Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips Most job interviews center on one question, “What do you know?” Here’s a suggestion for a new central question, “Can you learn?” I don’t like job interviews. The folks interviewing me are usually quite pleasant. They want to know what I know. The central question is, “What do you know?” That question […]

[Read more →]

by Dwayne Phillips We aren’t as smart as we assume. Sometimes we need to do the simple things first before we move forward. “Can we introduce ourselves before we start?” I asked at a meeting. “No, we know each other here,” said the person presiding. We introduced ourselves first. The person presiding was thrilled to […]

[Read more →]

by Dwayne Phillips A conversation about writing and publishing and the like. A: It sounds like you have a book—in your head, in your ear, maybe even on paper. It also sounds like you would like to one day have a book in your hand and maybe in the hands of others. A: Tell me […]

[Read more →]

by Dwayne Phillips Employers give little clues that they won’t hire you because you are told old. Here are a couple of age discrimination clues I have heard: This job is really deep and difficult to learn. It will take smart person at least a year to learn all you need to know before you […]

[Read more →]

by Dwayne Phillips Is it a data leak or an information share? Perhaps it is both; perhaps it is for the greater good. An old question has been asked again several times recently. Several decades ago I read of the non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) that the chip makers in Silicon Valley had. Employees signed legal documents […]

[Read more →]

by Dwayne Phillips “Everyone” wants flexibility in their job (work from home when I want). How many of us want “meaning” in our job? “I can do this job from anywhere at almost anytime of day or night.” That statement is immediately followed by the question, “So why do you want me here from 9 […]

[Read more →]

by Dwayne Phillips Though we hate to admit it, the goal of us who work in computing is to produce a TPS report. The “TPS Report” is the butt of all office jokes. It is meaningless paperwork that serves no purpose. For a full explanation, see the Wikipedia page on it. Those of us who […]

[Read more →]

by Dwayne Phillips A part of the Great Resignation and Great Embarrassment is the Great Transition. We are in this period of time now. We think we know the end state, but things sure are chaotic now with many unforeseen and unwanted events. We had the Great Resignation. That is still in progress. The pandemic […]

[Read more →]

by Dwayne Phillips Caution to the unemployed: beware of “just do this test” before we interview you. There are plenty of fake jobs out there that use one con or another to obtain free work. This recent article is about fake jobs. Con artists on the Internet are tricking people into believing they have been […]

[Read more →]

by Dwayne Phillips That job is a “meat grinder.” It has chewed up several people. Stay away. Or do we simply need to reframe the situation? While writing this, I have spent much of the past week(s) looking at the help wanted ads and talking to several companies about their job openings. Several of the […]

[Read more →]