[tor.general] Dilemma with Career Plans

dan@maccs.dcss.mcmaster.ca (Dan Trottier) (11/09/89)

In article <2434@ists.ists.ca> compton@ists.ists.ca (Heather Compton) writes:
>
>the top and I am just afraid of making mistakes on the road to success. 
>If there are any upper management or executives out there reading this,
>help me out -----PLEASE.

Finish your degree!

In the short term the "real world" looks inviting but if don't have some
form of university degree you may find yourself passed over when promotion
time comes around. With the degree you will have more options available to
you and the more options the better.

-- 
Dan Trottier                                       dan@maccs.dcss.McMaster.CA
Dept of Computer Science                       ...!uunet!utai!utgpu!maccs!dan
McMaster University                                      (416) 525-9140 x3444

yap@me.utoronto.ca (Davin Yap) (11/11/89)

In article <1989Nov10.175137.1712@utzoo.uucp> henry@utzoo.uucp (Henry Spencer) writes:
>major handicap if you're trying to, say, emigrate to the US ("why do you
>want to hire an uneducated and therefore stupid foreigner when there are
                                                                ^^^^^^^^^
>plenty of uneducated, stupid Americans looking for work?").
 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
		  |
                  +-- Here, here! ;-)

Just kidding (hee hee)....

henry@utzoo.uucp (Henry Spencer) (11/11/89)

In article <25599880.22874@maccs.dcss.mcmaster.ca> dan@maccs.dcss.mcmaster.ca (Dan Trottier) writes:
>In the short term the "real world" looks inviting but if don't have some
>form of university degree you may find yourself passed over when promotion
>time comes around...

More generally, since degrees are so common nowadays, a lot of bureaucrats
equate "no degree" to "uneducated" with a further connotation of "probably
due to low intelligence or some other unpleasant reason".  This can be a
major handicap if you're trying to, say, emigrate to the US ("why do you
want to hire an uneducated and therefore stupid foreigner when there are
plenty of uneducated, stupid Americans looking for work?").
-- 
A bit of tolerance is worth a  |     Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology
megabyte of flaming.           | uunet!attcan!utzoo!henry henry@zoo.toronto.edu

root@nebulus (Dennis S. Breckenridge) (11/13/89)

henry@utzoo.uucp (Henry Spencer) writes:
>equate "no degree" to "uneducated" with a further connotation of "probably
>due to low intelligence or some other unpleasant reason".  This can be a

B.S. look at the top of any major corporation and you find a grade 12 education
and lots of good hard work!
-- 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
NAME:     Dennis S. Breckenridge   UUCP: uunet!tmsoft!nebulus!dennis
QTH:      Toronto, Canada          ELECTROMAGNETIC:   145.03Mhz ve3gss@ve3gss
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jmberkley@watnext.waterloo.edu (J. Michael Berkley) (11/13/89)

> henry@utzoo.uucp (Henry Spencer) writes:
HS>equate "no degree" to "uneducated" with a further connotation of "probably
HS>due to low intelligence or some other unpleasant reason".  This can be a

> On 12 Nov 89 16:37:04 GMT, root@nebulus (Dennis S. Breckenridge) said:
DSB> B.S. look at the top of any major corporation and you find a
DSB> grade 12 education and lots of good hard work!

Henry is correct.  I was out in industry for quite a while, but with
only part of a degree.  In spite of a lot of hard work, there was
always a limit to how far I could be promoted because of the degree.

In one job (government), I had to stay on a temporary employee basis
for two years.  Making my job permanent would have meant going through
the competition process, and I would have lost the job.  I had the
same salary/benefit package as a permanent employee, but lower job
security, and of course no hope of promotion.

Now I'm in the middle of my 3rd year of CS at UW and loving it.  Get
the degree.

 Mike Berkley, University of Waterloo
 PAMI Lab
 jmberkley@watnext.waterloo.edu
 {utai,uunet}!watmath!watnext!jmberkley

henry@utzoo.uucp (Henry Spencer) (11/14/89)

In article <1989Nov12.163704.18325@nebulus> root@nebulus (Dennis S. Breckenridge) writes:
>>equate "no degree" to "uneducated" with a further connotation of "probably
>>due to low intelligence or some other unpleasant reason".  This can be a
>
>B.S. look at the top of any major corporation and you find a grade 12 education
>and lots of good hard work!

But send in his age-25 resume to his own personnel department, applying
for any sort of job involving brains, and they'll send you a xeroxed form
letter saying essentially "go away".

Actually, look at the top of a major corporation today and you'll usually
find a lawyer or an accountant, both of which require a bit more than
grade 12.
-- 
A bit of tolerance is worth a  |     Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology
megabyte of flaming.           | uunet!attcan!utzoo!henry henry@zoo.toronto.edu