Personality quiz for all you IT bods: Are you a chameleon or an outlaw? A diplomat or a high flier? Vote right here Do you spend more time chatting at the watercooler than at your work desk? You’re probably a curious collaborator. Do you take pleasure in pointing out other people’s mistakes? You might just be a diplomat. No, we haven’t smoked illegal substances here at The Reg: IT jobs board CWjobs has worked with “culture fit specialists” …
Lawsuits for what?
In the US, anyway, you are allowed to discriminate against applicants for any reason that isn't in the short list of protected classes (age, sex, religion, etc.) "Lack of personality" would be a legally acceptable reason to not hire someone, as would "I don't like you".
Exactly, JohnFen. I've actually used "you smell awful"[0] a couple times. To their face.
My other question is why on earth would I want to tell the recruiter why I rejected his/her applicants? It's none of their damn business!
Besides, I didn't see that application and/or don't remember that particular applicant, and I've already filled the position with the ideal candidate. Thank you for your interest, have a nice day.
[0] Applicants had apparently bathed in perfume/aftershave. Hint for the job-seeker: Do NOT come into my office smelling of anything that I can detect when I'm across the desk from you. I'm not interested in the scent that you enjoy, and will not be hiring you to inflict your affectation on the rest of the employees into the foreseeable future.
I think it depends on the relationship between the employer and the recruiter. Many companies regularly work with certain recruiters and have an ongoing business relationship with them. In those cases, the companies usually do offer feedback to the recruiter about why applicants were rejected, because it lets the recruiter refine which applicants they bring to the table.
Recruiters that are cold-calling employers, however, are different. They almost never get any feedback, because it's not worth the employer's time to give it.
"Provocateur" should be in at least the mid 90 percent range among Reg readers.
I assume one of our BOFH brethren has changed the survey results, to avoid raising the Boss's suspicions about why the Door Open button never seems to work when he is the only person in the lift.
You've hit another facet of my first reaction.
Namely, over many years in the business, my focus has certainly shifted. I expect that applies to most of us of a certain age. Perhaps the survey should look at age groups, and (for older folks) how we were at an earlier age. Maybe (if they dare) also split results by sex as well as age.
Pity there's no multiple choices or perhaps combinations. As it is, It's just a simple thing that puts us in nice neat boxes which really don't reflect human complexity. Which, to me, says the company that came up with this is a rather simple minded company that may be in for a surprise (not a good one) when they realize that humans don't fit into simple, generalized boxes.
I usually thought of myself as more of a pirate or privateer...
(if it weren't for needing the money, I'd stay at home doing personal projects that I find interesting)
I generally contract "at a senior level" and stick with clients for long periods of time, only because THE JOB FINDING PROCESS SUCKS ASS BECAUSE THE RULES CHANGED AND I DO NOT PLAY _THEIR_ GAME (recruiters, headhunters, H.R. departments) BY _THEIR_ RULES!!!
*ahem*
so I don't fit into ANY of those, really.
"For a lot of recruiters, this should be the default."
For MOST of them (recruiters), who seem to want to offer you positions in Timbuktu mopping floors and wiping someone's ass instead of writing code, and filter your resume (or even try to re-write it) based on "key words and tricky phrases" and stick-up-the-ass adherence to whatever some H.R. dweeb "felt" that the position requires, by COLD CALLING YOUR PHONE while you're in the middle of something important, the default is simple:
"It's over here... by the window."
99% of them should be invited to have a look down, followed by a timely accident.
I was looking for none of the above too. But then I knew the poll was bogus when I saw that High Flyers are focused on money but 'stay at the same company for at least 5 years'. That isn't how you make the big $$$ in IT. Corporations are microcosms. They have a bunch of legacy tech and experiment with a few 'new' technologies. Unless your goal is to learn a variety of software development methodologies, they change those on a regular basis. So you learn the techs they are using, then move on to 'someplace else' to keep your resume buzzword count growing.
Also, corporations tend to have entrenched salary increase limits. You can bypass that to a degree with promotions, but that will be limited. You'll be stuck with 2% annual increases otherwise. But if you change jobs (companies) every 2-3 years you'll get a 10-15% bump each time.
"You'll be stuck with 2% annual increases otherwise. But if you change jobs (companies) every 2-3 years you'll get a 10-15% bump each time."
I've been in the industry for about 30 years now, and this has been my experience. The only times I've seen significant salary increases is when I've changed jobs (I have a habit of asking for 20% more than I was paid in my previous job, and on average get a bit more than 10% over).
>"The High Fliers are apparently in it for the money: they care about career progression above all else, which means they are likely to stay in the same job for at least five years."
Most High Flyers I've worked with got there by jumping ship as fast as they could find something higher paid. If you stay with the same job for at least five years you are not considered good enough for promotion and are likely to be paid less than new recruits into the same role.
Agreed, Career Climbers might be the better name, staying in a job for an average of 5 years isn't the way to optimise career progression.
They seem to be missing some other really obvious categories, the Mentat for instance, introvert engineer who work hard when left in peace to get on with their highly complex work.
You’ve misunderstood what the recruitment consultants mean.
“High flyers” - loyal staff that are likely underpaid in their current role and can be easily satisfied with a small bump in salary for a new role and being called “high flyers”. Expect the clients to be happy with their new hire, salary negotiations to be easy and additional margin on completion. Not likely to leave their new role within client clawback period.
For bonus points, knock a few K off their salary offer in exchange for a “junior Vice President of XXX” title, it’ll cover a few days skiing in the Alps.
None of these fit and they are very badly named.
I was expecting to fit into the Outlaw category but it doesn't describe me at all and financial and legal companies will never employ me because of my very long hair.
I generally stay in a job for 5 - 8 years if I like it but with some of the salaries I've had you wouldn't say its all about the money for me so High Flyer doesn't fit. Chameleon doesn't fit for the same reasons.
I'm far too anti-social to be a Curious Collaborator and I don't think Diplomats are renowned for their rants about stupid users.
Which I guess leaves Provocateur. While I'm sure several bosses have thought I'm a pain in the ass, I'm not sure any of the rest of it applies.
Well, I work at a financial institution, and my hair is way longer than that of any of my female coworkers, so at least that mindset has changed in the last few years.
Now, if the creators of this survey *think* there can be any sort of healthy work-life balance at a financial institution... well they must be on some very heavy opioids
"Now, if the creators of this survey *think* there can be any sort of healthy work-life balance at a financial institution... well they must be on some very heavy opioids"
Have my 8 year stint within a large insurance company as validation to the above... I couldn't think of a unhealthier environment. It was simply full of sycophants and blood sucking mongrels. I was lucky to be kept outside of the main herd but every visit to HQ made me cringe..
us quiet guys who stay in the server room and keep all the shit running so these "High Flyers","Curios Collaborators", and the rest can play out their soap-opera lives in their shiny corner offices full of windows? Some of us are in this because we were/are deeply enchanted by how all this techno stuff works, and have the social skills of a fountain pen.
...but whilst you're there, I have a NetApp mug full of biros I picked up from trade shows... perhaps you can start there? You can use the Kilimanjaro high stack of little post it note pads with now vanished AntiMalware providers logos on them, if you like.
"Good&Co is one of those startups that believe it’s your personality, not your skills, that define success in the workplace"
Meanwhile, in real ife, I have to clean up the mess made by the 'personalities' because they don't have any technical skills.
If ever there's a prima facie example of marketeering bullshit over reality, here it is.
"The categories are bollocks."
But it's STILL more accurate than MBTI, and less likely to destroy morale in a workplace. I've seen people treat their "Four Letters of Doom" as gospel, and write them on their whiteboards so other people will know how to deal with them. I wanted to fill a super-soaker with whiteboard cleaning fluid to "reset" the department.
(Icon, because I'm a Diplomat With Nukes)
"and write them on their whiteboards so other people will know how to deal with them."
I've never experience this in any place that I've worked, but if I did I would be sorely tempted to select my four letters based on how that would make people treat me, rather than based on a stupid test.
The rest of the survey is not great either.
52% would leave without training.
4/10 would leave if micromanaged.
I suspect XCII out of C are spoofers, or 1.0 out of 1.0 of the survey is...
(Yes, those two numbers aren't necessarily additive; there are, though, a large number of blowhards in IT; almost as many as there are in surveys...).
"Job sites and 'agencies' just don't have a clue about us or our industry"
YOU are _SO_ RIGHT! I can't thumb you up enough!
NOW... how do we get them ALL to come "over here by the window"... [which will solve SO many problems]
(somehow these clueless asshats have INSERTED THEMSELVES into the job-finding process and DOMINATED it, overly-complicating and delaying what USED to be relatively simple, and involved an envelope and a stamp and an answering machine. NOW you have to TURN YOUR RINGER OFF because of robo-calls and cold calls regarding unrelated positions paying way too little, on site in Timbuktu, like it's the most important position you'll ever have, and NOTHING relevant)
,,, the hipster clowns think "grandad" is an insult, and yet I know of no actual grandads who would feel insulted by being called one. Chalk it up to yet another ineffectual thing that hipster clowns do for no apparent or sane reason.
They call mainframes "dinosaurs", too. And yet they still run the world ...
The hipster clowns would just class you as "Dinosaur" or "Grandad".
They haven't learned yet that 'Youthful enthusiasm is no match for old age and treachery." then. If they were as smart as they want people to believe, they'd suck up to us older people and learn the tricks of the trade, so to speak.
"The hipster clowns would just class you as "Dinosaur" or "Grandad"."
Mr King sir, you are most improper! Have you never heard of the Old Fartettes' renowned pastime of 'setting hipsters up for a fall by playing on their ignorance'? Really, young man, you should apply yourself. There is endless fun to be had.
I beg to differ. The word "Dude" is inherently North American, probably from "yankee doodle", which we stole from you Brits fair & square (spoils of war, don'tchaknow). As the inventors of this new word, we got to choose and decided to go with the French "ette" for the feminine variation.
Besides, that "esse" thing is all Greek to most English speakers.
Decorum? Is that the collection of Caribbean booze along the top of the bar? Regardless, this round's on me :-)
A true 'old fart' learned in grammar school that the use of 'he' in the English language can also mean 'she' when the sex of the subject is not known. All of this P.C. alleged sexism by NOT saying "he/she/it/thing/whatever" in place of a SINGLE F'ING PRONOUN 'he' is nauseating. GET OFF MY LAWN!
(it's bad grammar to be a P.C. sexist with pronouns)
And a lot of those old grammar "rules", like avoiding split infinitives and the like, were invented by people in the late 17th and 18th centuries who thought that English grammar should be more like Latin.
Oddly enough, they're different languages and don't have the same grammar. Such as the fact we have a two-part infinitive in English and it's perfectly fine "to boldy go" wherever we like with a word or two nested within the infinitive.
It also confirms our suspicion that millennials are not interested in earthly possessions: more than half (56 per cent) of Gen Z workers say a new challenge is more important than higher salary and other benefits (33 per cent.)
I would like to point out that Millennials and "Gen Z" are two different sets of people. The oldest Millennials are now in their early 40s[1] while the oldest members of "Gen Z" are less than 20 years old.
[1] Millennials were born between approximately 1980 and 2000, +/- a few years on either end depending on the specific definition you use.
more than half (56 per cent) of Gen Z workers say a new challenge is more important than higher salary and other benefits
They may say that now, but give them ten years, and chance to start relationships, buy property etc and I think you'll find their attitude changes rapidly.
I also think it depends a lot on the definition of "a new challenge". This sort of applies to me. Once I've reached a certain level of income, having even more, while useful, is not that important to me. If I am offered more for a job I will find deadly boring, I'll likely turn it down. However, that's not because I really want a bunch of new challenges thrown at me. I want to keep doing interesting things, with new challenges as applicable. I don't want this description to mark me as the person to whom all challenges should be brought just because I'll pay for lack of boredom. Maybe if they wrote these descriptions with actual words that have meanings, it might be more helpful*.
*Actually, it would still be junk. Carry on, then.
"It also confirms our suspicion that millennials are not interested in earthly possessions".
Or maybe they've despaired, for now, of finding an employer to offer compensation enough to let them acquire some of those earthly possessions.
One thinks of Moby Dick:
"""
“Well, Captain Bildad,” interrupted Peleg, “what d’ye say, what layshall we give this young man?”
“Thou knowest best,” was the sepulchral reply, “the seven hundred and seventy-seventh wouldn’t be too much, would it?—‘where moth and rust docorrupt, but lay—’”
Lay indeed, thought I, and such a lay! the seven hundred and seventy-seventh! Well, old Bildad, you are determined that I, for one, corrupt. It was an exceedingly long lay that, indeed; and though from the magnitude of the figure it might at first deceive a landsman, yet the slightest consideration will show that though seven hundred and seventy-seven is a pretty large number, yet, when you come to make a teenthof it, you will then see, I say, that the seven hundred and seventy-seventh part of a farthing is a good deal less than seven hundred and seventy-seven gold doubloons; and so I thought at the time.
"""
You could probably make a small income from flogging a book relating characters to the personalities in Moby-Dick.
Ahab - sociopathic, paranoid, typical CEO.
Starbuck - good as a number 2; lacks imagination.
Ishmael - that contractor who nobody can remember recruiting and doesn't seem to have much to do.
The Carpenter - grumpy, ageing long term employee who does what the management wants no matter how stupid.
And the best thing might be that one could generally count on nobody in HR or management having read the far into the book, as might well be the case with, well, Voyna i Mor. One could probably give the seminar fifteen minutes on the whaleboat leadership qualities of Julien Sorel and not get called on it.
"Oh! many are the Fin-Backs, and many are the Dericks, my friend."
Not very good Chameleons if they are regularly found - anywhere.
Some other workplace personality test we had inflicted upon us divided the crew into Cowboys, Clowns, Carebears, and Conscientious, although using less descriptive labels. Most of our management were cowboys. Most of our employees were clowns.
no catagory for "Grumpy old pharts who sit in the corner , yet seem to know everything" ?
Although it is rumoured that my boss once introduced me to a new production planner by saying
"Walk on the right side of the corridor, do not approach the glass, sit in the chair provided, do not hand anything to Boris, or accept anything from him"
"Quid pro quo my young production planner.... you tell me something I tell you something...."
“culture fit specialists”
There is a veritable shit tonne of turd polishing going on these days. I've had several phone calls this week, some from recruitment consultants, some from talent acquisition specialists and one from the head of candidate attraction.
Wasn't asked by any of them if I'm a chameleon or an outlaw though....
Because there was no "bugger off and leave me in peace" option.
It talks about social extroverts. As usual it misses introverts. Those people who don't want to be the life and soul of the office and who don't want to chase endless promotions. While other types are having their dramas, we're the ones that turn up on time (sober, too), get our work done quietly, and then go home. We're the ones that all the loud people never notice (thank God, no we absolutely do NOT want to go to a "do" on Friday night so actually thank you very much for NOT asking). But it would be nice, just for once, to have this category listed on a poll.
It's not just a job, it's a ... No, wait. It is just a job.
I take my job seriously. But after all, it's just a job. If I leave, for any reason, I'll be replaced in a week and they'll shed no tears on my way out.
I think as much of them. They're not mommy and daddy; they're not my banker or my jailer (although some managers lean dangerously close); they're just a step on the way to another step on the way to another disappointment on the way to another detour on the way to something either surprising or depressing in another 20 years.
During those intervening years, I want to disrupt those micromanaging twits who don't know what I do for a living but sure as he!! wanna tell me how to do it. I want to reveal the lie of the marketer and salesman. I want to shock the predictions of the vice president in charge of something important. I want to learn and grow and enjoy and collaborate and isolate and do everything I'm told I can't!
And I want to find a pair of comfortable shoes.
"During those intervening years, I want to disrupt those micromanaging twits who don't know what I do for a living but sure as he!! wanna tell me how to do it. I want to reveal the lie of the marketer and salesman. I want to shock the predictions of the vice president in charge of something important. I want to learn and grow and enjoy and collaborate and isolate and do everything I'm told I can't!"
Get an MBA and into consulting. Or vice-versa ... holding the business degree along with your IT skill set will allow you to do all you ask, and more. And get paid ten or fifteen times more than you'll ever make in IT alone. Might take a couple years of real work to get there, but the end result is worth it. Lest you think an MBA is difficult to get, think of all the brain-dead idiots you've worked with who hold one. If you already hold an IT related degree, you can get the MBA in a couple years of night school ... anybody who can program reasonably well in a couple languages should have no problems passing with flying colo(u)rs. Opens all kinds of closed doors when you can talk to manglement in their own language.
."And I want to find a pair of comfortable shoes."
White's Boots. Just do it. You'll never buy another pair, unless it's another pair of Whites. I've got three pair, which I wear when I'm logging, otherwise working in the back country, or working with the horses. It's not an affectation, I wear them because they work as it says on the tin. Get the custom boots, made specifically for your feet.
Get an MBA and into consulting. Or vice-versa ... holding the business degree along with your IT skill set will allow you to do all you ask, and more. And get paid ten or fifteen times more than you'll ever make in IT alone. Might take a couple years of real work to get there, but the end result is worth it. Lest you think an MBA is difficult to get, think of all the brain-dead idiots you've worked with who hold one. If you already hold an IT related degree, you can get the MBA in a couple years of night school ... anybody who can program reasonably well in a couple languages should have no problems passing with flying colo(u)rs. Opens all kinds of closed doors when you can talk to manglement in their own language.
But getting an MBA requires undergoing brain surgery to remove common sense, after which those IT skills will be gone. How did you think all those idiots became brain-dead in the first place?
"I am the only one who thinks that they are pimps?"
You're not the only one. They really are pimps. But by the same token, we're all prostitutes anyway (we rent the use of our bodies to others for money). I hear that in some circumstances, a prostitute can truly benefit from having a good pimp.
Nothing for "Always been interested in IT, struggle to understand the really complex stuff. Still good at IT though. Always gets shit on. Gets silent pissed off when someone is being a cock. Moans a lot and never gets the good pay. Is actually nice to users that are nice back and gets on really well with some. But also takes notes of all the stupid calls in the hope of writing a book about them one day despite being a shit writer.
..the people with little IT skills except for passing the buck and throwing colleagues under the bus. The ones that fail upward by being unctuous suck asses, but given a project will do it half-assed at best, and in a crisis will stare blankly at the flames and try to get you to fix it.
I still have the tyre tracks across my legs from the last "ex-developer, now Project Manager" who couldn't write a coherent project spec to save her life. When the project predictably went to shit, guess what happened to the developer working underneath her?
Bitter? Moi?
From the looks of it, these people have never read the comic strip "Dilbert". You need to pick one of the characters and go from there.
At least we get PHB's following these categories.
To really be fair, you can't pick your character, the others need to pick it for you. Then you are stuck with it. Of course this task makes picking the PHBs in the world much more accurate!
I'm lucky enough to work in a multi-lingual, multi-cultural, and mixed discipline customer technical support environment. It's part IT knowledge, part product knowledge, and part clinical knowledge that gets the job done. I get on best with people who do their jobs and try to think for themselves. I don't care if I like them or they like me. I have friends for that. If they do their jobs and at least try to resolve issues themselves before coming to me, then they get my respect and my assistance. If they are lazy ****holes and expect others to do their job for them, then they get rebuffed and scorned until they either shape up or leave.
This looks like the results of a survey with cluster analysis applied to the survey's outputs.
As usual provocative names have been given to the clusters and little attention taken to what it means.
Cluster analysis is used a lot to categorise groups. I expect it's done to most survey results.
I've worked in IT for 25+ years and the most common personality I've come across is the insecure IT guy.
Good lord how many times have I had to work with idiots who think they HAVE to know it all. And heaven forbit if you know something better than them - then they really turn on you and start the bullying!
For example I was working (contractor) for a goverment department in London and this guy was so insecure he would not share any knowledge with me. He went away on holidays and would not even tell me about the tape backup system (asked him loads of times)
He then proceeded to join up with is equally insecure buddy to bully me. They would refuse to make eye contact - would never engage in banter - would have whispered conversations when I was around. It was hillarious!
I recently joined another company and with in two days the bullying started - the guys who had been there 12+ years could not cope with someone understanding virtualisation better than them. FFS, no eye contact, no banter - its so bad we cannot even go for a drink down the pub (I asked).
So, to all you insecure IT guys out there - whatever happened to you as a kid - leave it out when you come into the office. Either that or get what you really require, therapy!
They are the knob engineers. Not bothered about the not going to the pub bit, some people, me, just aren't interested in socialising. But I try to share my knowledge to whoever is interested. The ones that are like what you describe, are the ones that know, because you know more or the same as them, you'll be able to expose that they actually do fuck all, that's what they are really scared of.
I'm not in it for the money, but the absolute priority *is* being paid, as after all, being alive costs money. As long as you're paying me to work, I don't really care what the job is, I can't afford to let my preferences get in the way of staying alive, but naturally would prefer to be paid to do stuff that I like and am competent at.
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