The Armchair Politician

This entry is going into the Politics section, even though it’s not really about politics per se. However, it is very opinionated and possibly inflammatory, so where better to put it?

I had to conduct my first interview today. To be honest, I was completely unprepared. One of my coworkers pulled me aside and asked if I could do an interview–the applicant was interested in a system administration position, and my manager, who normally would do such an interview, was out. Another coworker did the “primer” interview for a few minutes while I drafted out a few relevant questions to gauge the applicant’s interest, knowledge, and past history. I wasn’t impressed.

Keep in mind, this is a Computer Science graduate from Georgia Tech, one of the most recognized and respected schools for Computer Science majors. On asking even simplistic questions, I received no correct answers. One question in particular that I asked was something along the lines of, “If you suspected an intrusion on our webserver, would port 443 being open be of concern to you?” Anyone with even the least bit of networking knowledge would have immediately answered “no”. It is the standard port on which encrypted website sessions take place over (for instance, during credit card transactions). Unfortunately, this is not the answer the candidate gave. Other similar trivial questions were asked, and none were responded to correctly. At this point, I’m thinking to myself: “this guy graduated from Georgia Tech?”

This wasn’t the part that entirely turned me off to the candidate, however. He didn’t have any of the specific skills we were looking for, but even someone with relatively little knowledge can still be brought up to speed extremely quickly if they have a passion for this type of field. What is far more important than static knowledge is an internal curiosity and love for the task. Ambitions, goals, and dedication will take you farther in computers than any degree can, in my opinion. Unfortunately, none of these were present either. The candidate had experience administrating user accounts and doing internal technical support for 50-200 people as an internship with another company, while attending college. There’s nothing wrong with this type of job, especially when you’re working through college. It is, however, about the lowest, most simplistic type of job you’re going to find in the field of system administration. When I asked what job the candidate envisioned himself doing, he said, in more or less words, exactly what he’d been doing before. I clarified my question, asking what he thought his ideal job would be–a position that deeply interested him, and one he aims towards. And I received the exact same answer: administration of user accounts, and office tech support. Talk about aiming for the stars.

Perhaps I’m wrong in judging the candidate this way, but a man with few skills, no ambition, and a flashy degree is of absolutely no use to me, or any other company. Even if that truly is his ideal position, and something he genuinely loves to do, in my opinion it would be foolish for a company to hire someone who is entirely satisfied with their current level of skill and ability, no matter what level it is. A person who feels that way is far less likely to be a hard worker–that drive to get ahead is what makes someone an excellent, valuable employee. A person who has limited ambition is in turn going to accept the status quo, doing what he needs to maintain that position and little more. And that’s what makes this person completely unhirable.

The woman I share my office with has been conducting interviews over the past several months, with choice few candidates being selected. She bemoaned repeatedly how so many of the people she interviewed had no skills, no experience, and no ambition. I sympathized with her, but at some level I assumed she was simply setting the bar too high. I realize that a sample size of one is hardly something to base concrete conclusions off of, but I only now truly understand what she meant.

Assuming that this type of candidate is not an exception, which I have significant anecdotal evidence to support, I can completely understand why companies have chosen to outsorce more and more jobs. Yes, it’s partially to save money and please investors. But just as important a cause may be that American labor simply isn’t worth the high premiums we have to pay any more. If this is the caliber candidate we have as a median, then the American job outlook is indeed bleak.