Newbies often make the mistake of thinking that the speed with which they complete a task is directly related to their level of skill. They try to prove how smart they are by doing tasks as fast as they possibly can, cutting any corner they can get away with to impress you with their speed. It sometimes takes quite a bit of gentle guidance to make someone understand that quality, organisation, and attention to detail are very important attributes..
-Cameron On 10/5/05, Ray Champagne <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > So we just hired this new "kid" - he's really really green, but we need > a lackeyboy to get some of the mundane html stuff done that is backing > up so that the developers can concentrate on applications that we have > here. Anyways, he's done a little bit of php programming, etc while > keeping up some servers for his friends. He's big into the open-source > thing, which is cool, but he's never held a "real" job in the IT field > whatsoever. In fact, I'd be surprised if he's ever held a job anywhere > - period. He just turned 21, BTW. > > We hired him on a hunch that he might be good for us to mold and > eventually, once he gets the hang of how professional web sites are > created and maintained, we'd let him try out some CF stuff. I gave him > my old FastTrack to CF book from MM, he went over to his desk for about > 30 minutes, then came over to me and claimed that "he knew CF and could > take any projects immediately. CF was like PHP for preschoolers" exact > words. Ugh. > > BTW, the first project I gave him was to "go through some of the html > code that we've generated here, just to get an ideas of the standards we > have". That took him all of 5 minutes, then he stands up and says that > "he's got it, he programs EXACTLY like I do, and that made him happy". > I was apprehensive, but decided to give him a site, already cut up by > our designer, to code strictly in html. After 20 minutes, he hands it > back to me. It was finished, but what a disaster the code was. No alt > tags, no heights and widths, height attributes in percentages, heights > in tr tags, had no idea what css was, much less how to use it, etc. > just a mess. I ran in through the W3C validator and it failed > miserably. I then pulled out the page that I had coded - the same site > - and ran mine through. Guess who's was better? So, I sent him back to > the drawing board with that, along with a list of standard programming > practices for html sites. His excuse to me was that the GD had cut the > site up wrong and that messed him up. "Would I like to have him get his > GD buddy to cut up the site correctly?" - UGH! Are you frickin' kidding > me? Did you realize it is just your 3RD DAY? > > Why can't people lay low? Would you jump into your first job and start > rocking the boat like this, especially if you are that green? I really > really dislike this kid already, and it is his third day! And I'm > supposed to be his mentor, since I started here in the same position > that he did, and the boss thought it would be good for me to teach > someone. Yea, right. > > If you've actually kept reading this, thank for letting me vent! I was > going to snap after the preschooler comment, and I needed an outlet. > Second, if you've ever been in this situation before, do you have any > advice? Jokes are fun and fine to hear, but I'd like some real advice > if anyone has some, cause this guy is gonna drive me crazy. He's so > excited to work here - he said it was his "dream job" to work in web > development - that I don't really want to have him fired, I'd just like > to figure out a way to direct his excitement to better the company, not > have him pissing everyone off around here. > > Oh yea, he's really loud too. I think that's it. no wait, he smells, > too. Nah, just kidding. :) > > Ray > -- > ================================================================= > Ray Champagne - Senior Application Developer > CrystalVision Web Site Design and Internet Services > 603.433.9559 > www.crystalvision.org > ================================================================= > > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Discover CFTicket - The leading ColdFusion Help Desk and Trouble Ticket application http://www.houseoffusion.com/banners/view.cfm?bannerid=48 Message: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=i:5:176016 Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/threads.cfm/5 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=s:5 Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=11502.10531.5 Donations & Support: http://www.houseoffusion.com/tiny.cfm/54
