Re: Microsoft says it is hard to recruit coders in China

Saw a good thing on TV about this last year.

Most new grads it seems are more concerned with "A big company", foreign
is better.  And "What the job title was".

The recruiters put it bluntly.  "Get a clue".  Work out what you want in
any industry, what are your goals, what drives you and why?

One chap from Bei Da was asked about his new grad job and he gleefully
responded "Executive Marketing Manager".  Hah!

This is true of most countries I feel.  Grads really don't know just how
much they don't know.  The other bigger issue is those grads that have
not even thought as to what their own motivations are.

The recruiters advice may sound simple but it was.  Find what you like,
understand why you like and chart a course to have a happy time with
it.  Forget about the silly preoccupation with job titles and the
misplaced sentiment for foreign companies.

As a somewhat independent person I do have some trouble empathising with
this mind set as I have always charted my own course and seldom followed
the flock.  Not to sound like a non-conformist, I just try to be
original where I can be.  I'll slip in a reference to a most excellent
movie on this whole topic (Fight Club).  ;-)

I feel that this is the thrust of what Simon was getting at; allowing
individual creativity to flourish?

RF.





On Thu, 2004-04-01 at 16:32, Graham Brown wrote:
> Hi Simon,
> 
> They have had to resort to this since we closed the list to crass 
> commercial announcements seeking programmers and similar technical stuff :-).
> 
> I have also had to think laterally to get programming for my project. ;-)
> 
> I do not see this as a bad thing - there is a very real gap between the 
> expectations of new graduates and what the market is offering.  It would 
> help if what business is actually seeking was made clear well before 
> graduation.
> 
> Their experience mirrors ours in recruiting talent (although the fields are 
> totally different).  There are a lot of false expectations out there.
> 
> China has the particular problem that it is changing so quickly that salary 
> and other expectations that were valid at the commencement of an 
> undergraduate degree are likely to be outdated by graduation day.
> 
> 
> At 07:38 AM 1/04/2004 +0800, you wrote:
> 
> >Well this is scary.  Microsoft threatening to deliver lectures at Chinese
> >universities to "tell what kind of talents they want and how the students
> >should improve".
> >
> >Pull-quote: "What we need most are engineers with abilities to transfer the
> >demands of consumers into the functions of our products, not single-minded
> >program writers," said Zhang.
> >
> >This is hypocritical and self-serving, and is exactly what will stifle
> >innovation (which is MS's whole argument against Free Open Source Software).
> >
> >Just my shi kuai.
> >
> >/src
> >
> >---
> >
> >Microsoft says it is hard to recruit 100 software engineers in China
> >
> >Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, March 31, 2004
> >People's Daily Online
> >
> >Microsoft has found it difficult to satisfy its goal of recruiting 100
> >software engineers in China, sources with the Microsoft Research Asia
> >Advanced Technology Center (ATC) said.
> >
> >To satisfy the demand of its ongoing ten programs, the ATC hoped that it
> >could recruit about 100 software managers, architects and testers before
> >this July. It has received more than 120,000 resumes, mainly from college
> >students, after it released the advertisements through the media.
> >
> >After strict selections, the ATC only found 70 people who met the post's
> >requirements, said Shang Xiaoli, public relations manager of ATC. She said
> >that because there were too many candidates, only about 3,000 got the chance
> >to take part in the preliminary exam, followed by a series of professional
> >interviews.
> >
> >The outcome of the selection shows that most candidates are good at coding,
> >but only a few of them have the abilities to transfer research innovations
> >into products or incubate new innovative products, which are indispensable
> >skills of software managers or architects, said Dr. Zhang Hongjiang,
> >president of the ATC.
> >
> >"It is hard to find a qualified manager from those candidates. By now, all
> >software managers in ATC are ones who once worked for Microsoft or from
> >other Microsoft departments," said Zhang.
> >
> >He said the outcome, which has seriously delayed the ongoing research
> >programs, shows that there are some erroneous ideas on the software industry
> >in students' minds.
> >
> >"What we need most are engineers with abilities to transfer the demands of
> >consumers into the functions of our products, not single-minded program
> >writers," said Zhang.
> >
> >Zhang and his colleagues have planned to give lectures at more than ten
> >universities, aiming to tell what kind of talents they want and how the
> >students should improve.
> >
> >As one of the most well-known transnational companies, Microsoft attracts
> >thousands of college graduates every year, who go after several hundred
> >posts in its Chinese departments. The ATC, founded in Beijing in November
> >2003, is a new division of Microsoft Research Asia that will focus on
> >further development of innovations produced in the labs.
> >
> >Ends.
> >
> >_______________________________________________
> >blug-general list
> >[email protected]
> >http://list.beijinglug.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/blug-general
> 
> 
> 
> Regards,
> 
> Graham Brown
> 
> _______________________________________________
> blug-general list
> [email protected]
> http://list.beijinglug.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/blug-general

_______________________________________________
blug-general list
[email protected]
http://list.beijinglug.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/blug-general