[Nottingham] CVs, Linux, and amusement

[Simon Huggins]

On Fri, May 23, 2003 at 02:27:16PM +0100, James Gibbon wrote:
> Jon Masters wrote:
> > ``Unfortunately you have not attached your CV, would you please send it as
> >   either Word or ASCII''.
> >          ^^^^
> > Of course there are two reactions to this:
> > 1). I am instantly put off and think ``now why would a UNIX Systems
> >     company whose systems do not and cannot run Microsoft Office ask for a
> >     Word document?''. This immediately asks people to go somewhere else as
> >     quickly as possible or to wonder why said company is running M$.

I think you could also assume that you are sending your CV not to the
head technical person but in a large company you'll go through HR and
/they/ could well be the ones putting this in place.

The fact they accept plaintext is quite refreshing.

> I think you are either overestimating the degree of loathing and
> religious prejudice that people who work with Unix - in general - feel
> toward Microsoft -applications- (as opposed to Windows or Microsoft
> itself), or underestimating the usefulness of using proprietary
> formats which are de-facto standards.

Which version of Word should I use though?

Whilst this has mostly gone away now as recent versions haven't been
deliberately incompatible, what would happen if I applied and sent my CV
in a later format say Word 97 when 95 was more prevalent?

> As long as there's a business advantage in using PCs running Windows -
> and if you are likely to receive Excel spreadsheets or Word documents
> from external sources on a regular basis, there is - then even a
> company whose business is based on Unix is going to do so.

The business advantage is hard to justify when you have to keep
upgrading the software in order to be compatible.  This is easier to
justify when the upgrade doesn't cost anything in licenses.

And who is to say that Office 2004 won't have an incompatible format eh?

I believe that MS have left those bad old days behind them but who
knows?

Proprietary data formats are bad, mmm'kay?

In 100 years time will people still use .doc as it is today?  Maybe,
maybe not.  Will they be able to get at the spec?  Almost certainly not.
Will people still use PostScript?  Maybe, maybe not.  Will they still be
able to get at the spec?  Sure.


-- 
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