[rescue] Mainframe on eBay

[Sheldon T. Hall]

Barry Keeney writes ...

>   An english degree won't get you a job as a engineer.

It won't keep you from getting one, either, if you're the right person for
the job and the employer has the wit to hire you.  I've designed highway
bridges, yachts, satellite-based communications networks, and software,
which sound like things an "engineer" might do.  I can't become a PE, since
I majored in English, but I can, and have, done the work.

> I like what I do, I wouldn't starve for something I love to
> do, and I bet I could paid you enough to do something you hate.

OK, how much are you willing to bet?

> Well I might not have that kind of money... but you get the
> idea.

I get _an_ idea, though possibly not the one you wish to convey.

>   The "skills" that corporations expect from college are important.

Sure, but the ones they expect from their _employees_ are moreso.

This is all rather tiresome, actually.  If you'd rather hire paper than
people, that's fine.  I've run into folks like that during my career, and
the companies they worked for generally didn't do as well as companies that
hired for skills, experience, and ability to learn.  The latter is quite
possibly the most important trait to hire for, because things change, and
the people who can't change and learn become liabilities rather than assets.

-Shel