[PLUG] Local resources for finding Linux/Unix/OS jobs?

Geoff Burling llywrch at agora.rdrop.com
Fri Aug 2 07:24:47 UTC 2002


On Thu, 1 Aug 2002, Preston Crawford wrote:

>
> On 1 Aug 2002, Karl M. Hegbloom wrote:
>
> > I've been told that there are a lot of underqualified people out there
> > (with and without college degrees) who have trouble finding work, and
> > that's why the high tech unemployment rate is so high.  Time to hit
> > the books, folks.
>
> Please tell me you're joking. The problem is capital. Bad investments,
> lots of debt and corporate theft. I didn't cause any of that because I
> lacked my CS degree.
>
In the second half of the 90's, due to the demand for capable people, many
folks were pulled into jobs they were not qualified for. I remember
demanding to speak to a supervisor more than once because of this effect.

With the collapse of the tech sector, & the concurrent recession, people
lost their jobs not from their own mistakes or actions, but due to causes
beyond their control. Capable people are struggling to find work, while
incompetent people are warming chairs & drawing salaries -- all due to
the luck of the draw.

I really wish there was a magic solution that would fix this dislocation,
because I would apply it to my own condition. Blame it on being under-
qualified, on rapacious corporate executives, on the ying & the yang being
out of balance: if there was one clear cause, then I could act
accordingly.

I look in the newspapers & online I can't find jobs. People I talk to
are out of work & looking, too. It takes money to train yourself,
even if it reading books (they have to be obtained) or tinkering with
new hardware (they have to be bought). I could take on debt in pursuit
of these goals, but it's frightening to owe money when there's no money
coming in. I wish I had saved more money when times were flush, but
looking back, I was busy paying bills & paying off debt; I could have
lived like Ebeneezer Scrooge, but there comes a time when I allow myself
to enjoy the money I have earned.

When I look to what I should do next, deciding between my choices is
complicated & confusing. Looking back at what I have done, it seems so
obvious & simple. I always thought life would get simpler the older I
became; the older I get, the more I know this to be wrong, but I still
hope that this may eventually be true.

Geoff





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