On learning specifics (Re: [prog] On Perl)

[Hemingway, Neil]

> Frankly, what I personally care about professionally is whether the
> person knows how to program, whether they know how to learn, and whether
> they care about professionalism.

I could not agree more

> If they only have the second two, I'd gladly take them in as a
> paratechnical person and teach them programming.

I've often described the third attribute as "the right attitude".  I
strongly believe that if someone has the ability and attitude, you can
teach them anything, and they will be useful to your organisation for
many years to come.  Conversely, if they have the right skills for what
you want "right now", but not the right attitude, then they will
cause you no end of grief.

> But those are -MY- quirks as a programmer. Other people will have
> different quirks, priorities, and definitions of 'professional'. :)

What I am constantly amazed by is the fact that organizations routinely
ignore this fact and simply go for people with the skills they need _now_.
They give no thought to the future.

Do other people see this or this it simply my jaundiced view?

Regards, Neil


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