[clue-talk] Assessing technical skills?

[rex evans]

Jeff and others,

I have looked in the opposite
direction from what Jeff had
asked: the company/department
environment instead of filtering
new employees. I intended this to
be helpful: all bases covered.

I have no specific knowledge of
Jeff or his company except that I
remember Jeff, Match, and several
others, form 5 or 6 years ago. 
At Linux meetings, the whole group
was so helpful; it was beyond what
I have experienced anywhere. 

To look directly at the issue, as
Jeff framed it, 1)new employees with
minimal skill set and inadequate 
motivation to pick up what they lack.
2) how to filter new prospects.

You guys covered number 2) extensively.

So, as to 1) I have been faced with this
many times. I have had to train newbies
in my department, and in other departments
( because they would/could not train their
own). 
Jeff mentioned "vi"; I have had to 
train (spoon feed!) people in vi, so they
could change the config files, that they
were responsible for. I did this more than
once because of "musical chairs" in their
department.
In each of these cases they were not 
grateful, but mildly resentful that they 
had to learn this foriegn editor. Even
when I explained that this broadened
them, increasing their chances of keeping
their job or getting another job; they
were unempressed.

So, if I accidently implied that the
problem was with Jeff, that was not 
my intent. 
As you can see from my above vi-fun,
I can easily imagine substandard newbies.

rex evans 




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