Also, Malware changing the way people use ‘Net
Be very afraid
The article, “Malware changing the way people use ‘Net, study says” states: “Nine out of 10 Internet users say the threat posed by spyware and other malware has forced them to change their online habits.” I wonder, was the tenth person was using a Mac?
I recently spent some time on the Web using a PC and was shocked at how many sites tried to (and in some cases succeeded to) highjack my browser, install software and otherwise attempt to do things to my computer that Web sites should not be doing. It made me realize what a sheltered life I have been living on my PowerBook G4. I have been surfing at will without care as to what is lurking behind the links. No wonder PC users are afraid on the Internet. They should be!
Nic Olinsky
Sunnyside, Wash.
Competing for jobs
Linda Musthaler’s column “Get used to competing for jobs” is dead on. It is easier to outsource coding overseas and in many instances it makes sense. What you can’t do is have the overseas contingent that work for another company be your engineering department. The students I have interviewed this year and those whom I have hired are spoiled at best. I have two that are hard working, dive in and learn like sponges and will do whatever it takes to make a project work. I have two others that are more worried about being at their apartments at 5:05 p.m. to see their girlfriends.
The lackluster ones also wanted to make about $10,000 more per year than the other two. Those two said, let me be here for a year. Put me on a plan after six months and if I reach all my goals, then pay me the 10K in a bonus. That type of can-do attitude and earning your way I can deal with. The other attitude is much more difficult.
I really thought I was the only one that was having the issue because no one else every talks about it.
Patrick Case
Dallas
Regarding Linda Musthaler’s column, “Get used to competing for jobs”: In response to a recent Stanford graduate’s statement that he took a consulting job in order to be “inject[ed] into companies at a higher level, Musthaler asks, “Whatever happened to starting at the bottom and working your way up?” Musthaler answers this question herself when she states: “The majority of the jobs haven’t so much disappeared as moved overseas to places such as India, China and Malaysia.”
When you come out of an institution of higher learning, you had better come equipped to jump into a company at a higher level because the lower levels are going overseas. Skills such as IT management and project management skills currently are of greater value in corporate America.
Just because we may have had a career path that started with a particular job level and worked ourselves through the ranks does not mean that is the appropriate path for the young graduate entering the job market today. Today’s graduate must compete for the jobs likely to remain in this country.
Bob O’Connor
Enterprise systems architect
Pennsylvania State University
University Park, Pa.
OK, American programmers are bad, and foreign programmers are good. Large employers treat U.S. programmers poorly and threaten to send jobs overseas, then are surprised when we have a poor outlook and no loyalty.
We may be lots of things, but we’re not stupid. Please give us all a break.
John Russo
North Haven, Conn.
In May I graduated from college with a major in information systems and minor in business. I agree with Linda Musthaler’s point regarding how many students over here in the U.S. just think a job will fall into their hands. Many of my college peers didn’t look for an internship or some part-time job where they could gain experience in their chosen field. Those who even bothered to get a job while in college often ending up going for jobs not related to their major because of the pay or ease in scheduling.
I got my first IT-related internship when I was 16, during one of my summer vacations. The pay wasn’t great, but at least I got some experience. While I was still in high school, I got a part-time job in a major local hospital’s MIS dept, where I had volunteered one summer. I stuck with that job until I was in my junior year in college.
Eventually I had a summer internship involving Web development. Since that was a flexible position, I was able to pick up another internship that summer, which was related to computer hardware. That ended up being a part-time job for me while I was finishing up my senior year in college.
I look back and am grateful for being given the opportunities I have had, which allowed me to gain experience in various areas of IT. Once I was approaching my graduation date and was looking for a full-time job, I did not face as many problems as my peers have.
I agree that finding a job now days is all about competition and no one should expect that they will land their dream job right after graduating from college, especially if they have no real-world experience. There is a difference between being book smart and being able to apply what you have learned in the classroom to real-world tasks. Many colleges don’t emphasize hands-on experience as much as they should. I think this is another reason preventing many recent graduates from finding a job.
Samir Kadoo
Baltimore
