[Courses] [C Programming] Anyone still here?

[Charlotte Oliver]

On Wed, May 29, 2002 at 12:09:52PM -0400, Raven, corporate courtesan wrote:
> 	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

Yes!  Grr!

> 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.

It's insane how much these miracle schools charge too.  I wish there were
some regulations on them, like you have with universities and such.  My
university does offer cert classes and it's still insanely priced (and
this is a community college).  For a CCNA, there's a series of three
$600 classes...at a school where a three credit class costs $150.

> 	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.

Those are also frustrating.  I was listening to a report on NPR about
how the market is coming back and no one should be without a job 
*if they just try* to get one.

I suppose sending out 10-15 resumes a week for nine months isn't trying
hard enough and I'm just a slacker.

But who's bitter. :)

You'd think statistically I would get at least a few call-backs after
all those resumes.  I guess I should start trying to get a job!

Grf.  Etc.

I'd say it was a lame resume, but I've had HR people look at it and
tell me it's good.  Additionally, when I first got my CCNA, I put
my resume up on monster for giggles to see what I was worth.  I
had a recruiter calling me within 24 hours to set up an interview.
Ah...the good old days (about 2 years ago).

Yeah, the market's really coming back...sure! 

> 	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?)

I know that recruiters have been known to send programmers to the 
brainbench tests to test their skills, but I don't know of any others.
But with programming, I suppose the merit of your body of work shows
how good you are, so certification isn't as big of a deal.

Anyone?

Charlotte