Re: A few words of Interview advice
Ok which shiny-suited foetus voted me down?
Bloody kids these days.
(;->
1304 publicly visible posts • joined 2 Dec 2013
" yet when you're 55 you'll probably stll expect a salary commensurate with your age."
Er, in a word, NO.
I'm working currently with a chap approaching 60, does a parallel job to me but he's a coder. We are both on the same pay scale as the chaps in their 30s on the team. The fact that they are younger but at a similar level to me does not bother me as I expect to be paid fairly for the job I am being asked to do, at whatever age I am.
Frankly it was only when I was much, much younger that I imagined being paid a grand per year of my age. I've just about managed it so far but there is NO WAY I can continue this apart from going into management which I DO NOT WANT, or going back to consultancy/London/abroad and never seeing my family which I also DO NOT WANT
I am satisfied that I am being paid a fair wage for the 3rd/4th line support/projects position that I am in and as long as that continues I'll still be happy.
I do this too - I'm a 44 year old techie and that's what I want to stay as til I retire. So I make this VERY clear in performance reviews and interviews.
I am quite capable of learning new stuff for the next 20 years. I can alternate between support, projects, staff training, you name it.
And while the architecture, hardware, software, processes etc., will change vastly as the years go by, problems and problem solving won't.
" And the extra years that I'll get will be at the end of my life, when my body is frail anyway"
Not neccessarily.
Resistance training is proven to slow the progress of osteoporosis. There may also be a link between cardio and reduced dementia risk but that hasn't been proved.
I like my ale and wine, and good food. But I take care of myself because weights and cardio mean that between now and the day I die I'll look good and there's a better chance I'll feel good too. Right now at 44 I look better than most blokes half my age. And I like that.
It's quite simple really.
Revolutionary is for bleeding edge geeks in California.
The rest of us, in mainstream business, who employ and have to support REAL people who struggle in to work through traffic, have kids and families and holidays and bills and worries, we DON'T WANT revolutionary. Ethel who works in HR and has only just got to grips with Windows 7 and the UI that's basiclally been the same since Windows 95 doesn't want to have to relearn EVERYTHING she's struggled to learn in the last 15 years.
We don't mind small changes, bit by bit, but we don't want to have to be retraining ALL our staff because some divorced from reality developer is all excited about the latest new UI.
Give us evolution, not revolution.
I'll start to really worry about AI the day an AI brain can be pointed at any problem, or multiple problems, and tackle them all without reprogramming.
For instance, right now I am typing this, clicking on Admin Tools on a Windows 2012 VM, picking my nose and pondering reaching down to my second drawer to get a cough sweet. My subconscious is also mulling over what to have for lunch, wether to pop to the shops, where's the best place for a beginner's family ski holiday and a hundred other unrelated things.
When an AI can do all that at the same time I'll be impressed.
A quick google shows about 10 stations in the entire UK.
Here's a quote regarding the flagship Honda station in Swindon:
"The station provides refuelling capability at both 350 & 700 bar and is capable of refilling 4 cars per hour"
4 an HOUR????
I know it's very early days but...
If all this slurping and mining and targetting is going on, how come, as a 44 year old male who likes heavy metal, am I offered a free Olly Murs album off Google? I'd rather stick a spike through my ear drums than listen to that gurning chimp. It can't be my youtube history or my online purchasing profile. I have never bought an mp3 or CD of or listened to or viewed an Olly Murs track, ever, and neither have my wife or daughter who I sometimes buy music for online.
Targetted ads??? I wouldn't actually mind if they were. Like when's the next Manowar or Tool album out?
I dunno. Do you really think thrusty salesman wanker is going to give up his Audi? Do you really think chav boy is going to give up his utterly ruined, er, I mean customised Halfords special? Do you really think grandma in the wilds of north scotland will give up her old faithful Landy?
Personal transport ownership has been entrenched in our psyche since we first jumped on horses. It's not going to disappear. Our cars are our caves, personalised for us, where we escape and feel safe.