| >Lack of technical expertise is a problem sometimes, but it >can be nurtured. Lack of personal skills is a huge problem >in an office environment, and is much, much harder to >nurture. But neither of these are regrettable in-and-of >themselves. That's actually a cool attitude. When looking the first time for a full time job 7 years ago I was astonished how static employers seemed to perceive skill - at least in Germany. I had various conversations with headhunters/recruiters and oftentimes it went like this: "Do you know [insert simple technology X]?" - "No, but I can learn it quickly as I have experience with [similar technology Y]" - "Ok, but I asked for X". I found that really frustrating. Also in most jobs I worked in between I had to learn everything on my own initiative - no matter if that was tech or people skills. There were countless occasions when people, especially ones in manager(-like) positions would discourage me from spending time learning certain skills. I'm happy that I didn't follow so much on that. Anyways, on my recent job hunt I was very surprised to find companies that actually have programs to develop their tech employees on a wide range of skills. Luckily I'm now working at a place that at least has interest in developing their people. |