Hi Jai!

You've gotten tons of fantastic comments. I'd add only a little.

> The problem is that I was answering phones for government employees the
> first term... with problems such as not being able to connect to the
> network when their cable is unplugged, and not being able to change
> their password successfully when it CLEARLY states it has to be at least
> 6 characters - yet they insist on using less. And second term (now), I
> have been addressing similar problems, except on an on-site basis rather
> than through the phones.

Internship by definition is temporary. There is no time for 'getting up to
speed.' Employer says 'what can this person do for me right now.' What you
described above was actually pretty good -advancement-. First was phone
only. Second allowed for a little freer decision making instead of just
reciting from a menu, and getting your hands dirty out in the field.

Don't worry about ratty work for quite a while. As has been mentioned
there are LOTS of people out there, far more qualified than you, (no
disparigement intended, simply a matter of experience, who are suffering
'lower level' stuff. It'll take -time- and eperience before you can get to
the cool stuff.

I thought the niche trick was a cool idea. But it can bite you as easily
as not depending on what you nichify. <-- Yes, I just invented that word;
remember where you heard it first. :) In any case the trick is to pick the
right niche. In terms of 'what'll be happening 10, 20, 30 yrs from now?'
Automation, (home, industrial, etc.,) nano, AI, etc. Example, when IPV6
comes around, Mom can buy the kids a neworked toothbrush, and the 'daily
life chores' cron job will email her if sonnyboy -fails- to log an
appropriate amount of t-brush time. Yeah, that's now far in the future I
think. :)

> which is why I was hoping to obtain a much more applicable job to my
> field (possibly through the piclist or anywhere else). I'm well aware
> that I shouldn't expect a great job the first few times around, but I
> feel that if I get any more jobs like this one, what talent I have will
> only go to waste.

There're two ways to get promoted. One is to screw up, only occasionally,
but very badly. They'll find something else for you to do, but with red
flags. The other is to do the most trivial job excellently, with
enthusiasm, teamwork, and an eye to *improving* whatever standard
procedures/processes you're handed. They'll think, 'hey, not only can this
guy do the job well, he can -think- too, and has *improving* the *company*
in mind.' You cannot imagine how uncommon that is in RL. Again, it's a
matter of 'what can this employee do for me?' The more they perceive you
have the -capability- of doing the more they'll -give- you to do. But you
must 'demonstrate' future capability by present productivity.

> Then again, on the upside, the (lack of) difficulty associated with this
> job has given me PLENTY of time to read about pics and read/write from
> the Piclist :-)

Night watchman? :) Not kidding. You can fit a whole micro lab in a
'salesman's samples' size briefcase. They do't care what you do as long as
you're not asleep.

Olin said:

> > Whatever happens and no matter how desparate you are and how many
> > other people are doing it, don't ever ever lie on a resume.  I've
> > actually thrown people out of an interview for doing that.  I may not
> > be able to tell what the truth really is, but I (and you should assume
> > any interviewer) can spot the BS a lot better than you probably think.
> > Once I see something suspect, I'm going to drill down until you either
> > adequately explain it or you are proven to be a lier.  There is no
> > recovery from the latter case.

I have *never* lied on an application or resume, but I *have* lied at
interview. I was asked 'can you do this?' And having seen it done but
never done it I just sat down and did it. I was asked 'have you used this
software?' Having used other of the same technology/family, but not that
particular brand, I said yes. Then on day one I said 'hey that version
isn't what I used, lemme borrow the book overnight to review any
changes/updates/whatever.' Went in the next day and made it sing and dance
like I'd been using it for years because the -technology- doesn't change,
only the dippy -menus-. :) Oh don't gt me wrong, I didn't make a regular
habit of doing that, only in emergency. I said 'no' many many times more
than I ever 'lied yes'. And I DO NOT RECOMMEND it unless you are
**ABSOLUTELY** sure of your capabilities, because if you get *caught* you
are *dead* *frigging* *meat*. Another way to say it is that pushing the
envelope is fine as long as you know exactly exactly exactly what the
limits are.

Have a :) day!

jb

--
jim barchuk
jb@jbarchuk.com

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