fractaltiger's Journal: Rehash: Job networking issues

I'm reposting my recent reply to valuable advice to a Journal entry by Lumpish Scholar where I'm nicely told about getting off my digital-philiac butt and strengthening networking efforts instead of job site dependency :) . In mine I replied about my difficulties, which I admit are not that reasonable and indicate I need a bigger effort. I'm working on it!

On another topic, I still owe you guys a brand new JE about being an Old Version Jerk / Luddite, and a better explanation of our cultural problems with nerddom --but I probably won't post that now that I have reposted the JE and finished reading this article on Nerds vs. Popularity from Fortnox's journal and the ensuing thread replying to it. Also, I have a bunch of JE stuff on hold but am currently delaying my Borland Tutorial as well. I'm editing the heck out of this intro.

I'm reparenting the thing as a JE before it leaves the 24-recent-comments spotlight, disappearing into obscurity:

(Around Monday January 05 2004)
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I hear you. I have a difficult time with the network factor because Computer Science is not very compatible with my family's culture (I'll explain) and also the friends that I have are not very computer savvy. Even in my own career few actually had any clear career idea when the degree came. Those will go on to get a Masters in CS and then a job, or they want to get certified to repair computers in some mom-and-pops multiservice store, rather than do programming or even helpdesk (this is my bias) and get company benefits. I am not a guru either. I was trained at two different schools and none of my slashdot- level savvy friends is in my personal network anymore -Hmm, I do know one living about 30 miles away. It's been 3 months, since the last email, but thanks for the brainstorming session! I got (net)work to do ;)

The overdue explanation about the comment's start:

The issue with my family is that they are eager to get me a job by default, so much that they will advertise me without knowing what I can do and what is beyond my markettable training. This is a side effect of our immigration from outside the US, where "Informatics" (IT per se) is a nascent college major and "Computer Science" never was. So people don't know what my degree entitles me to. They have seen me fix software and troubleshoot hardware more than they have seen me code, and for the most part our culture does not even have a word for "geek" or "nerd" -only the expression "socially inept" which doesn't hold their english language semantic value of *knowledge* or *computer-ness* at all.

I'll reread this since it seems like I'm rambling. What I mean is that I've had to work pretty hard to let my relatives know that programming requires no solder iron and implies debugging, loss of social life, and very specific employment guidelines - even relaxed job dress codes, for God sakes! I feel a bit at a loss when a relative or friend wants a resume for me to fix 2 private business computers (I'm not an A+ technician yet!) and then do (sub-CS salaried) office work when I want to do phone troubleshooting or design LANs or databases and graphics.

Sorry, in spite of all the talking, I have a few friends who can help me network, just as I try to help them when I find their stuff. I just wish I could say "i'm a doctor, or lawyer or excercise trainer" instead of the First-world-centric "programmer / information scientist" slant that they have a bit of trouble explaining to prospective employers, thereby hurting my chances of success by making it harder to market my qualifications when I can't help 'em. Thanks for listening. I think I'll archive this in a JE.

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