'm sure there are multiple tea companies claiming to be the one with the original recipe, but Earl Gray can be pretty much any black tea with a certain type of citrus oil in it.

It would be along the same lines of saying that they can only replicate one type pale ale, one type of black coffee, one type of chocolate bar.  While that might be how it works in the Star Trek universe, it only supports my idea that replicator food really blows, and people not stuck on a starship prefer the real thing. They probably have just one lager beer programmed in their replicator as well, and it's probably just Pabst Blue Ribbon.

[HaRuMaN]

[Samstag]

I'd like to derail the previous derailment to start a discussion on why this image is backwards.

[ChadTower]

p.s. I can get my old job back without a degree (I have a BSc anyway), but if I want a crack at my bosses job I have to ace this next year. 

Funny thing about engineers.  A lot of us don't want the boss' job.  I was a manager and left the company to become an engineer again someplace else.

Just curious:  How many of you that work in an IT capacity (management, network, development or 3rd level) take the time out and teach community college? 

Not me.

[trekking95]

With the tea I would think that there was only one type of Earl Grey, why have different brands when there is no money and no brand competition? It would just be the classic one from back when Earl Grey made it.

Tea is kinda not just a brand thing though, it varies quite a bit from even where the tea leaves are harvested. The actual original recipe is probably not even known. I'm sure there are multiple tea companies claiming to be the one with the original recipe, but Earl Gray can be pretty much any black tea with a certain type of citrus oil in it.

It would be along the same lines of saying that they can only replicate one type pale ale, one type of black coffee, one type of chocolate bar.  While that might be how it works in the Star Trek universe, it only supports my idea that replicator food really blows, and people not stuck on a starship prefer the real thing. They probably have just one lager beer programmed in their replicator as well, and it's probably just Pabst Blue Ribbon.

True. I don't know how that works. Maybe each crew member can select a favorite of each item that the computer remembers when they replicate it. So they could get the type of leafs, coco beans, ale and whatnot that they like. But then the booze has no alcohol anyway so how would they deal with that? 

[trekking95]

[kahlid74]

That was like 5 years ago, and unfortunately things have drastically changed since then.  The technology sectors have emptied their redundant resource pools and there is much more competition for positions.  If I wanted my old job back I would need a 4 year degree with a 3.0 or higher average and either an A+ or MCP.  It is as simple as that.  You have an advantage of discussing the subject from within, try looking at it as a qualified Joe looking for a job.

If it has drastically changed then either I haven't noticed it or the area of the US I work in isn't as affected.  Certifications are good, but aren't required.  BA is good, but isn't required.  Average doesn't matter worth a crap.  The last thing looked at when interviewing a prospective employee (Director,Senior,technician, etc.) is an average.

It is getting your foot in the door, and if you do not have the bare minimums, good luck!

Now this is a different subject entirely.  Experience reigns supreme in IT.  Up to date experience also reigns supreme.  Just getting into the field from either college/high school/career change you need to make sure you accept reality, which is you will start in some form of help desk/service desk.  Far too many people expect to hop right into administration and engineering once they decide IT is their profession.  Some people do go right to those, but they are the minority.  The majority of people who have trouble finding jobs in IT are going after positions where their experience doesn't place them.

A fresh out of college with a computer engineering degree and 3.89 average and a CCNP won't land a Senior Network engineering job on my team.  A 10 year veteran with a GED, great understanding of network theory and the ability to interact well with me and our team lands it every time.

Just curious:  How many of you that work in an IT capacity (management, network, development or 3rd level) take the time out and teach community college? 

I taught for about four years but have stopped since my son was born.  I'd love to help out again but I've got so many damn hobbies and I want to spend time with my son/wife too so something has to give.

Also I knew Star Trek would at some point work its way into here.  The thing to remember about Star Trek is that currency still exists and bartering still exist in the universe, you just don't see much of then on TNG because the focus of the show is so centered on the Enterprise.  If you watch Deep Space Nine you'll see currency and bartering occurring all the time.