Comments on Jay Fields' Thoughts: Recent Thoughts On Hiring and Being Hired

@elhannan, I once worked for a few companies like ...

2011-12-21T22:15:22.683-05:00

@elhannan, I once worked for a few companies like that. Thank G-d I don't anymore. It sounds like you need to look for a better place to work where your passion for learning new skills and applying them will be rewarded.

I've learned the hard way there's no point...

2011-09-25T03:17:47.736-04:00

I've learned the hard way there's no point in learning new technologies for your work, for the simple reason no one will listen to you.
They would say "mind your own bizzwax" or "its your job to do it" or "why are you waisting time" even of you say uve done everything u were tasked , ull be frownd upon for not telling your boss so, or ull be soon be fired because they didn't have something for u.
In the end technology will be decided on the whim and interests of upper managment with no relavence of what you think or say. If u don't have a life like me and wanna learn something new go ahead but expect it to be used at work. Just lay low. Don't take my word for it :
http://java.dzone.com/articles/layers-management-layers-veto

@ipsi, the Yow! conferences in Australia are quite...

2011-09-22T07:04:10.463-04:00

@ipsi, the Yow! conferences in Australia are quite good, if you're looking for something closer to home.

Just a random note on Conferences - I, for the mos...

2011-09-22T04:09:47.481-04:00

Just a random note on Conferences - I, for the most part, don't attend them, simply because it's so expensive for me. A flight from New Zealand, plus accommodation, plus visa costs, plus the entry fee to the conference itself... That adds up pretty quickly, and I could easily be paying 10% of my annual salary for just one conference (especially if it's in Europe) - not to mention the fact that I'd need a week off work (3 days, say, for the conference, plus a day flying there, and another day flying back, or more! Could be upwards of 30 hours each way to the UK).

But yes, I agree that you need to constantly learn new things, or at least be *aware* of the latest and greatest things that are out there in the market, so that if an interviewer says, "Hey, what do you know about node.js" (for example), then you're able to reply intelligently, even if you've never had a chance to actually do anything with it. Sure, it's not as good a look as being able to say "Oh yeah, I know that, and here's a link to a little project I made using it", but there's only a finite amount of time in the day, so you have to prioritize (and it gives you an opportunity to explain why you chose what you did :P).

Jay, I just hired five tech people five different ...

2011-09-20T02:30:07.306-04:00

Jay, I just hired five tech people five different ways: friend referral, social networking, pitching at meetups, contingency recruiting, and hourly recruiting. To find top talent, explore many avenues.