# Any of you not qualified for your present position? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 9, 2012, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-of-you-not-qualified-for-your-present-position/624574 "2012-06-09T01:38:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![goldmund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a4c791/32.png) [@goldmund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/goldmund)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2012, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-of-you-not-qualified-for-your-present-position/624574/21 "2012-06-14T00:46:53Z")
I’m a Systems Engineer, formerly a Systems Administrator. I’ve been doing IT for nearly 17 years, and I have no degree, no certifications, and no formal training. I find it’s fairly common in this field, really. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2012, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-of-you-not-qualified-for-your-present-position/624574/22 "2012-06-14T01:02:53Z")
I’m not. I’m not qualified on paper (they “only hire” RNs with at least two years of clinical experience, except for all of us who they hired as new grads). Worse, I’m not qualified in reality. I’m too new, and got zero training before they sent me out alone. I’m terrified every single day that something too complicated for me is going to pop up and I’m going to have no clue how to handle it. Worse, because I work in home health care, I don’t have coworkers, really. That is, I can’t run over to the more experienced RN on the floor and ask her opinion on this breath sound, or how to program that pump. The best I can do is call my supervisor, who is an experienced RN, but is also often an hour’s car ride away and has her own caseload of patients to see. So far, I’ve been very, very careful not to take any patients who aren’t stable. I’ve also been very, very lucky. And I’m looking for a job where I can safely practice under the eye of a more experienced RN. I literally lose sleep over this every night, but my kids insist on eating, and I have no other way to put food on the table… ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2012, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-of-you-not-qualified-for-your-present-position/624574/23 "2012-06-14T07:43:45Z")
> [@Sicks\_Ate](#): > > This is pretty encouraging, since I got discouraged looking and finding jobs I thought I could do, but wasn’t ‘qualified’ for on paper. > > Maybe I’ll bang out some resumes this weekend. I’m not qualified for my job. Certified, that is. There’s a running joke in the sector that the ones with the certs tend to be the ones who produce the worst results: they do things by a book which is very, very badly written. Diplomas are a shorthand way to say “this person has XYZ knowledge”, but the real qualification is the knowledge. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2012, 9:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-of-you-not-qualified-for-your-present-position/624574/24 "2012-06-14T09:29:20Z")
Not directly related to the discussion, but I remember, from way back in 1996, a job ad for a programmer. It required at least three years experience using Java. Java wasn’t released in any form before 1995 :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2012, 10:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-of-you-not-qualified-for-your-present-position/624574/25 "2012-06-14T10:04:46Z")
> [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](#): > > Not directly related to the discussion, but I remember, from way back in 1996, a job ad for a programmer. It required at least three years experience using Java. Likewise, the “word on the street”, back in the day that the IBM PC was first unveiled upon the world, was that companies immediately began advertising for programmers with 5 years experience programming the IBM PC. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2012, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-of-you-not-qualified-for-your-present-position/624574/26 "2012-06-14T11:55:50Z")
Strictly speaking, I’m not qualified for my current job as NCOIC (the sergeant who runs everything) in my office. What it basically comes down to is that for whatever reason, there is a rank gap in my career field that seems to cut off right around the point where folks finish their first enlistment and have an opportunity to get out of the military or apply for another job speciality, and so I am the next-best-thing to someone of the rank and experience to fill a chair that needs filling. The joys of serving in the Armed Forces. It’s an Adventure! An Adventure that comes with free dental and a strict dress code. Anyhow, I _am_ getting trained (some might call it a “Crash Course”) in my job responsibilities, which includes getting trained in other sections that I don’t technically work in, because my career specialty can also be slotted into those positions. So by next month, I will be marginally qualified for my own job, and qualified for someone else’s too . ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2012, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-of-you-not-qualified-for-your-present-position/624574/27 "2012-06-14T11:58:44Z")
> [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](#): > > Not directly related to the discussion, but I remember, from way back in 1996, a job ad for a programmer. It required at least three years experience using Java. > > Java wasn’t released in any form before 1995 > > :smack: Maybe they wanted someone who could do coffee runs? ---
**Author:** ![Kyrie\_Eleison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kyrie_eleison/32/7682_2.png) [@Kyrie\_Eleison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyrie_Eleison)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2012, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-of-you-not-qualified-for-your-present-position/624574/28 "2012-06-14T15:24:56Z")
> [@BlinkingDuck](#): > > I’ve seen this before. I have even heard people exclaim during the hiring process that they wouldn’t have qualified for the position they were first hired into if they were interviewing today…but this is the first where one wouldn’t even qualify for the position in which one will be the boss of that position. You don’t realize that this is common? If it weren’t, any organization which had a position that required a PhD would have to be run by a CEO with a PhD. In fact, the CEO would have to meet every requirement for every position in the company. He’d have to be a PhD in engineering with 4 years experience in HR, have worked in custodial services for 3 years, be certified in ISO 9000 training, have 4 years experience in corporate event planning, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2012, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-of-you-not-qualified-for-your-present-position/624574/29 "2012-06-14T15:45:41Z")
> [@Raguleader](#): > > The joys of serving in the Armed Forces. It’s an Adventure! An Adventure that comes with free dental and a strict dress code. > > Anyhow, I _am_ getting trained (some might call it a “Crash Course”) in my job responsibilities, which includes getting trained in other sections that I don’t technically work in, because my career specialty can also be slotted into those positions. So by next month, I will be marginally qualified for my own job, and qualified for someone else’s too . I’ve read that there are high-level courses for Admirals and Generals who have advanced to the stage in their career where they are put in command of joint-service forces. Somebody like Eisenhower or Nimitz can end up in a position where they’re commanding thousands of professionals in a service they’ve never been in. So they take courses that are essentially “Remedial Army” or “Navy 101” or “Air Force for Beginners”. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2012, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-of-you-not-qualified-for-your-present-position/624574/30 "2012-06-14T16:07:38Z")
Oh no, not even remotely. My job is one normally done by those with a law degree who don’t like the partnership atmosphere. Me - studied programming part time for a while, never quite finished a bahcelor’s degree. So, except for those 24 years’ experience and the incredibly successful past performance, I don’t qualify in the least. LOL! ---
**Author:** ![Rich\_G7subs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85e7bf/32.png) [@Rich\_G7subs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rich_G7subs)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2012, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-of-you-not-qualified-for-your-present-position/624574/31 "2012-06-14T16:27:00Z")
> [@hotflungwok](#): > > I’m not. Apparently, my job calls for someone who: > > - Enjoys working while people have loud conversations behind him all day long, and is told they have to listen to all the conversations in case there’s something that concerns him > - Can stand there and get berated for things they didn’t do because they had no way of knowing about them, have not been given any time to do them, or have actively been prevented from doing them > - Likes having what he’s working on to further his career taken by his manager so they can work on it > - has no problem working with a group that’s always at the bottom of the shit slope > - wants to give up their free time whenever management decides something is an emergency at the last minute, even if said free time occurs during time off scheduled months ago > - Doesn’t mind having his 2 sided tempered glass desk with adjustable keyboard tray and drawers taken from him so he can work on an 8’ plastic walmart folding table with 3 others You don’t have a red stapler, do you? ---
**Author:** ![hotflungwok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/edb3f5/32.png) [@hotflungwok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hotflungwok)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2012, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-of-you-not-qualified-for-your-present-position/624574/32 "2012-06-14T17:05:47Z")
> [@Rich\_G7subs](#): > > You don’t have a red stapler, do you? Hell no. Our new ‘desks’ aren’t big enough to hold something that takes up that much space. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2012, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-of-you-not-qualified-for-your-present-position/624574/33 "2012-06-14T17:17:08Z")
I’m just barely qualified to be retired. I don’t have hobbies, I avoid “adult education” classes, I don’t live in Arizona or Florida or some other excruciating shithole, I detest golf and I don’t wear white sneakers. On the other hand, the pay matches my resume. ---
**Author:** ![BlinkingDuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eada6e/32.png) [@BlinkingDuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlinkingDuck)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2012, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-of-you-not-qualified-for-your-present-position/624574/34 "2012-06-14T17:42:03Z")
Update. HR has questioned the Ad saying that the budget allocation would not allow for a reasonable hire of a person with those qualifications. They have questioned the need for these new qualifications as they have never been part of the position before. 🙂 I know HR departments get a bum rap…but ours really does do some things well. Not touching this one. My boss can answer this. ---
**Author:** ![Agent\_Foxtrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc29f/32.png) [@Agent\_Foxtrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agent_Foxtrot)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2012, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-of-you-not-qualified-for-your-present-position/624574/35 "2012-06-14T18:59:57Z")
I write large and complex architecture and construction contracts for a large metropolitan hospital. I also manage the purchase orders required to pay for the work as a result of said contracts. I don’t have a law or finance degree, much less a bachelor’s, but I feel like I should have at least the latter. Am I underqualified? No. Do they entrust me with a large amount of responsibility usually reserved for a mid-to-upper-level manager? You bet. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2012, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-of-you-not-qualified-for-your-present-position/624574/36 "2012-06-14T19:25:50Z")
I am currently seated. I am very qualified for this position. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2012, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-of-you-not-qualified-for-your-present-position/624574/37 "2012-06-14T19:56:23Z")
> [@BlinkingDuck](#): > > Update. > > HR has questioned the Ad saying that the budget allocation would not allow for a reasonable hire of a person with those qualifications. They have questioned the need for these new qualifications as they have never been part of the position before. > > 🙂 > > I know HR departments get a bum rap…but ours really does do some things well. > > Not touching this one. My boss can answer this. If you work it right your entire department could be getting raises!! ---
**Author:** ![BlinkingDuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eada6e/32.png) [@BlinkingDuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlinkingDuck)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2012, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-of-you-not-qualified-for-your-present-position/624574/38 "2012-06-14T20:41:06Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > If you work it right your entire department could be getting raises!! Ahh, no. In my OP I was subtley pointing out that meh boss was being unreasonable with the salary allocated and her increase in qualifications. No raises..but HR will force the elimination of my bosses inflation in requirements…I know my company 🙂 As an aside, the company I work for is known for being tough on their employees work-wise and expectations. However, they also pay above ‘standard’ wages. They have stated many times that they want to be a ‘destination’ company for people to work at and ‘want to come here during the prime of their careers’. To their credit, they do walk the talk…except for internal promotions which is something I ranted on here before. ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2012, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-of-you-not-qualified-for-your-present-position/624574/39 "2012-06-14T22:14:09Z")
> [@Rich\_G7subs](#): > > You don’t have a red stapler, do you? I’m going to have to ask you to move your stuff downstairs. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-of-you-not-qualified-for-your-present-position/624574.md?page=1)