Breadth of skillset

[Pogle]

The danger is that the bodgers lead the way and you have to become one of them to keep up.

It is my experience, in my niche area, that the bodgers don't last long. Then word gets round that they are not very good.

[DieScum]

I get loads of bodgers who claim to be able to do what I do, but very few can do it properly. Unfortunately, the agents and hiring managers rarely have a clue either.

The danger is that the bodgers lead the way and you have to become one of them to keep up.

[stek]

Sorry, didn't quite get the drift of what you were saying. Not a people person you see.

Which nuclear plant you working on.....and do you need a control engineer?

Chapelcross, was 15 years ago (heck!), being decommed now, undergoing defuelling now I think, made loads of mates there still keep in touch.

Our then BNFL IT section had been newly outsourced to an American Company with a scientifically-oriented TLA-name and a litigious reputation and we had all sorts of new bods flying around trying to empire-build and make names for themselves, hence cock-ups like I described.

I left because they wanted to make me permie.

[conned tractor]

I was just supporting your argument!

Sorry, didn't quite get the drift of what you were saying. Not a people person you see.

Which nuclear plant you working on.....and do you need a control engineer?

[stek]

Agreed, but is this point aimed at me. By the way I am closer to the physicist, not the IT bloke in your story.

I was just supporting your argument, apologies for the misunderstanding!

[conned tractor]

And experience of general business counts, when I was on the reactors we had some new grad type come in and immediately saw reactor code on the VMS servers - should be under version control, he said, so he ripped it out and stuck it into PCVS or whatever it was at the time and patted himself on the back waiting for the kudos.

Hour or so later two reactors shut down because the reactor physicists' ran their code, which checked for the current version first, not there, can't run, danger, shut down...

Point is maybe the grad was correct, but he didn't engage with people, and didn't appreciate the local culture, nuclear reactors, computer systems driven by physicists' not by IT types per se, it's a computer therefore I manage it, not you users.

Time gives you that appreciation, or you are born with it, one or t'other.

Agreed, but is this point aimed at me. By the way I am closer to the physicist, not the IT bloke, in your story.

[stek]

I get loads of bodgers who claim to be able to do what I do, but very few can do it properly. Unfortunately, the agents and hiring managers rarely have a clue either.

And experience of general business counts, when I was on the reactors we had some new grad type come in and immediately saw reactor code on the VMS servers - should be under version control, he said, so he ripped it out and stuck it into PCVS or whatever it was at the time and patted himself on the back waiting for the kudos.

Hour or so later two reactors shut down because the reactor physicists' ran their code, which checked for the current version first, not there, can't run, danger, shut down...

Point is maybe the grad was correct, but he didn't engage with people, and didn't appreciate the local culture, nuclear reactors, computer systems driven by physicists' not by IT types per se, it's a computer therefore I manage it, not you users.

Time gives you that appreciation, or you are born with it, one or t'other.

[conned tractor]

I get loads of bodgers who claim to be able to do what I do, but very few can do it properly. Unfortunately, the agents and hiring managers rarely have a clue either.

[Lockhouse]

I'm not a guru at any level but I know something about everything.

[Sysman]

I'm looking at adverts today and they want the full broad skillset plus X,Y, Z and it just makes me think nobody will know that. There are new versions coming out all the time. Either the person would have to be a genius and working 24/7 on keeping their skills up to date or a blagger.

I've come to the conclusion that some of the requirements are in reality quite low. "XYZ experience" can range from full blown understanding of XYZ down to being able to import/export data using a GUI.

Or the client wants someone with knowledge of the latest fad (and they might not even have a project that uses it).

[doodab]

Either the person would have to be a genius and working 24/7 on keeping their skills up to date or a blagger.

I have worked with a former university professor, and a mate of mine (with a first in engineering) once had two ex-CERN people on his team, so they are out there. Actually my current PM described me as a genius the other day, but I think he was just trying to persuade me to stay

I also worked with a bloke who, while in the car on the way to the pub dropped into the conversation "well, you have to lie a bit to get the job don't you". It was our hiring managers car, and he was gone the next week.

Oddly that same manager was quite happy to pay me to spend three months building a windows service in C#, "learning" it in the process as up to that point I hadn't used it. Sadly it seems a lot of hiring managers aren't so enlightened and have very little appreciation of human potential or how to harness it.

[shaunbhoy]

Either the person would have to be a genius and working 24/7 on keeping their skills up to date or a blagger.

Blagging has never done ME any harm. My clients on the other hand?........................

[amcdonald]

No wonder some IT projects are in a mess if an unrealistically broad scope of skills is called for. It will inevitably mean low quality with a bunch of chancers chasing the rate and faking that they know what they're doing.

Um, rant over.

That just describes the IT market for as long as I remember

It doesn't help that when a new techonology comes out, there will immediately be contracts want 5 years + commercial experience, when only the people who developed the product will really have it

Between clueless agents and unrealistic client expectations, is it any wonder people start chancing it ?

[DieScum]

What are your experiences of the breadth of skillset demanded for your typical role?

I've got my niche skillset where I have very deep level of experience and knowledge - so if someone asks a question I know the best way to do it without question 90% of the time.

I've also got my wider skillset where I know a fair amount about a broader product suite but if someone asks for something specific a lot of the time I'd have to research up to know the best way.

I'm looking at adverts today and they want the full broad skillset plus X,Y, Z and it just makes me think nobody will know that. There are new versions coming out all the time. Either the person would have to be a genius and working 24/7 on keeping their skills up to date or a blagger.

No wonder some IT projects are in a mess if an unrealistically broad scope of skills is called for. It will inevitably mean low quality with a bunch of chancers chasing the rate and faking that they know what they're doing.

Um, rant over.