[ale] Since we're on the subject of jobs lately

[JK]

Pete Hardie wrote:
> On Wed, Jul 16, 2008 at 10:29 AM, JK <jknapka at kneuro.net> wrote:
>> Pete Hardie wrote:
>>> I'd consider that there are a great many people involved in the hiring
>>> process that are not
>>> judging your competence by how you answer questions - the HR people,
>>> the managers,
>>> the directors, etc.  They are not going to ask you to solve a problem,
>>> they are going to
>>> look at your appearance, manners, and such.  And many of *those*
>>> people are not the
>>> "best and brightest" so they *do* consider attire in the equation.
>>
>> And if those are the people making the hiring decisions, you
>> probably don't want to work there.
> 
> Name a mid-large business where those people don't have input into the
> decision.  Not all of the
> jobs are at small companies.


I work for a medium-sized company (about 2000 employees), and pretty 
much everyone in my management hierarchy started out as an engineer. 
There may be a few exceptions, but all the people I work with directly, 
from project managers to regional managers to VPs, were either 
programmers or active PEs at one time.  A couple of associate VPs still 
maintain code on a regular basis.  They definitely care a lot more about 
technical prowess than dress.

I guess my real point is that if you're a good software developer, you 
have choices.  You can choose not to work for a PHB.  If I interview 
somewhere and I get the impression that my clean-but-casual dress is 
going to be a factor in whether I get an offer, I probably won't care 
whether I get an offer.  There are going to be other opportunities at 
more clueful organizations.  OTOH it's been a long time since I was in 
the position of really *needing* a job, and in that situation all my 
"screw the dress code" rhetoric might go out the window in a hurry :-)

-- JK

-- 
I do not particularly want to go where the money is -
  it usually does not smell nice there. -- A. Stepanov