Re: Hmm
'...Not sure where these graduates are getting their degrees, then? CS graduates from any decent uni should know all this stuff.'
Hah, a recent example, I know of one CS graduate I wouldn't let near a Ti Speak&Spell, let alone any sort of programmable computer. You hit the nail on the head with 'decent uni', want to know where these muppets are getting their degrees?.
Her degrees (yes, plural) were rubber-stamped by a Poly-turned-Uni as part of their 'outreach' program (i.e. the local 'college of Hairdressing' offers a CS degree course, they accredit it and dish out the papers..).
The particular example I'm talking about here, wouldn't know a B-tree algorithm if it jumped up and bit her (and, if I may say so, it would have to be a rather daring and brave algorithm to try such a feat), let alone have the programming nous to implement it.
In case anyone thinks I'm being slightly misogynistic, I've had the pleasure of working with many talented female IT professionals over the decades, and it fscking annoys me that this one will be used as an example as to why women are 'useless at IT' wherever she goes, and possibly prejudice the employers against hiring another woman in the future. (I'm using 'IT' to mean 'anything computer related', sloppy, I know...)
On the bright side, however, she *will* 'poison the well' as far as anyone who is foolish enough to employ her is concerned apropos employing anyone in the future with Degrees from either the 'hairdressers' and 'rubber-stampers' institutions, once bitten and all that. The sad thing here is that there *are* some people coming through this system who *are* capable, and they'll be overlooked thanks to the actions of idiots like her. Maybe eventually the 'awarding bodies' will get the message about handing out 'bits of paper' like party favours and implement some sort of quality control, it may look good on some of the figures to have lots of graduates, but it has already been noted by the bean-counters that very few of them are getting jobs in their chosen fields, and the knives are being sharpened (or so I've heard..)
Like I said at the start, this is a (very) recent example. Having been in this game for a couple of decades I can think of other people I've come across over the years who, despite having the requisite paper qualifications, in a couple of cases awarded by Universities in the top 10 world listings, I've found to be almost totally useless (Cue: stories about the Camford idiot who trashed two years worth of someone else's research data and other similar jolly reminiscences...), it doesn't really matter who issued the degree, there are some/a lot of people out there with paper qualifications who are, putting it bluntly, totally fucking useless, and this isn't just true of people with Degrees, it's applicable across the board regarding all paper 'award' systems.
(P.S. The person I'm taking about as the 'recent example' has yet to be employed in any computer/IT related work since gaining their last degree in 2010, the Universe is safe...for the moment)