http://qs1969.pair.com?node_id=679332


in reply to Certifications are dumb.

How about a system where you get a 90 day trial employment period, and if you show promise, it can be extended, if not you are released. Possibly even at a reduced pay rate, such that the difference will be given to you, as a hiring bonus, if you survive the trial period by demonstration of your skills(which you claim to have by your resume).

Of course, a system like that would be ripe for abuse by the employers, where workers are released routinely before 90 days. That happened in the auto industry, where new workers received a lower status for 90 days, and the employers were not liable for Unemployment Insurance, until that 90 day point was hit. Of course, everyone got let go at 89 days, for some petty reason.


I'm not really a human, but I play one on earth. Cogito ergo sum a bum

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re^2: Certifications are dumb.
by dragonchild (Archbishop) on Apr 10, 2008 at 13:04 UTC
    amarquis is correct and I think I alluded to that up in my original post. Employees, especially those whom Drucker calls "information workers", take a very long time to get "slotted in" to a new position. Just think how long it takes before you're truly proficient with a new codebase. Now, imagine that what you have to get up to speed on is:
    • 150 client relationships (salesperson)
    • 200 employees and their families (HR rep)
    • 20 applications and their user annoyances (support staff)
    • 5 applications and all their environments w/bugs (QA)
    • 10 market segments and their needs (marketing)
    Factory work, such as the auto industry, doesn't require as long of a ramp-up time, so this kind of system is ripe for abuse there.

    Personally, I don't like such a system because it means that I don't have faith in my ability to pair up the right person and the right job. It says "I didn't pick you so much as we randomly came together." As an employee, I preferred it when my employer gave me the "I choose YOU, Pikachu!" feeling about the position. I'd like to do the same as an employer.


    My criteria for good software:
    1. Does it work?
    2. Can someone else come in, make a change, and be reasonably certain no bugs were introduced?
Re^2: Certifications are dumb.
by amarquis (Curate) on Apr 10, 2008 at 12:41 UTC

    It's not really ripe for abuse simply because in the first 90 days very little production gets done. Even if you hire at a discount, you are throwing money away (In addition to your senior guys who have to train disposable employees).