Science!!!

jammer06 said:
Just something to consider

The STEM Crisis Is a Myth - IEEE Spectrum
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I'm a software engineer by trade and I'm calling bull**** on this, at least in regards to software development positions. I get, on average, 3-5 job opportunities hitting my inbox every single week. They come from all over the country. (even got a few from London) Market salaries have jumped significantly the last few years. I can expect to make about 20% more in a new position than I would have been able to get two years ago. In fact, my bosses had to give me a 16% raise last year to keep me from leaving for something else, and I could still make more money if I left this job for something else. (I love my company though, so I choose to make less in exchange for working in a really pleasant environment with awesome peers.)

Companies are desperate to find people who do what I do. I could walk away from my job today and have a new job as fast as the hiring process would allow for.

Full disclosure: I've been doing this for 15 years, and I always try to stay one or two steps ahead of my peers regarding what skills will be in demand over the next several years. My current specialty (front end web app engineering) is in very high demand right now. However, only 1/4 to 1/3 of the job opportunities I receive are specific to this specialty. The rest are for general web development positions.
 
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RoyalSubject said:
I'm a software engineer by trade and I'm calling bull**** on this, at least in regards to software development positions. I get, on average, 3-5 job opportunities hitting my inbox every single week. They come from all over the country. (even got a few from London) Market salaries have jumped significantly the last few years. I can expect to make about 20% more in a new position than I would have been able to get two years ago. In fact, my bosses had to give me a 16% raise last year to keep me from leaving for something else, and I could still make more money if I left this job for something else. (I love my company though, so I choose to make less in exchange for working in a really pleasant environment with awesome peers.)

Companies are desperate to find people who do what I do. I could walk away from my job today and have a new job as fast as the hiring process would allow for.

Full disclosure: I've been doing this for 15 years, and I always try to stay one or two steps ahead of my peers regarding what skills will be in demand over the next several years. My current specialty (front end web app engineering) is in very high demand right now. However, only 1/4 to 1/3 of the job opportunities I receive are specific to this specialty. The rest are for general web development positions.
Click to expand...

In general STEM jobs requiring candidates are the same as any job requiring candidates. They need actually qualified people. You are one of them. The problem comes mostly from certified or what have you people who aren't qualified and businesses that don't recognize training time when they have positions nobody is qualified for. They usually just end up churning through candidates.

In general I do think STEM educations with more liberal arts exposure are good for training a workforce as opposed to straight liberal arts developed critical thinking, but this idea of entitlement "i got my degree where's my job?" goes back to what more and more older professors complain about with the younger generation. People go through the motions and expect the plate to be handed to them, they don't actually pursue things of interest. You mentioned that you actively stay ahead of the curve, part of that is self interest in staying ahead, part of it is the developments are interesting. Nowhere in there do you take the stance "if my company wants me to learn that they should send me to a class".

The worst part of it is comparatively while other countries students are usually strictly rote learners who have a hard time adapting to research learning at least they have instilled discipline to master a subject. Our current educational models don't even try to do that anymore leading to work ethic issues.
 
Don't remember if this was posted.

Scientists make ?impossible material? ? by accident

Researchers in Uppsala, Sweden accidentally left a reaction running over the weekend and ended up resolving a century-old chemistry problem. Their work has led to the development of a new material, dubbed Upsalite, with remarkable water-binding properties. Upsalite promises to find applications in everything from humidity control at home to chemical manufacturing in industry.
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jammer06 said:
In general STEM jobs requiring candidates are the same as any job requiring candidates. They need actually qualified people. You are one of them. The problem comes mostly from certified or what have you people who aren't qualified and businesses that don't recognize training time when they have positions nobody is qualified for. They usually just end up churning through candidates.

In general I do think STEM educations with more liberal arts exposure are good for training a workforce as opposed to straight liberal arts developed critical thinking, but this idea of entitlement "i got my degree where's my job?" goes back to what more and more older professors complain about with the younger generation. People go through the motions and expect the plate to be handed to them, they don't actually pursue things of interest. You mentioned that you actively stay ahead of the curve, part of that is self interest in staying ahead, part of it is the developments are interesting. Nowhere in there do you take the stance "if my company wants me to learn that they should send me to a class".

The worst part of it is comparatively while other countries students are usually strictly rote learners who have a hard time adapting to research learning at least they have instilled discipline to master a subject. Our current educational models don't even try to do that anymore leading to work ethic issues.
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I agree, especially the part about "I got my degree. Where's my job?" I have no degree. My knowledge comes from working my ass off to learn everything I can to be employable. I've jokingly had the education portion of my Facebook profile set to University of Barnes and Noble for my undergrad, and University of Google for my masters. At the end of the day, a degree doesn't mean **** to me. Can you write good code? Cool. Here's an offer letter.

Your comment also brings up an interesting tangent regarding interesting developments and ethics. Google has contacted me twice now and I've turned them down both times. While they're doing interesting work, I'm vehemently opposed to their mission to organize the world's data. While I know it's going to happen with or without me, I want no part in the creation of tools and algorithms which could aid a surveillance state. I wish more STEM workers would take a step back and consider the ethical implications of working on certain "interesting" things.
 
NASA Should be Banned!

85f0c0f2-76af-4e47-bc41-2eeae33f2520_rexfeatures_3024478a.jpg

"I (was) KING of the WORLD!"

Yahoo News UK & Ireland - Latest World News & UK News Headlines
 
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