So this is about the 10th time my friend has asked me for help on a SQL (w/ SQL Server) problem. I Actually interviewed with his company at one point and they elected not to hire me. Why? because I have never found windows errors useful, have therefore never used its logging facility, and was unable to answer questions about it. I’m was UNIX guy then and am now. But I’m still better at figuring out problems on software I’ve never even used, with only about 1/10th of the information that I need. I’m so tired of fixing other people’s problems and not getting paid for it, especially when somehow they profit from it.

So why don’t companies seem to hire me? Because I suck at interviews. Because I don’t have that 4 year degree and someone else does. Because I don’t have 2 years of experience with Technology X. Because I’ve not got the greatest work history.

Why don’t I have the greatest work history? Well I’ve been fired twice. Once the official reason was I fell asleep at work, I don’t think I did. Even if I did I had, had insomnia for 3 days, I even told them that. I’m pretty sure I could have sued for wrongful termination, but I didn’t. The other time I was hired into a position that I really just wasn’t a good match for, but I didn’t realize it until later. That position also didn’t have enough work for me, and the work that it did have wasn’t well enough explained for me to do.

Wait so I have to explain to you how to do something? no… but when you tell me to make a form with this list, and copy this pre-existng product with new tech. Then those 2 definitions conflict. So I try to do work to make what you want and then you say but I don’t want those fields… I say but this can’t be made to work like that without them… I never really got answers… Can’t do work that I’m not given enough info to do properly, and I wasn’t privy to the meetings with the clients.

I’d also like to note that I almost quit the second job as I had been given less than 5 hours a week for 3 months, and my boss, although a good hacker, wasn’t a very good boss. But I’m not completely absent of blame… maybe I misrepresented my knowledge of the product, or maybe I should have done more to get the information I needed to do the work.

Well maybe my luck will change and this company I’ve been interviewing with recently will hire me so the next time my friend asks me for help to do his job I can say. You know your company could hire mine and the work would get done faster (better too probably).