[Courses] [C Programming] Anyone still here?

[Raven, corporate courtesan]

Heya --

Quoth Charlotte Oliver (Mon, May 27, 2002 at 09:07:47AM -0400):
> > > "get your MCSE without touching a computer!"
> > Wow, I don't see those (and I'm grateful). Sounds like the "physics
> > without math" crowd ... ouch.
> Very much so.  What gets me is that these ads are still running
> (though not as frequently) even though the tech market has collapsed
> around here.  I've been job-hunting since my lay-off in December,
> so you can imagine how close the radio comes to being smashed
> every time I hear one. :)

	Yep.  They're incredibly irritating, and (at least the ones in
DC) promise rewarding careers that are very unlikely to be as
advertised.  My particularly hated one is, "Did you know that the
average salary of a Microsoft and Cisco certified engineer is over
$75,000 a year?"

	Now, I design backbones and do network and Unix troubleshooting
and security.  I have lots of pieces of paper from Cisco and a few
others.  (No MCSE, though, and no intentions of getting one since I
don't want to be a Microsoft sysadmin.)  And I do not make $75,000 a
year.  I'm one of the best people I know at what I do.  The average Jane
or Joe with certifications is even less likely to make $75,000.

	And then there's an ad by the same company this morning, saying
how the tech economy is not actually in a recession and how there are
millions of computer jobs out there for the taking if you'll just get
certified.  Grrr.  I don't know where they got their stats, but 30% of
my geek friends here are still unemployed since their dot-com layoffs.
Honestly, I think they're just trying to make money.

	You don't see this sort of thing for programmers.  I wonder why
there's no popularized certification for that skill.  (Or is there one
for C aptitude or some such, and I've just not run into it?)

Cheers,
Raven