[Sussex] The need for benchmarks

[Geoff Teale]

Afternoon chaps,

All of this discussion about degree's versus experience today has reminded
me of a major problem in the industry.

As an interviewer rather than a candidate it is very hard to tell the
knowledgeable geeks from the cowboys.  Management types, HR departments and
recruitment consultants filter out a lot of staff before you get to them.
In my experience you  can get excluded from a job interview for not having
any experience, not having a degree and not having an MCSE.  So when you do
get people through they all look much the same.

We all know that the standard of MCSE's and MCSD's is so variable as to make
it useless as a baromieter of skill.  To some extent degrees are as bad,
does a degree in Maths or Chemistrry mean you're a worse candidate than
someone with a degree in IT ( I personally would opt for Computer Science
over IT every time, but this depends on the Uni..).  What about experience ?
Well, Jon mentioned that he worked with a graduate who was useless,
nonetheless he is now an *experienced* graduate and thus is even more
employable, but he may not be any more useful - if the problem is a matter
of attitude or character he may never improve.

The problem here is we have no industry standard exam (one that is
independant of a major vendor).  Accountants, Lawyers and Acturaries all
have to make a certain grade in order to practice.  If programmers and
network engineers had to do the same the world of IT might be a better place
(the salaries would be higher for a start ;)  ).

-- 
geoff.teale at claybrook.co.uk
tealeg at member.fsf.org
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