<VV> RE: Interesting Article ...NOW Engineer (no Corvair) (longish)

[Padgett]

>  major corporations are now outsourcing the programming and web 
> development jobs overseas.

Not entirely true. They are outsourcing a lot of old technology work but 
the new stuff is staying in house. Take web development. HTML/JavaScript is 
"old" and the sort of thing for which you issue an RFQ rather than a RFP 
(Request For Quote vs Proposal). Leading edge work is in Portals and 
embedded systems using SAML, SOAP, WSML, & WSDL. Bleeding edge work is on 
Smart Cards and requires .NET, MULTOS, JavaCard, and APDU knowlege. Either 
will require a background in x.509 certificates.

For me, I would rather see a Computer Technologies major who understands 
WEP and WPA over a Computer Science grad unless they specialized in 
embedded systems. I do not need an operating system written very often.

What recruiters are looking for are people who respond properly to certain 
trigger words and they are usually found near the bottom of the ad under 
"required" or "desired". They are not expecting expertise at an entry level 
but they are looking for familiarity because that shows an interest.

There are a number of openings within the military-industrial complex that 
require US citizenship and for which a current security clearance is a real 
plus (CISSPs with a TS/SCI disappear quickly into black holes) but the 
processing for a new TS can take up to a year. The other issue is that jobs 
are usually either inside the beltway or in garden spots like China Lake.

Bottom line is that there are a lot of openings in the computer field but 
most require more than just a degree, for instance in Computer Security a 
background of disassembling viruses and worms and providing defenses 
against them as a hobby can lead to a secure career. (and it is easy to 
tell someone who writes viruses from someone who creates defenses - 
different mindset ).

So jobs are available but the applicant must be flexible and do their 
homework first. Of course part of the job description for an engineer is to 
be flexible.

Padgett (ME/EE/PE and a lot of other letters)

PS yes there are a lot of acronyms in the above and the applicant had 
better know what they mean.