PNW Chit Chat thread

[DER E30]

^I'm trying to find a major where I don't have to take any more calculus. I'm thinking business.

No calculus in business haha accountants use the 4 basic functions of calculator hahaha :up:

[OldDrunkenSailor]

^I'm trying to find a major where I don't have to take any more calculus. I'm thinking business.

Informatics. Interdisciplinary, no calc, and the world only needs more engineers/ui/ux people. And no suits.

[djjerme]

Project Management.

You will always be able to find a job. The pool for "good" project managers is smaller than you think, and there is a lot of people who claim to be Project Managers but fail miserably..

[Wschnitz]

I only have calc 1 then I'm done with math for my major. That's still 1 math class I have to pass though.

[nouseforaname]

Project Management.

You will always be able to find a job. The pool for "good" project managers is smaller than you think, and there is a lot of people who claim to be Project Managers but fail miserably..

very true.

[ahrensNW]

I'm in calc 2 right now, I doubt I'll come out with a B...

[ahrensNW]

So are you saying project management is good or bad?

[OldDrunkenSailor]

So are you saying project management is good or bad?

For a lot of people it's low hanging fruit. Exceptional PMs are awesome but there are a lot of PMs that think that they're engineers, that think that they're designers, they're right in the middle of things and often don't walk the line well. At every fair I go to I get 50% Java devs who think that they're automatically webdevs, 25% people with no prior work who want to do UX, and 25% who took a class and want to be PMs.

The best PMs that I've seen have come up through indirect methods, they spend time under PMs and see what is good and bad.

[djjerme]

Agreed

I do see a lot of PM's who come up through the ranks and have a hard time leaving some of the "I'll just jump in an do it" mentality. Their job is a mix of maintaining a general overview of the project and it's goals, as well as managing personal. I always get worried when a Project Manager says "I hate meetings" or that nothing good ever comes out of meetings. If that's the truth, then they are not having the right meetings..

It's a job I won't ever claim to do well. I am fine with being in the trenches..

[OldDrunkenSailor]

I agree..

Though, I do see a lot of PM's who come up through the ranks and have a hard time leaving some of the "I'll just jump in an do it" mentality. Their job is a mix of maintaining a general overview of the project and it's goals, as well as managing personal. I always get worried when a Project Manager says "I hate meetings" or that nothing good ever comes out of meetings. If that's the truth, then they are not having the right meetings..

It's a job I won't ever claim to do well. I am fine with being in the trenches..

+1 all of this.

We have some PMs that try to keep scope creep down and "look out" for developers by nixing ideas/features without Engineering buy-in. Things that would be great for customers don't happen because a PM doesn't know that the added development time is like a day and not a week.

A good PM should do everything possible so everyone else can do their job without blockers, but should otherwise get out the way.

[ahrensNW]

Comp Sci degrees at UW are all below 10 percent admission rates...

[OldDrunkenSailor]

Lots of calc too and they only teach you Java. The head TA for their webdev class couldn't do our intern assignment. Informatics people tend to be really well rounded, but without side projects often are underskilled, sadly. CSE people don't usually have time for any side stuff, but when they do, they're really solid folks.

[5Toes]

^I'm trying to find a major where I don't have to take any more calculus. I'm thinking business.

says every weak engineer, myself included. lol

[CorvallisBMW]

For a lot of people it's low hanging fruit. Exceptional PMs are awesome but there are a lot of PMs that think that they're engineers, that think that they're designers, they're right in the middle of things and often don't walk the line well. At every fair I go to I get 50% Java devs who think that they're automatically webdevs, 25% people with no prior work who want to do UX, and 25% who took a class and want to be PMs.

The best PMs that I've seen have come up through indirect methods, they spend time under PMs and see what is good and bad.

Agreed

I do see a lot of PM's who come up through the ranks and have a hard time leaving some of the "I'll just jump in an do it" mentality. Their job is a mix of maintaining a general overview of the project and it's goals, as well as managing personal. I always get worried when a Project Manager says "I hate meetings" or that nothing good ever comes out of meetings. If that's the truth, then they are not having the right meetings..

It's a job I won't ever claim to do well. I am fine with being in the trenches..

This echos what I'm learning in my various PM classes. As part of my master's in Engineering Management I take 3 different PM classes all focused on specific areas, and I've heard similar things from the profs and reading materials, i.e. the best PMs get that way through experience, not through classes or books (ironic, I know...)

[Wschnitz]

Comp Sci degrees at UW are all below 10 percent admission rates...

I wonder if that includes people who switch immediately after they see the giant ass books of syntax, code, etc they have to read.

Saw a couple people switch from my major after they handed out the like 4 500 page cisco books lol.