Looking at some posts over on Linkedin, I came across a post by an. older Information Technology person (I guess)complaining the way he was interviewed by someone in HR at a prospective company. This had me angry one second and laughing the next because, well, as someone that has a long career in IT, I’ve been through the same situation multiple times. I’ve come to call it, The Runaround.

There is a time during a career when experience means a great deal, and some of the questions that come from an initial HR interview may, in fact, be helpful in separating the professionals from the wanna-be’s. For me, that’s anywhere from five to fifteen years of experience. And it looks better if you haven’t switched jobs five times in fifteen years as well. because companies (used to) look at hiring talent that is going to be around for a while. Five or more years is not uncommon, based on market conditions of course.

When I started, there were no real qualifications other than experience. To get a position at a major company with very little experience, the interviewer (technical) had to be impressed with something in your background to even be considered. No one even considered certifications as they didn’t exist (that I was aware of, anyway) and so to be able to perform.certain functions was the most important qualification. Later on, the idea of certifications came in and basivcally took over the industry ad=fter a few years.

to me, these are mostly a scam. Why? I knew people back in the day, that didn’t know the difference between a hub (dating myself) and a switch and had never heard of routing before. But they went to boot camps for a week (for, say a Cisco CCNA certification) or two weeks (for a Cisco CCNP) and were able to almost instantly be hired simply because of those certifications. No experience. No background whatsoever other than the (max) two weeks in a boot camp to be able to pass some exams. An d, as far as I know, it continues today.

I don’t know how many positions I look at online that, as part of the requirements, have a list of certifications that the candidate is supposed to have, well, at least some of in order to be considered for the posted position. And the organizations that provide the testing for these (hardware, software, systems, networking, etc.) are making a lot of money because, these certifications usually expire every three years. Yep. It’s all a grift. And the companies looking for qualified hires, mostly continue be victimized. Not just by the cost, but by the unqualified people hired, believing because of these certifications, the best and brightest are being hired.
So, here we are, where we started, as if we had zero experience, unemployed because of two considerations: age and yes, those pesky certifications which real IT engineers don’t really have much time to worry about. Age is because of too much experience of course. Sometimes, the employer believes hiring someone with twnety or more years of experience is gong to bankrupt them. Mostly, it’s people who’ve been downsized due to H1-B applicants, just looking for a job and make a living. So, when our resumes come across the HR rep’s desk, they are mostly passed over, or, if interviewed at all, asked silly questions like, “Where do you see yourself in five years?”. You mean, other than being dead?

Let me get back to you on that one.