Go Figure
At work, I've been interviewing candidates for full-time and contract roles. To put things in perspective, I feel like I know a very small slice of what I need to know. Then again, I always feel like this, so maybe it's the right kind of motivation as the denominator continues to explode.
Here's what has been blowing me away. I've been seeing more disconnects than ever between what someone's resume says, what they've theoretically been getting paid for and what they know and can demonstrate about their craft.
I've talked to no fewer than 6 people in the last month who have either led or architected significant projects for F100/500 type companies and most of whom had academic C.S. and C++ backgrounds. On a typical non-syntax level, concept-focused tech screen, it was pretty bad. With a short code-based exercise it only got worse.
Let's stop the insanity. The resume bloat is out of control. I'm sick of reading you worked on ASP.NET for 2.5 years and you can't tell me which would work better on the red carpet, System.Web.Caching or Tara Reid? I'd prefer you didn't call yourself a ws expert if you can't even tell me what that little [WebMethod] thingy you used is called in the first damn place. This is all from someone who doesn't pretend to know even one iota of what's out there; you could tech me back to the Stone Age and I'd be perfectly content to go look for Daryl Hannah.
I'm pretty sure this is just a bad stretch, but I do know that resumes are at a point where they probably are better evaluated in the inverse. Hopefully, we'll find some folks who redeem my view of the market right now. If you think you're of the right ilk, email me at pretty much any address you can come up with at this domain.
Anyway, this is among other work-related things that have been keeping me swamped but reasonably happy. Now back to our regularly scheduled semi-silence.