tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7598050329177872056.post5194612453048727157..comments2008-10-30T10:06:50.750-04:00Linda Wilkinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00169605697016362254noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7598050329177872056.post-9052004017529885602008-10-30T10:06:00.000-04:002008-10-30T10:06:00.000-04:00I think your EMail shows a bit of prejudice towards those with degrees, so I'm going to assume you "forked out big bucks" and "busted your butt" to get a degree. I have no problem with that and it probably gives you and edge in the overall market, but it doesn't give you edge on my team.<BR/><BR/>Everyone's story is different. I think you're assuming that those who chose to work instead of going to college didn't "bust their butts". That wouldn't be true. Furthermore, they were immersed in the "real world" of working a bit faster. I think it can also be true that some who went to college did so on someone else's dime and barely scooted through with a degree. So, just as in the working world, some people worked hard and some people didn't. I don't try to make those judgement calls - there are no degrees here in the US for QA/QC, therefore nothing in terms of academic achievement is particularly useful in helping to determine fitness for the job. <BR/><BR/>What matters here on my team is experience and talent. Someone who "busted their butt" to learn the intracacies of Milton's "Paradise Lost" when they were 19 have no more to offer me than someone who was working for a living at a help desk. In fact, they might have less. <BR/><BR/>There is no animosity on my team between degreed/certified/nada because everyone here knows the only thing that matters is talent and experience. By the way, some of my non-degreed folks actually earn more than degreed personnel. People here earn what they deserve, which is based on their contributions to the team and the company. Overall, you have to be good to make it onto the team. I was asked when I joined this company to "raise the bar" and that's what I did. The bar is now extremely high. In addition, you have to be a Decent Human Being to join our organization; prima donnas and jackasses are surgically, ruthlessly excised from the team ASAP. We don't foster, support, or pay for people to wallow in their own bile or stick pins in their coworkers. The work is difficult enough without putting up with ingrained immaturity and a sense of entitlement. That said, education (who has it, who doesn't) rarely even comes up as a topic of conversation and we're fortunate in that everyone has a mutual respect for each other. Or maybe I should say mutual disrespect, since there is a great deal of humor on the team and no one is safe... <BR/><BR/>As far as how one goes about finding a job with a firm like mine, well, I don't know anyone who came straight out of high school or college determined to find a job in QA/QC. Most fall into it after working in some other IT capacity. My advice, however, for a non-degreed high school graduate, would be to find a company with a large IT presence and get their foot in the door in whatever capacity they could. From there, they would need to work hard, excel, and keep reaching out for additional opportunities. Most QA/QC people end up there because they became involved in some kind of testing activities on a different job and found they had an aptitude for the work, which caused them to be recognized as a good "tester" and move towards specializing in the field.Linda Wilkinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00169605697016362254noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7598050329177872056.post-52653333316818677792008-10-29T18:49:00.000-04:002008-10-29T18:49:00.000-04:00So how does one, fresh out of high school, find a company like yours that would hire them as a QA Tech I or Analyst I or whatever? And do you ever see any animosity, from those who forked out big dollars and busted their butts to get their degree, towards those who didn't and are making the same money for the same job? Just curious...joejoetesthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12266596372953359165noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7598050329177872056.post-4064815634935187372008-10-27T10:59:00.000-04:002008-10-27T10:59:00.000-04:00Actually, it's now soon to be 45; I've got 42 at the moment...and I'd really like to stop at that juncture - my goal in life hasn't been to have the largest QA staff in the country, just the best...<BR/><BR/>Honestly, I have no idea. I never pay any attention to the education portion of a resume; I normally focus on experience. I can tell you that I have people that vary from master's degrees from Ivy League schools to high school degrees only, but I'd have to go back and quiz everyone to get you numbers. And that would scare the non-degreed folks, so I'm not going to do it. Off the top of my head, I'd say one-third to one-half are not degreed. And even in this "more enlightened" age, it is still less common to find women with degrees than men, at least in my region of the U.S. I have a small off-shore team as well(6), and all of them have degrees.Linda Wilkinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00169605697016362254noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7598050329177872056.post-83789402803364605872008-10-26T11:47:00.000-04:002008-10-26T11:47:00.000-04:00Just curious, of the 30 - soon to be 40 - people who work under you, how many do not have degrees?joejoetesthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12266596372953359165noreply@blogger.com