Techies Go To Finishing School

from the waste-of-time dept

Remember the days when techies were so cool they could do whatever they wanted and no one would care? Apparently those days are long gone. At George Mason University they're making techies go to finishing school to get some proper etiquette training. They're apparently hearing from recruiters that they want graduates with a bit more "polish" outside of their programming skills. Of course, many techies I know would say that anyone who wouldn't hire them due to their inability to pick the right fork wouldn't be a good employer to work for anyway.
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  1. identicon
    dorpus, 23 Nov 2002 @ 1:49am

    depends how you define good

    If one wants to move into the higher classes, be around people who don't stink, have decent table manners, have decent social skills, then one will need to refine his social presentation.

    I've seen too many techies who make six figures but have the hygiene and manners of pigs. But, if that is the lifestyle they prefer, they will be quietly excluded from high society, and will be kept in their place.

    Some geeks obsess over money and having cooler toys than others, but they're just symptoms of a deeper desire for high social status. Until they get this, they will always be screwed by the social butterflies who know the bigger picture.


    link to this | view in thread ]

  2. identicon
    mege, 23 Nov 2002 @ 11:10pm

    Techie Finishing School

    Techie Finishing School

    The Finishing School would be about as appropriate and meaningful as making sure that your techies are punctual.

    The day job actually listed a criteria of punctuality for our new hires. Obviously written by a Suit who doesn't understand that the very nature of the job requires flexibility. Long hours. Late nights. All night. And a punctual techie is the last thing we need - someone who leaves when the clock strikes 5PM.

    The finishing school makes about as much sense.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  3. identicon
    dorpus, 24 Nov 2002 @ 1:05am

    Re: Techie Finishing School

    Again, hate to burst your bubble, but we can't have tech support people coming in at 11AM because they didn't feel like waking up. Even a developer owes a responsibility to come in early for when his software acts up in the morning.

    A company is a team enterprise, and IT cannot be a rogue group that makes its own rules. The single mother in the legal department making $20,000 a year has to come in early too.






    link to this | view in thread ]

  4. icon
    Mike (profile), 24 Nov 2002 @ 5:58pm

    Re: Techie Finishing School

    Who cares what time they get in if they get the job done?

    If they're not getting the job done because of their lateness, that's a different story, but most techies I know do a perfectly good job, and if something goes down at 5am, they're quick to wake up and fix it.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  5. identicon
    dorpus, 25 Nov 2002 @ 1:16am

    Re: Techie Finishing School

    That's what they all say, but then there is reality.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  6. identicon
    Al, 25 Nov 2002 @ 5:26am

    No Subject Given

    Not all techies want to move into "the higher classes" (dorpus, people with money and influence can smell, have bad table manners, and be socially inept)
    I think that there are a whole lot of issues raised by this, not the least of which is that I think it makes sense to be using facilities like workspaces pretty much around the clock. It's a good use of space. Programmers usually don't need to be around during office hours, at least not all the time, so why not allow them some flexibility? What is important is whether they get the job done or not.
    Basically, supply and demand will take care of this, people who can get a job anywhere, good techies, will leave and find an employer who understands that by their very nature, technical and programming work is not always a 9-5 job.
    Thus the best techies will go to work for the most informed employer. You would want to get paid a lot to work for somebody who doesn't understand the very nature of programming and technical jobs.
    "hate to burst your bubble, but we can't have tech support people coming in at 11AM because they didn't feel like waking up"
    Who is this royal "we" that you speak of?
    "That's what they all say"
    It's what they do as well, or they are out of a job.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  7. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 25 Nov 2002 @ 10:34am

    Re: No Subject Given

    "Not all techies want to move into "the higher classes" (dorpus, people with money and influence can smell, have bad table manners, and be socially inept)"

    I did say they can choose that lifestyle if they prefer. They might wonder why their career seems to dead-end though. The new money crowd can boast of its superficial money and power, but they are routinely excluded from the highest positions.


    "I think that there are a whole lot of issues raised by this, not the least of which is that I think it makes sense to be using facilities like workspaces pretty much around the clock. It's a good use of space. "

    Not necessarily, because people who come in at night run up the electricity bill, among other things.


    "Programmers usually don't need to be around during office hours, at least not all the time, so why not allow them some flexibility? What is important is whether they get the job done or not."

    That may be true of an entry level programmer whose responsibilities are distant from the customer. People in responsible positions, however, need to be there for users when it doesn't work.

    "Thus the best techies will go to work for the most informed employer. You would want to get paid a lot to work for somebody who doesn't understand the very nature of programming and technical jobs."

    What if the "informed" employers want you to come in on time anyway, regardless of pretenses that it's ok to come in late? I have worked for many different IT employers and they've all been the same.

    "Who is this royal "we" that you speak of?"

    Any employer. If my morning flight has mechanical problems, I don't want to wait 2 hours for the mechanic to come in on his flextime schedule. It's the same story for techies.









    link to this | view in thread ]

  8. icon
    Mike (profile), 25 Nov 2002 @ 10:49am

    Re: No Subject Given

    Any employer. If my morning flight has mechanical problems, I don't want to wait 2 hours for the mechanic to come in on his flextime schedule. It's the same story for techies.

    I think you're missing the point. If it's taking them two hours to come in and fix the problem, then clearly they are not performing their job. However, if they can do their job with their own time schedule, then what's the problem?

    So far, your argument has basically been to say that these techies aren't doing their job. Our response is that if that's the case, then you're right... however, there *are* jobs that can be done on flexible work schedules, and employers who ignore that are being shortsighted, and are likely to miss out on some of the best talent.

    link to this | view in thread ]


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