Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Stuff to Read While Bored at Work [Issue #3]

Inspiring (or Not) Thought:
Interesting Links:
There Are No Women On StackOverflow… Or Are There?
  • Remember back in bad old days when women had to hid behind masculine pseudonyms?
Catch-22: Tech Blogging As a Woman
  • No, seriously, the women are right in front of you...
Language Matters: Stop Using “Guys” to Address Mix-Gender Groups
  • "Every time I read “you guys” I am reminded of my minority status in an industry that is predominantly male." But note, "gentlemen and lady" unnecessarily singles me out...
On Technical Entitlement
  • Stop scaring the newbies away
9 Surefire Ways To Destroy Employee Morale
  • How many recruiters are contacting IT workers on a daily basis? Think about that along with how expensive it is to replace an employee.
Top 10 Ways to be Happy at Work
  • You have to work for it... (ba-dum ching)
Life After College Graduation
  • The first year after graduation is the hardest...
Are You Stuck in a Dead End Job?
  • Better question: Why are you staying in a dead end job?

Saturday, July 21, 2012

Why Coding "Big Boobs" is no Joke


These days it seems like everyone is trying encourage women to participate more in STEM. Well, apparently not everyone...

For an example, let's take a look at some articles that have been blowing up the intertubes today:
For anyone who thinks that this is "just a joke," let's try a little thought experiment. Imagine that instead of in code, "Big Boobies" was written on the whiteboard in your office. Imagine "Big Boobies" on stickers all over your desk. Imagine it written on your ID badge. Imagine it written all over your car. Imagine it all over your house. Imagine that when people looked at you, they only saw a set of boobs, and ignored your worth as a person. Do you know how exponentially more stressful a job interview is when you not only have to defend your work, but also your very being?

This is not a joke; this is the very definition of what a hostile environment is. Only for women, it's not limited to one company or even one industry. It's in movies. It's on TV. It's in magazines. It's all over the Internet. It is everywhere we go. This is not a "gaffe"; this is not a "mistake." This is an insult to half of the world's population. So, no, I won''t be "getting over" crap like this; I will be calling it out whenever I see it, and I hope that others continue to do the same as well.

Note: This item is an expanded version of a comment posted elsewhere.
Note2: Please forgive any typographical or grammatical errors. My brain still hasn't recovered from finishing my Masters in computer science earlier this year...

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Stop letting Salary.com lead you down the wrong path...

This is mostly a problem for companies with very little IT experience. I imagine that something like this happens they decide to hire a new employee: the network admin/help desk person/DBA/IT manager finally gets approval to hire a reporting analyst after years of begging. The requisition goes to an accounting clerk/HR lead for ranking. The clerk types "report writer" in the Salary.com search box, gets $58K back as median salary, and decides that $55K-$60K is a good range. The IT manager get the requisition back and cries because no one sane or good is going to accept the position at that pay range...

Your problem is that you are too hung up on job titles rather than what you actually expect the person to do. Consider this "report writer" job description snippet:
  • Directs organizational business intelligence initiatives
  • Uses industry knowledge and experience to recommend reporting packages to stakeholders
  • Prepares reports using data mining, statistical analysis, and other advanced analytical techniques
  • Requires BA in mathematics, finance, computer science, other computational field, or equivalent work experience
  • MBA preferred
Do you really think a person meeting these qualifications can be found for $55K? Seriously?

This is why it takes you so long to fill a position. None of those $55K candidates have a clue how to do what you need done. But do you know who does? A $90K database analyst...

Anyone who can calculate your business statistics can calculate their own value as well...