But as is stated in today's NY Times by one of the commentators who frequently tries to opine on the technology space, all too often in my opinion with little understanding, Google tries to hire people with certain skills. He states:
...the first thing Google looks for “is general cognitive ability — the ability to learn things and solve problems,” he said. In that vein, “a knowledge set that will be invaluable is the ability to understand and apply information — so, basic computer science skills. I’m not saying you have to be some terrific coder, but to just understand how [these] things work you have to be able to think in a formal and logical and structured way.” But that kind of thinking doesn’t have to come from a computer science degree. “I took statistics at business school, and it was transformative for my career.
Analytical training gives you a skill set that differentiates you from most people in the labor market.”
A
lot of work, he added, is no longer tied to location. “So if you want
your job tied to where you are, you need to be: A) quite good at it; and
B) you need to be very adaptable so that you have a baseline skill set
that allows you to be a call center operator today and tomorrow be able
to interpret MRI scans. To have built the skill set that allows you to
do both things requires a baseline capability that’s analytical.”
The overall discussion is how to get a job at Google. Perhaps it should have been how to get a job period. Now just what the second paragraph above intends to say is too complex for me. Just what does he mean being tied to a location. Back in the 60s we moved every other year, from Boston to New Jersey to Boston, to DC, to Chicago, to Atlanta. Frankly I wonder if this is what he is saying. Then the ability to be a call center operator and a Radiologist is a non sequitur of the highest level. I guess it is just what one would expect from HR and a reporter.
Having just returned from a week trip with grandson number 2 to five colleges in anticipation of his next step, the key issue is what is he doing to get a job? He may still be a High School Freshman but now is the time to start that discussion. He may want at this stage to be a Civil Engineer, a noble calling, but then at his age I wanted to be a jet pilot, not knowing that at 6'3" I most likely would lose my head if ever ejected. But the earlier one starts the better is the process. He will not get a job as an anthropologist, there are very few of them, unless you are self funded by a large trust fund. Yet there is a continual demand for Civil Engineers, and Chem Es as well.
Thus prior planning does indeed prevent poor performance. It is not just analytical thinking but doing so in a long term perspective, looking forward to have skills which are portable, marketable, and sellable. An electrician always has a better chance that an anthropologist.
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