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Sender:
"Team Ada: Ada Advocacy Issues (83 & 95)" <[log in to unmask]>
Subject:
From:
"W. Wesley Groleau x4923" <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Tue, 10 Feb 1998 09:22:04 -0500
Reply-To:
"W. Wesley Groleau x4923" <[log in to unmask]>
Parts/Attachments:
text/plain (37 lines)
> > 5) patience - most any program will come together after a couple
> >    30-hour debugging sessions (sorry, can't remember who first
> >    said that, so no attribution)

Whoever said it may not have been a software engineer and probably wasn't
using Ada.  Or he/she was working on a BIG program.  Even my C programs
don't take that much debugging--and there are people on this list who can
confirm that I'm fairly ignorant of C.  (A


> > I have long felt that applicants for the B.S. in computer science
> > should be first given the old-time IBM programming aptitude test

> I trust these tests have improved?  While in college I took two
> aptitude tests.  One said I should definitely be a programmer,
> the other said I should definitely *not* be a programmer.

An aptitude test is a good idea, and there are probably others beside the
IBM one.  However, if you are of above average intelligence, your
"aptitude" may appear high even though it is lower than your aptitude for
other things.  It's possible to be in a job you're not really suited for,
but where you are able to avoid getting fired by a lot of brains and a
little hard work.  For some personalities, this is OK, but for others, it
is unpleasant.

I encourage anyone considering a career change to call around to community
colleges and find a place where you can take one or more of the
following:

  SVIB - Strong Vocational Interest Blank
  SCII - Strong-Campbell Interest Inventory
  MBTI - Meyers-Briggs Type Inventory

If you can't find a free^H^H^H^Htaxpayer-funded place, inquire of your
state's department of labor (most won't do this, but it doesn't hurt to
ask) and also check with you-pay career counselors.

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