From a slashdot posting, amen:"After having my university degrees, a couple of IT certifications, and over ten years of work experience in the industry, with 2-4 years of verifiable employment with each employer, working with a wide range of technologies, is it reasonable to ask me to take some test on a job interview? The same companies don't ask other professionals (lawyer, accountant, sales, HR, etc.) to submit to any kind of in-house tests when they are hired. Why are IT professionals treated differently and in such a paternalistic way? More importantly, why do IT professionals accept being treated less favorably than members of other professions? Should IT professionals start to refuse to be treated as not real professionals?"... read story

Drumroll please...#7: Legacy systems archaeologistWANTED: INDIVIDUALS FAMILIAR WITH 3270, VAX/VMS, COBOL, AS/400, AND OTHER LEGACY SYSTEMS NO ONE ELSE REMEMBERS. MUST BE ABLE TO TYPE ENTIRELY IN CAPITAL LETTERS FOR EXTENDED PERIODS. APPLICANTS MUST MEET MINIMUM AGE REQUIREMENT OF 55.#6:Help desk zombieExcellent entry-level opportunity for multitasking individual with low self-esteem. Ability to read from scripts a plus. Potential to move up to bug scraper, password reset technician, or tape rotation coordinator.#5: On-site reboot specialistSeeking individuals for on-site support of end-users. Must be familiar with three-fingered Ctrl-Alt-Del salute and power cord reconfiguration. Ability to withstand a variety of environments and personality types; concealed-weapons permit a plus. Individuals with anger management issues need not apply.#4: Interdepartmental peace negotiator Looking for self-starter skilled at moderating tech disputes between warring factions within the same company or between company and its client. Must possess experience in ego-stroking, manipulative massage, and hand-to-hand combat.#3: Enterprise espionage engineer (black ops)Seeking slippery individuals comfortable with lying, cheating, stealing, breaking, and entering for penetration testing of enterprise networks. Requirements include familiarity with hacking, malware, and forgery; must be able to plausibly impersonate a pest control specialist or a fire marshal. Please submit rap sheet along with resume.#2: Datacenter migration specialist Position involves relocating and reconfiguring datacenter over impossible distances within a ridiculously short time frame. Prior experience as cable jockey, rack-n-stack grunt, console monkey, and/or log zombie a plus.#1: Sludge systems architectSeeking individuals with demonstrated ability to squeeze over, under, or between confined spaces to solve technical problems. Candidates should be prepared to work long hours for low pay under adverse conditions. Must not be allergic to sawdust, vermin, airborne pathogens, or sewage.http://www.infoworld.com/article/08/03/10/11FE-dirty-tech-jobs_1.html... read story

A longish time ago I was a junior on-site support guy for a large UK firm of tax accountants. They had just installed so Netware servers in a small comms room, and one of the senior tech guys was with me in the room while I was fixing something. I pointed to the servers' UPS on the floor under the desk, and suggested that it was a little risky that the power supply switch on the front was vulnerable to being knocked, resulting in the a loss of power."No it isn't, it's quite hard to turn off" replies senior guy, lightly brushing the switch with his leg...SecurityI was told that as I was so junior I didn't rate having administrator access to the Netware servers (a minor pain when users asked me to reset passwords etc. - everything had to be phoned thru to the senior guys). Then one day I see this paper on the desk in the server room, next to the keyboard. It has a list of server names with ticks next to them, and the word "forest" (which isn't a server) written on it at the bottom...... read story

Read the first part of this MSNBC news article then read the Microsoft Mobile advertisement. DUH!!http://kensaxe.com/images/bad_ad.jpg... read story

http://www.thewebsiteisdown.com/salesguy.html... read story