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We all have them, right? Recalling those odd jobs we did to get through school, or that first job as a junior in high school pumping gas and changing tires.
Now that times are tough, I'm curious to know just how far back in time my fellow Triangle neighbors would be willing to go? I don't care if you're the governor, or a used shoe salesman, lets hear your backup employment plan. And how far from what you do now, that you might be willing to go to pay the bills?
McDonalds, Walmart, Waitress, cut grass?
I would start a company called "Back up plan" and charge people to give them ideas on how to put together a plan B!
I would start a company called "Back up plan" and charge people to give them ideas on how to put together a plan B!
lol That was a good one.
Fact of the matter, once the initial shock goes away that your $50-$100K job is gone and not coming back, most people will do anything to feed and house themselves. Unfortunately for many, this includes criminal activities. One thing I'm thankful for is in my youth, I did just about every single blue collar job known to man. I would do any of them again if need be. Problem is, will there be any blue collar jobs out there? The stimulus is about to be written into the history books, lets hope I'm wrong and it actually works.
The triangle is to get about $1.8 billion, directly.
I don't consider those differentiators. They don't give you an edge over some other new hire.
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and the Android platform
I don't know anything about it, other than it exists and does something.
The last thing I looked at that might be a differentiator, was in the world of technical documentation. There don't seem to be any good wiki solutions to the problem yet. At least, there weren't a year ago. There were some fledgling products that sorta half-assed dealt with the need, but probably aren't that good. It's really difficult to get programmers to deal with documentation. It's an ugly problem that people don't want to spend time on. The hope is that a wiki would make them more amenable to seeing documentation as part of their programming duties. Areas that people don't want to deal with are areas to look for profit in. Assuming you can stand it. Similar thing about build systems, almost nobody wants to deal with them. Thus it's hard to find people who have expertise in them.
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I need to be writing cool applications and selling them online . . . . .but to get to that point would take a very long time.
Make it take less time. Of course, if you have very few months before you're no longer paying your food bill, you don't have the time. But if you do have the time, use it wisely. Sitting around learning things like Linux and Java is a waste of time. It's an infinite slough of technical minutiae, with no real goal, that will take you forever to sift through. Every college kid is already sifting through it. What you need is a strategic objective that will differentiate you in the marketplace, not a pile of common technical skills. Anybody can learn Linux or Java "as they go along" with some more important goal.
Frankly, superior consulting skill could be such a strategic objective. Has little to do with programming skill. There are books in the library about how to consult. I finally picked some of those up during the dot.com bust, learned a few things about what I was doing wrong.
Fact of the matter, once the initial shock goes away that your $50-$100K job is gone and not coming back, most people will do anything to feed and house themselves. Unfortunately for many, this includes criminal activities.
There was some comedy from the dot.com era about a couple that does just that. Everyone at some Enron-esque megacorp gets the axe, and they all turn to secret lives of crime because they can't sell their houses and have to pay the banks to be there. History repeats itself in short order! I am not afraid though, because as sucky as the last time around was, I survived and I know I can survive again.
I don't consider those differentiators. They don't give you an edge over some other new hire.
Sitting around learning things like Linux and Java is a waste of time. It's an infinite slough of technical minutiae, with no real goal, that will take you forever to sift through. Every college kid is already sifting through it.
Correct. I don't consider them differentiators either, but I also wouldn't consider them a waste of time. Like Woody Allen said of bisexuality, they'd double my chances for a date on Saturday night. Most of the jobs I've seen advertised for my field are for people who know object oriented languages (C++, Java) and Linux. It makes sense for me to start learning these new skills. Perhaps it won't help me find a job NOW, but perhaps those skills will help other doors open up in the future.
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Originally Posted by bvanevery
What you need is a strategic objective that will differentiate you in the marketplace, not a pile of common technical skills.
Frankly, superior consulting skill could be such a strategic objective. Has little to do with programming skill.
I look at it a little differently. I rarely see a company posting a job opening that says "We are looking for a superior consultant." They're usually looking for someone with a particular technical skill set, which includes certain programming languages, operating systems, and industry specific technology.
But you do bring up a good point. Perhaps I can take a second look at the objective on my resume and change the focus. Right now it is pretty generic for a software engineer. I can still apply to the same jobs, but perhaps bringing to light one of my other strengths (maybe non-technical) will cause an employer to take notice. Thanks for the advice.
I rarely see a company posting a job opening that says "We are looking for a superior consultant."
Seriously, go check out the books in the library about consulting. Consulting is proactive; trying to fulfill employee resume requirements is reactive.
There are programmers out there who don't already know object oriented languages?
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. . . . .but to get to that point would take a very long time. 
