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From: laura@hoptoad.uucp (Laura Creighton)
Newsgroups: net.singles
Subject: Re: the "programmer" title
Message-ID: <461@hoptoad.uucp>
Date: Thu, 30-Jan-86 14:31:29 EST
Article-I.D.: hoptoad.461
Posted: Thu Jan 30 14:31:29 1986
Date-Received: Sat, 1-Feb-86 05:07:27 EST
References: <1711@ittatc.ATC.ITT.UUCP>
Reply-To: laura@hoptoad.UUCP (Laura Creighton)
Distribution: net
Organization: Nebula Consultants in San Francisco
Lines: 32

In article <1711@ittatc.ATC.ITT.UUCP> yoda@ittatc.ATC.ITT.UUCP (Todd C. Williams [Jedi Knight]) writes:
>
>	So the reason I don't say "programmer" is that I fear that someone
>will think I dropped out of high school, couldn't find a job, so I went to
>"COMPUTER TRAINING INSTITUTE" for 6 months, and... voila!  Can anybody
>relate to that?

I dunno, Todd -- I dropped out of high school and went to work programming.
(I also went to university a lot later).  If you take a look at any cross
section of great programmers you will find a *lot* of them who never went
to university at all.  All other things being equal, if I know you are making
a living as a programmer, and I know you never went to university (or went
to university and majored in something other than csc/ee) I wilkl assume that
you are real good -- until something you do tells me otherwise.

The reason is simple.  It is a lot easier to get a csc degree than it is to
be a good programmer.  And anybody can get a csc degree on the basis of a
piece of university wallpaper.  If you don't have the wallpaper, then you
must have received your job for some other reason -- and unless it is because
your father is the president of the company, any reason that a company would
choose to hand you money is a reason why I would probably like you.

Personally, I think that there are thousands and thousands of things more
interesting about you, Todd, than whether or not you went to university.
And if saying ``I'm a programmer'' really makes all those people who think
that a university degree is the most important thing about someone go away
in disinterest, then all the better -- with pre-selection, you can concentrate
all the more on the rest.
-- 
Laura Creighton		
ihnp4!hoptoad!laura 
hoptoad!laura@lll-crg.arpa