> I tried to do a computer networking thing for my senior design project, > and was told that that was "too much software and not enough EE." Foo > on them! (NOW they have more networking expertise, and somehow I'm > supposed to benefit from their current reputation enough to keep > donating money. Sigh.) > This was a prestigious Ivy League university, BTW... How true! Once I modeled a procurement system to defend a finance thesis. I was roundly criticized because "this is not the place to demonstrate programming skills." Now I get frustrated trying to sort through someone else's Windoze code which always seems a bit disconnected and hard to follow because I'm not used to the messaging model. I imagine that's how my advisors felt when confronted with that procurement model (written, I believe, in APL which is marvelously inscrutable if you don't use it regularly). It's one thing to teach someone what you know. It's another thing to try and figure out what they know. I wonder if the days when the "master" knows more than the student are gone. We have so many competent tools and sub-disciplines that rarely is there one "right" answer outside the political arena. This dilemma spills out into the workplace where it is even harder to assess a candidate's knowledge from a one page resume and a 30 minute interview. We suits *must* learn to deal with that or take up selling pencils on the street corner. A rather successful US airline (Southwest) hires for attitude and trains for skills. Their emphasis is on hiring people who play well with others. The reasoning is that the requisite skill set is constantly changing, but the employee's personality is far less mutable. That's why I suggested writing a resume focusing on who you are. I think it was Lawrence Lile who made a masterful example with his wry "disclosure" response -- what came across is that he's an interesting guy who will bring something special to the table. Win Wiencke Image Logic Corporation _______________________________________________ http://www.piclist.com View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist