blake murphy wrote:

> i went to a trade school before getting my programmer gig. it's
> unclear how much that had to do with my hiring, though - they
> (arlington co., va, government) seemed to use IBM's programming
> aptitude test as their screening device at that time. that was in
> the 80's.

I had to take that test to get into programming school, having
graduated from there was good enough to get me employed.

nancy

On 2010-08-21, Nancy Young > wrote:

> I had to take that test to get into programming school, having
> graduated from there was good enough to get me employed.

Be grateful you have an IT job. My brewing mentor was in IT for high
security govt gigs for decades, pulling down six figure incomes. When
he lost his last good gig, took him 2 yrs to find another, still hadda
move to Nosepick NM and earns half of what he did, for the same work.

Silicon Valley is still a ghost town, regardless of what others may
say, and I've seen the hi-tech sector in Denver. Lotta really BIG
buildings totally devoid of life.

nb

notbob wrote:
> On 2010-08-21, Nancy Young > wrote:
>
>> I had to take that test to get into programming school, having
>> graduated from there was good enough to get me employed.
>
> Be grateful you have an IT job.

Make that Had. I did my time.

> My brewing mentor was in IT for high
> security govt gigs for decades, pulling down six figure incomes. When
> he lost his last good gig, took him 2 yrs to find another, still hadda
> move to Nosepick NM and earns half of what he did, for the same work.

Luckily he saved all those years and he doesn't really have to worry.

> Silicon Valley is still a ghost town, regardless of what others may
> say, and I've seen the hi-tech sector in Denver. Lotta really BIG
> buildings totally devoid of life.

Sucks. It really does.

nancy

"Nancy Young" > wrote in message
news:W4Zbo.104707$vL2.81840@hurricane...
> notbob wrote:
>> On 2010-08-21, Nancy Young > wrote:
>>
>>> I had to take that test to get into programming school, having
>>> graduated from there was good enough to get me employed.
>>
>> Be grateful you have an IT job.
>
> Make that Had. I did my time.

Did your time. lol I think I can agree with that. Still doing mine.
Unfortunately a lot of what I do in addition to tech work is project
management. Tech project management. Do you know how hard it is to
"manage" techies on a project? They can't care less about schedules and
action items and status reports. Risks? Every job is a risk with the
cutbacks in staff and funding. Managing a budget is hardly possible with the
requirements. It's crazy. I'd like to say "I did my time" right about now.

Cheryl wrote:
> "Nancy Young" > wrote

>> notbob wrote:

>>> Be grateful you have an IT job.
>>
>> Make that Had. I did my time.
>
> Did your time. lol I think I can agree with that. Still doing mine.

It used to be a lot more fun, I bet. Was for me.

> Unfortunately a lot of what I do in addition to tech work is project
> management. Tech project management. Do you know how hard it is to
> "manage" techies on a project?

Yes. (laughing) I do.

> They can't care less about schedules and action items and status reports.

I did care about the schedule, because mine were federal/state
mandated for the most part. Unfortunately, expecting me to draw
up action plans and write status reports sometimes interfered with
my ability to meet a schedule working normal hours.

> Risks? Every job is a risk
> with the cutbacks in staff and funding. Managing a budget is hardly
> possible with the requirements. It's crazy. I'd like to say "I did
> my time" right about now.

I get that, it's tough. It was going on for years while I was still
working,
too. By the time we were bought out, I was fried. I was very lucky
to be able to walk away. All I can say is develop an attitude where
they can't make your life too miserable.

nancy

On 2010-08-22, Cheryl > wrote:

> Did your time. lol I think I can agree with that.

I know I do, as I've done mine and am now retired. Now if I can just
avoid any major med probs long enough to enjoy it.

nb

Nancy Young wrote:
> notbob wrote:

>> My brewing mentor was in IT for high
>> security govt gigs for decades, pulling down six figure incomes.
>> When he lost his last good gig, took him 2 yrs to find another,
>> still hadda move to Nosepick NM and earns half of what he did, for
>> the same work.
>
> Luckily he saved all those years and he doesn't really have to worry.

In retrospect I should have made some note that I was being
sarcastic, as so many people lost their savings in the stock
market. I wasn't ranking on the guy.

nancy

"Nancy Young" > wrote in message
news:Wc%bo.106572$KP3.64664@hurricane...
> Nancy Young wrote:
>> notbob wrote:
>
>>> My brewing mentor was in IT for high
>>> security govt gigs for decades, pulling down six figure incomes. When he
>>> lost his last good gig, took him 2 yrs to find another,
>>> still hadda move to Nosepick NM and earns half of what he did, for
>>> the same work.
>>
>> Luckily he saved all those years and he doesn't really have to worry.
>
> In retrospect I should have made some note that I was being
> sarcastic, as so many people lost their savings in the stock
> market. I wasn't ranking on the guy.

Yeah, I had to roll over my retirement funds and it lost half it's value the
first year after that. Luckily (or not, for me) I have many years until
retirement for it to catch up.

On Sat, 21 Aug 2010 12:20:27 -0400, Nancy Young wrote:

> blake murphy wrote:
>
>> i went to a trade school before getting my programmer gig. it's
>> unclear how much that had to do with my hiring, though - they
>> (arlington co., va, government) seemed to use IBM's programming
>> aptitude test as their screening device at that time. that was in
>> the 80's.
>
> I had to take that test to get into programming school, having
> graduated from there was good enough to get me employed.
>
> nancy

back the there seemed to be a lot of english majors and musicians kinda
falling into it. an honest living for a change.

your pal,
blake

On Aug 22, 1:21*pm, blake murphy > wrote:
> On Sat, 21 Aug 2010 12:20:27 -0400, Nancy Young wrote:
> > blake murphy wrote:
>
> >> i went to a trade school before getting my programmer gig. *it's
> >> unclear how much that had to do with my hiring, though - they
> >> (arlington co., va, government) seemed to use IBM's programming
> >> aptitude test as their screening device at that time. *that was in
> >> the 80's.
>
> > I had to take that test to get into programming school, having
> > graduated from there was good enough to get me employed.
>
> > nancy
>
> back the there seemed to be a lot of english majors and musicians kinda
> falling into it. *an honest living for a change.
>
> your pal,
> blake

Wanna buy a B.A. in English? It's from a good Catholic university!
Lynn in Fargo
University of Mary 1973

On Sun, 22 Aug 2010 21:43:26 -0700 (PDT), Lynn from Fargo wrote:

> On Aug 22, 1:21*pm, blake murphy > wrote:
>> On Sat, 21 Aug 2010 12:20:27 -0400, Nancy Young wrote:
>>> blake murphy wrote:
>>
>>>> i went to a trade school before getting my programmer gig. *it's
>>>> unclear how much that had to do with my hiring, though - they
>>>> (arlington co., va, government) seemed to use IBM's programming
>>>> aptitude test as their screening device at that time. *that was in
>>>> the 80's.
>>
>>> I had to take that test to get into programming school, having
>>> graduated from there was good enough to get me employed.
>>
>>> nancy
>>
>> back the there seemed to be a lot of english majors and musicians kinda
>> falling into it. *an honest living for a change.
>>
>> your pal,
>> blake
>
> Wanna buy a B.A. in English? It's from a good Catholic university!
> Lynn in Fargo
> University of Mary 1973

no thanks. i already have one collecting dust.

your pal,
blake