Quote:Original post by Xai
3 out of 4 interviees are really completely useless

Unfortunately this is true... and even a bit optimistic.. I find it 7 out of 10 are useless and of the remaining 2 can't handle the pressure and end up quiting after a few months...

which is why I will always recruit anyone who has the skills for it... hunt them down and chain them to their desk!!!! Now you work for ME!! MWAHA HAAH HAA!

sorry... creepy moment there.

If you haven't already have a look here: Sumea. Its mostly australian based but it does list NZ companies and I've seen a few NZ job postings on there too occasionally.

Personally I spent about 6 months trying to find a job straight out of uni. Basically you just spam your demo/resume to everyone you've ever met and alot of people you haven't. Then you work on your demo some more and polish the thing while you wait. Nothing much else todo. I honestly don't think gender will be an issue though, and if it is you can worry about it if it ever happens. But sumea is your friend - I got hired off it! :P

Thanks all, for all your opinions and suggestions etc etc... I think I probably will go and do that BCMS, it sounds like it could definately work... Haha, I've got an appointment with the Waikato Uni recruitment officer next Thursday. I'm actually mostly hoping for a reccomendation, rather than to "discuss my options", since I went and missed the cutoff date for app. to Halls of Residence through indecision xD (well, the cutoff date is 1 Oct, which is tomorrow, but since it needs the school principal to fill out this reccomendation form thingy... and it's school hols... yep, I missed it >.< ).

Quote:Original post by Agony
It has been my experience that employers frequently overstate their desires. If you feel like you're a bit underqualified based on the job description, but only by a couple years experience, or if you're only reasonably familiar with some, not all, of the various technologies, apply anyway. Chances are, they're not going to get any applicant that fulfills all of their "expectations". Any hypothetical programmer who did fulfill all those expectations is probably going to be applying for jobs that pay somewhat better than this one, have better benefits (tangible or otherwise), and so forth.

Saw a position at some company, requiring the applicant to have "at least three shipped titles". God, they don't want much!! They might have to accept someone with *gasp* only TWO shipped titles... xD

Heard something about some Wingnut Interactive, new NZ game company... hoorah. I loved the LotR films ^_^ now that would be a neat company to be a part of... *starts plotting to be the most amazing computer scientist evar, in order to get a job there in 4 years' time* Kekeke.

You might find this encouraging. I have an interview on Tuesday at a game company and the person interviewing me is a girl. I'm guessing she doesn't discriminate against girls.

There were a few female programmers at my last job. It was so little of an issue that it's hard to discuss. In fact, I don't even know what to say. There were a bunch of programmers, and some of them were girls.

Don't let job requirements like "3 games shipped" bother you. Those are usually for senior positions. If you get good grades and do lots of programming on your own, you WILL get internships. I don't know what it's like in the rest of the world, but there's a huge shortage of programmers here in Vancouver. It took me five days to get my first internship. Right now I'm looking for another. There's currently 40 other students at my school looking for jobs, and over 100 positions available. EA alone has 30 positions for interns.

As far as I can tell you'll do great. If I were exactly who I am now, only a physically disabled (let's say I needed a knee brace and it hinders me in almost no way otherwise) native american female, I would have more opportunities than I do right now as a young white male. I would get these benefits:

1. FREE university for two years or so. That's right, free. Native americans have government sponsored university tuition for at least a little while. This is in part because the number of native americans who go on to post secondary education is very low. This is definitly indicative of problems in our society, however, assuming I had the same kind of upbringing and was essentially who I am now, only a little more tanned I wouldn't have to pay several thousand dollars for that schooling.

2. Access to nearly every available scholarship known to man. Not only would I be able to get scholarships that are released to people who qualify for them through hard work... I'd be given all the "birthright" scholarship advantages as well. Visible Minority, Disability, and Female in Sciences scholarships are all -VERY- real. And the thing is, not many people apply for them. Combine this with the fact that my school costs nothing and some scholarships are flat amounts given in cash or cheque to a person, I could actually make money going to school to cover my living expenses and then some.

3. (un)Equal Opportunity employment to my advantage. Not only are there funded programs in place to ensure I get a job, but as a disabled female visible minority I would probably get a job over an equally qualified regular white male because it looks better for the company and because there may be grant money for the company involved in hiring a certain number of one of the groups I belong to.

So, assuming you learn your stuff, the fact that you are female automagically places you into a very powerful position. Combine that with your enthusiasm and competance you would be picked above most other applicants as long as you maintain an easy to get along with manner.

Now, I may sound cynical... I'm not. I have no problems finding work and I have no issues with the existing policies about equal opportunity in the workforce and other things like that. I think it's necessary to create incentives for certain groups of people who statistically are NOT involved in things which will help better our society as a whole... And females do need to get out into the workforce more. They just are not well represented in the programming field at all. We have maybe 5-10 female programmers at the UofR in upper level computer science at this time and that represents a very small percent.

Also, about scholarships... I'm glad that I have to work hard to go through school. It's forced me to endure 20 hour workdays at multiple jobs at minimum wage during one summer. I would not be who I am today if I hadn't done that. I'm glad because it made me decide never to work a bad job again. I just decided "I am done working crappy jobs at low wages, I won't do that anymore because I will die if I do." It's no longer an option for me to work at staples, dominos, future shop, superstore, a concession stand, california subs, a paper route, the cineplex or any other operation of that kind. I will create my own work because existing options involving companies that profit off of killing me slowly is not a real option. Or I will get a decent-paying and rewarding job in the games industry because that's exactly what I love doing.

I am, however being truthful. As a male with no disability or visible minority I have to be damn good or someone of equal or very slightly less skill, but less representation in the workplace will get a job before I do. That's fine, it actually produces incentive for me to be significantly better than your average person entering the workforce which in turn betters our workforce in general which hopefully improves everyone's quality of life and ensures the advancement of the human species. All this while allowing people who don't have a toe in the industry an easier way to become less of a minority as other people within your respected group look to you as a beacon of what can be done. The unattainable becomes reachable and as a result you have more people who otherwise wouldn't consider that option possible entering the workforce and excelling at their jobs.

So there you have it, my thoughts. No, it isn't really equal at all, life isn't fair and I think it's better that it isn't... At least in some ways. In other ways, you are what you make of yourself in this country (Canada) and no system will be perfect, but at least this one allows advancement for all groups of people.

Quote:Original post by Spoonbender
Other than an excess of random guys asking for her number, you mean? [lol]

That's a feature!