The previous post just goes to show that however experienced one is there is always room to be able to learn. :) Part of our business is to rejuvenate legacy code owned by the client, where often they have lost the source and with it crucial parts of the business logic. Our ability to do this is based on our employees, some of whose first experience of computers was over 35 years ago, who are valued for their ability to disassemble and comprehend the original code which has often started life in the 60's.

geoffs, Many thanks for your comment. Large companies have so many applications that they are sometimes forced to implement artificial sieves and so often fall back on a set of defined necessary qualifications. We feel that they are often the losers for the reason that you indicate. We lament the lack of effort from many applicants in their research before applying. We expect an interesting and informative letter to have been written that outlines what the applicant has to offer our company. And I do mean 'our company' - that means they will show that they have researched us in enough detail to know what they would be doing if they worked for us. Further, we would expect them to have some idea of what philosophy we are likely to have and so to show how they would fit in with the team. We expect lucid and coherent, well-written prose structured with well constructed paragraphs that show that the individual has a grasp of English along with a balanced analysis of their abilities and philosophy applied to what they have understood about our company. We put more weight on this document than a CV, which should be brief, concise, spelt correctly, grammatical and well-laid out without fanciful, unprovable subjective descriptions. Many applications that we receive are poorly executed and demonstrate that the, often well-qualified, individual has very little ability using Office applications. This makes us question their programming ability and their ability to handle small details accurately. A job is a partnership. One of the saddest things is to see someone who has worked hard at trying to look like the person that is required for a job, and then hated every minute of it once appointed because they were not the person they presented themselves as. Companies (or more precisely - their managers) are often also unrealistic in the way they represent themselves which aggravates the situation. Two entities who both are presenting a different image from that of their natural inclinations are not likely to work well in partnership. It is time we rejected the falseness that drives many aspects of our relationships today, I doubt we have the courage to do it :( . It's great to know that there are at least two of us 'in the fox-hole' sheltering from the world! :)

I am not interested in how for long someone has worked or what their paper qualifications are. I want to find out how good they are at what I need them to do. Neither of work experience or qualifications are more than rough indicators of this. One needs to find out the quality of the work experience and this is not found from what the candidate inflates into a CV, but only by speaking with a number of their colleagues in their previous employments, which is not practical. Grades from qualifications tell you that the candidate was able to work out what they were likely to be asked in an exam and retain the answers over a short period of time long enough to get them on paper. A PhD does not fit this model, but shows a specialised analysis and logic with the ability to write a coherent report. Unfortunately many do not have a realistic view of life or the necessities of commerce where 'good enough' is often more desirable than 'perfection'. There is no good way to find out except to employ them and watch. However, with experience a full interview can fairly reliably pick out those that are bluffing their way through life. We, at Ischus, are interested in candidate's ability to think and to find solutions within the domain of program design and writing applied to engineering problems and so a background and interest in these is necessary. Lamentably however we find many 'qualified' applicants do not have an interest in either although they have made one or the other their career choice. Martin Wells (for clarification: I have a degree in Physics) Managing Director Ischus Limited (in the UK)