What's in YOUR resume?

[Bago]

Re: What\'s in YOUR resume?

Shall I? Shall I not? Oh go on then. I will brave it and reply to this thread.

You guys are very harsh. I think it is all very well to want the BEST out of all JDE developers/gurus out there in the world, but sometimes location, timing, and just general fate may mean that you won't get what you want, right here, right now. For the type of money as mentioned. Unless that person indeed love JDE more than his family, life or wife.

I think those of you who want to work with this product must sleep, eat, and drink JDE. To know some of the things off the top of your head must mean that you tune out most things that is happening in your life. That's the impression that I get. Which is good in a way, but kind of also bad if life dictates it such that, JDE is no longer supported... >.< !

I recently went for an interview for a Junior CNC role too. I was asked a lot of questions to which I describe very very generically, and it did not occur to me to be precise with my answers and direct. I've had to deal with different type of people and live with different people of differing background and languages that I'm used to be generic to describe something, than to be precise and direct. I gave it much thought afterwards, and I also asked for honest feedback too. I think it matches what a lot of you have said here. That most technically minded people who are doing the interviewing would want similar minded employees to work alongside them too. I get the impression that most would want a traditional programmer, or someone from a programming background. Whereas I think a lot of people who enter the application level of ERP does not necessarily come from such backgrounds, for some reasons. A lot of superusers in my last job became application developers this way. They bring in functional skills.

Unfortunately, this is the real world. If someone has worked with 4 years or 5 years in a job relating to JDE, then that is what they have done. It is not "lying" or "faking" their experiences in any way, cos that is what they were employed to do. A lot of people are stretched in many ways in their jobs anyway. Sometimes you have to remember to answer to your boss and follow the flow of the system implementation. I personally believe that there are different type of JDE techie people out there of differing experiences. So it is not surprising if some people may be able to answer some of the Qs, but not all the other questions. Not everyone wil be fortunate to be in a job where they are allowed to learn all aspect of the system. JDE does not have free downloads for developers to test like Oracle does with some of their products. Why are people surprised at the little number of good JDE developers out there in the world ?

I still recall asking for an architecture of the system and how JDE fits with other legacy system, only to be batted back with a firm "no", when I was in my last JDE role. >.< ! With this kind of mindset, it is no wonder that I can't advance further really. I'm just there to do a job. Not to develop JDE and became the vendor-level expert. I have also worked with IT managers who did not even know how to "CC" an email to another colleague. Though, he was from the mainframe generation. So I don't blame him.

I suppose, I will get flamed for saying all this, but... the reality of the situation is that, most people do will get as much as they can, what little they can with regards to JDE work.

OWGuru: To be honest, I wouldn't have known what is classed as the "big 6" too. I've never heard of that actually.

I'm beginning to be disillusioned with this JDE business, and just be a C coder or something. It's easier this way, and more flexible in job searches.

 

[Alex_Pastuhov]

Re: What\'s in YOUR resume?

Just wanted to add another dimension:

No one is really surprised that there are very few good developers and every one understands that normal people have lifes and tend to err, forget things, be slow, inefficient, etc.

What I think is the driver behind this strict selection and hunt for the best is, as always, the actual requirements the employer wants fulfiled and the time/budget constraints they have and, as the bottom line, the cost of the result - the efficiency.

For example, say you need to write your own version of P4210. If you are prepared to wait and pay, you start looking for people. And here is where it all starts:
- This task may take 10 average people with lifes and 1 year of time, or
- 1 _really_good_ developer without life and 1 month.

The average sort of developers would still be asking for the same $100,000 a year, but is this worth paying? Probably not, hence the offers they would get would more likely be around $50,000 a year.

And the best developer in the world would probably ask for something like $200,000 a year, or even more (i.e.: $200 an hour), but the end result would overall be much better - your P4210 would be cheaper and come sooner.

The management has to decide which of these two possible paths to take and then the interviewer's role would be to figure out what kind of person they have in front of them and ultimately if what they ask is worth paying - in each case.

Of course, it's still a lottery and our crystal orbs lie to us every now and then. So, unsurprisingly, some employers aim for the lowest level of developers (because in such cases any suprise can only be a good one) and get them in by dozens (because this is what it takes to have anything done).

And this is why good developers find it hard to find jobs - very few employers will believe them how good they are.

And why employers who are looking for the best are so paranoid about the interviews - who wants to pay triple rates for average resources (and this is what we all ultimately are to employers - resources)?

And this is also why this topic is so hot: most developers believe themselves to be experienced and expect high pays just because they came from JDE or IBM and such and spent so many years in the industry, but if you actually compare how long it would take 10 different people to do the same complex task, the huge difference in time it would take and the difference in the quality of the end result will be absolutely amazing.

Those employers who understand this and take thin into account will be bound to be paranoid about the selection process - there's no other way.

 

[BBritain]

Re: What\'s in YOUR resume?

I also would not have known what the big 6 was: Deloitte & Touche, Anderson, Cooper......

I feel like I have gotten slammed as well. I give these interviewees as much benefit of the doubt as possible and I wish I could dictate the interview because there is soooo much more that I cut so as to not make a novel.

When an interviewee can only come up with Header and Detail sections for a report (see my earlier sanity check) then they are not ready for prime time. I also happened to ask this person about Alias' and he could identify AN8 and DOCO but not SHAN. And when asked to provide any alias' that he could tell me, he could only come up with CPNT. Heck, any developer with two hours development experience could come up with at least four other DD items.

Also when they name events that don't exist and can't name the most common ones, I worry. It's not that I am trying to be mean. When these people come to work for my company, they get thrown to the wolves - we have clients that expect a certain competency when working with Sales Orders or Work Orders and highly modified applications. I want to higher this person for years, not days.

There has been many a time that I wish I had a company to higher and train these people and get them the experience as well. But I don't have the luxury nor the time. And when I spend 70 minutes like the other night, finally determining that the candidate isn't right, that is 70 minutes that he can't get back, and I can't get back.

By the way, I do have a life as well. I am also a Taekwondo instructor (for 10 years) and a scuba diver.

Now I almost want to challenge you. If you give me a number to contact you (through private message) I will interview you just like I do to the candidates. You can even decide to 'dumb' yourself down a bit if you wish. Then we can both post our perception of the results right here on this forum.

And one last venting on my part.....totally unrelated to the above......when interviewing - NEVER tell the interviewer that you are a 9 out of 10 in a skill unless you have been teaching it for a long time. I have been coding in OneWorld for 14 years (since B7B) and have been teaching classes for 12 years and I consider myself an 8 in apps, a 7 in reports and a 6 in C functions.

OK I'll take a chill pill now.
Ben again,

 

[BBritain]

Re: What\'s in YOUR resume?

And well said Alex.

 

[Alex_Pastuhov]

Re: What\'s in YOUR resume?

Thanks, except that I should have really compressed it into a single sentense: "It'a all about the price and the issue is mainly with the valuation."

I.e.: imaging you are shopping for a horse. You want this horse to generate you some revenue by frequently winning at the races. You are presented with two candidates - both look alike, hooves and all, the same colour and for all you know may as well be blood brothers. I'm not even going to contemplate on what would constitute "life" for a horse ;-)

Yet, one may or would become a winner and the other one wouldn't. Now, when you are trying to decide which one to take and what to pay for it, going by what you can observe and by the noises they make, you will see what the problem is - there's simply no telling...

I tend to agree with the idea sounded in another thread that your best chance is to find someone who can quickly come up with a solution (aka "troubleshooter") rather than someone who may remember some particular details.

I.e.: yes, alias names stick to memory and by the number one can recall you can estimate their experience, but this would not tell you if the person can apply this bit of knowledge in any real situation.

And the troubleshooter's skills do not even need to be determined in this specific field - a good trobleshooter really doesn't care what to troubleshoot. (I'm saying this after having troubleshooted a lawnmover just now ;-) It's all about logic, common sense, some general knowledge of priciples, some IQ and the ability to apply it all to a problem at hand in an efficient manner.

Some time ago, I actually came up against a truly wonderful logical test - a single simple logical puzzle, which can tell you how good a troubleshooter you are in minutes (if you can actually solve it in minutes, because if not - then you are not really a troubleshooter).

On the other hand, the same applies to employers - all would tell you are they are "the world leader in ______ (fill in)" and such, but all these things are even more likely to be lies than what you could ever come up with yourself, because here you have an organisation working against you and they have more time, resources and determination.

 

[Bago]

Re: What\'s in YOUR resume?

<font color="black">Alex</font>, but employing someone of this calibre will mean that the company is actually modifying and writing a completely non-vendor-based product? So, if the developer is not available for future upgrades or even retired from JDE. Then where do you find the exact same skills again? It's not future-proofing the system in terms of upgrades or costs.

<font color="black">BBritain</font>, after reading what you wrote... thank you for the interview offer, but no thank you all the same! lol.

I just wanted to rant about the reality of the situation really, and what people are asking. I don't think that they are asking for a professional as such, but also an enthusiast who makes it their life and career to support the product. A person has to definitely absorb all they learn and more.

Interesting to see that others also asks the same questions which I came across from other non-JDE interviews. i.e. how do you rate yourself from 1 to 10. I gave myself a high 7 or 8. I then also explained to them that is how I see myself in order to motivate myself to learn further. First year in IT, I could be a 2. 3rd or 4th, I am already a 6. To me, it's the stubbornness and the motivation to want to learn more. I have no idea how others are learning and how commercially aware my competitors are. Should I care? (Apparently, I should care.) The role was also junior too. To which, I do not understand why the high standard asked.

In an odd way, usually there should not be more than one good JDE developer in a company anyway. I don't quite understand the detailed questions asked. I am keen to know if any JDE employees or ex-employee can answer such Qs too. People are not asking for JDE developers, they are asking for JDE researchers. Customising the vendor product beyond what the vendor support, isn't that a risky business?

 

[altquark]

Re: What\'s in YOUR resume?

[ QUOTE ]
Oh, and one more thing.....It is usually 10pm at night and I am talking to someone in India from Denver, Colorado. So I don't have the ability to see the interviewee.

[/ QUOTE ]

Well this is telling.

What your company is doing, I suspect, is putting out feelers for a OW Developer in India - because they're cheap. I mean $45k in India is a VERY healthy salary. This is outsourcing at its WORST - and your company is going to be in for some rude shocks.

What you are doing is concentrating purely on the developers skill and knowing the JDE Toolset. That does not necessarily make a good developer. Lets say you find someone who can answer all your questions - after a few months of searching, you're probably going to go with someone like that, especially since they're so cheap !

However, what you may end up with is a problem of communicating specifications to a developer who has never seen or worked in a US corporation. Specifications that might be expecting a certain amount of developer input will be blindly developed - and the results will be catastrophic on your implementation and timescales.

I have been involved in a LOT of International Outsourcing projects - companies outsourcing developers to India, China and Russia - but what usually occurs is a breakdown of communication between the developer and the manager in charge of writing the specifications - a lack of understanding of the product and its use, and a cultural clash over how things are done.

Certainly this might sound biased - but I do NOT believe in outsourcing to another country. We have had a VERY large thread concerning this activity in the past - and I certainly hope that this doesn't dredge up that old chestnut.

Good luck in finding someone - but if I were you, I'd be trying to find a good Indian Developer that has the aptitude and guts to work in THIS country for the same salary you're offering, or at least a little more than what you're offering.

Now, I totally support people coming in from another country to work on projects (I'm an immigrant myself) - I support absolutely ANYONE who has the guts to move to another country to make a better life for themselves. I believe its in the US Constitution under "pursuit of happyness". However, I cannot condone lazy people remotely working in another country under a different legal, economic and cultural system that try to undermine the economy of the US.

 

[altquark]

Re: What\'s in YOUR resume?

[ QUOTE ]
I still recall asking for an architecture of the system and how JDE fits with other legacy system, only to be batted back with a firm "no", when I was in my last JDE role.

[/ QUOTE ]

What are they trying to hide ?

I'd love for a developer to ask me that question - and would love to spend a lunch hour describing how my architecture works and why it was set up that way. I feel its important for anyone on the system to fully understand why things are set up the way they are. Maybe I'm an optimist ? I say "half full" instead of "half empty" !

 

[WhippingBoy]

Re: What\'s in YOUR resume?

I disagree. I've been to a few companies that consider their architecture an absolute trade secret. I don't think you'd be revealing all your infrastructure to a traveling consultant who may be at a competitor next month. One place I'm working for is going so far as to copywrite the software I wrote for them. It's immensely complex and they consider it key to the company's warehouse operations. I think it's sort of comical because the stuff is so specific to their operations, but that's their mindset; self protection. I also created some integrated javascript with 8.11 and they want me to sign a legal document allowing them to license it from me in perpetuity.

I've toyed with the idea of showing pictures/descriptions of my best work on my apparently-abandoned website, but I'm too fearful of getting legal letters. I'm sure they'd arrive with copies of the NDAs I've signed.

 

[Null Value]

Re: What\'s in YOUR resume?

[ QUOTE ]

Well this is telling.

What your company is doing, I suspect, is putting out feelers for a OW Developer in India - because they're cheap. I mean $45k in India is a VERY healthy salary. This is outsourcing at its WORST - and your company is going to be in for some rude shocks.

What you are doing is concentrating purely on the developers skill and knowing the JDE Toolset. That does not necessarily make a good developer. Lets say you find someone who can answer all your questions - after a few months of searching, you're probably going to go with someone like that, especially since they're so cheap !

However, what you may end up with is a problem of communicating specifications to a developer who has never seen or worked in a US corporation. Specifications that might be expecting a certain amount of developer input will be blindly developed - and the results will be catastrophic on your implementation and timescales.

I have been involved in a LOT of International Outsourcing projects - companies outsourcing developers to India, China and Russia - but what usually occurs is a breakdown of communication between the developer and the manager in charge of writing the specifications - a lack of understanding of the product and its use, and a cultural clash over how things are done.

Certainly this might sound biased - but I do NOT believe in outsourcing to another country. We have had a VERY large thread concerning this activity in the past - and I certainly hope that this doesn't dredge up that old chestnut.

Good luck in finding someone - but if I were you, I'd be trying to find a good Indian Developer that has the aptitude and guts to work in THIS country for the same salary you're offering, or at least a little more than what you're offering.

Now, I totally support people coming in from another country to work on projects (I'm an immigrant myself) - I support absolutely ANYONE who has the guts to move to another country to make a better life for themselves. I believe its in the US Constitution under "pursuit of happyness". However, I cannot condone lazy people remotely working in another country under a different legal, economic and cultural system that try to undermine the economy of the US.

[/ QUOTE ]

Jon,

With all due respect to your experience and knowledge, it does not require 'guts' to work in the US, just one H1-B work permit which is in ever shortage. Just recently, the H1-B quota of 65,000 for FY 2008 got over in one day !!

And as for working for the same salary that they are offering, many really do work at low rates even in the US. H1-B is a kind of 'slave program' wherein a consultant can be out of legal status if his visa sponsorer just decides to pull the rug under his/her feet for even 'asking for a raise'. As you said, you've worked with many Indian consultants and would be knowing this.

Myself having worked in India for several years in the IT industry and several years in the US, let me state it as a fact that the work done in India is much vast, hard and stressful. Having got used to the 40 hour - Flyback home Thursday's routine here in the US, I for certain will not be able to work in the 12/14 hours Monday to Saturday routine back in the Indian IT industry.

Having said this, I agree that often the developers past the Atlantic leave much to be desired in their skills. But as Bago rightly pointed out in his post, its all about the kind of experience, exposure and projects that one has done. And on-job basis is the only way for one to become an 'expert' in JDE.

Where are the scores of independently published manuals for JDE like those in say Java or .NET technologies ? Do any of the standard testing centers like Prometric, Sylvan, Brainbench even have a single JDE exam to speak of ? The technical one available by Oracle customer connection is a joke. Give that free test 1/2 times and copy the questions in notepad. Voila, one can pass the 3rd time with 100%. If all these shortcomings were taken care of, I'm certain that US companies will find excellent JDE resources from India or any other 3rd world country.

The Brainbench global skills report of 2006 - available freely on their site shows that India is 2nd to the US in most IT related certifications. There were 89,374 Indian certified professionals in 2006. Indians are leading in certifications in technologies like C++, Unix Solaris Administration, RDBMS, SQL, MSSQL server 2000, DB2 programming, Oracle PL/SQL, .NET framework and software testing.

Please don't assume this as a 'Support-India' post. Rather, I'm just trying to emphasize that 'cheap' does not always mean bad. And to pick the good from the bad, there are always interviews - the topic on which this thread actually began.

As for undermining the economy of the US goes, that's a whole different topic. I wouldn't even go there.

Regards,

Shailesh

 

[altquark]

Re: What\'s in YOUR resume?

[ QUOTE ]
And as for working for the same salary that they are offering, many really do work at low rates even in the US. H1-B is a kind of 'slave program' wherein a consultant can be out of legal status if his visa sponsorer just decides to pull the rug under his/her feet for even 'asking for a raise'. As you said, you've worked with many Indian consultants and would be knowing this.

[/ QUOTE ]

Actually, I started over here on an H1-B visa - so I know exactly what this means. For someone to uproot themselves and move to another country to find work in what is literally a kind of "slave program" takes far more guts than working remote in Hyderabad. I was emphasizing the fact that I would take an H1B visa guy over outsourcing any time of the week - and help that H1B visa guy get his citizenship - after all, he's contributing a LOT more to the US economy than many actual US citizens. But the outsourced programmer (or actually the outsource firm really, I wouldn't really have anything against the individuals) - they're sponging money off a wealthier nation and at the same time jeopardizing the "knowledge pool" and resources in this country.

I've often stated that if I could wash cars for the same money I get as a CNC Consultant, for example, I'd be out there washing cars and living with a LOT less stressful life. US corporations are attempting to outsource the lifeblood knowledgebase out of the US - forcing crippling salaries onto employees and consultants based over here. Eventually it becomes more and more profitable in the short term to change to a different, "un-outsourceable" position - such as washing cars. In the long term, however, we will end up with a horrible skills shortage in the US and the outsourced countries will have increased their economy to such a par with the US that the corporations will end up paying the same amounts eventually. Money going out and not coming back in is a bad situation for GDP.

Now, if I were an indian consulting company, I would do EXACTLY this - after all, they're trying to grow their economy and the individuals that work under that organization are also trying to grow the countries GDP - so there is no point blaming them.

No. The real blame is the US corporations that are greedy enough in the short term that think this is a viable solution.

Luckily many organizations have felt the sting of outsourcing, and have canceled some of their outsourcing programs.

OK - that is my general comments on outsourcing. As for how a developer in india can get training on JDE ? I'd expect the EXACT SAME WAY a developer in the US or Europe. By working towards the position, by "apprenticing" in a development organization, and then after a certain time period by moving up through that organization. There are "independently published" JDE Documentation out there - and probably the same % of books as SAP or Peoplesoft books when you compare the market share (JDE has only about 1% market share - whereas SAP has about 50% - so I'd expect at LEAST 50 times the number of books for SAP !). Finally, we are lucky because JDE does in fact publish some pretty good manuals - and those manuals are readily available.

JDE Training was a "closed shop" under JDE - and it was weird. Under Peoplesoft and Oracle, it has opened up a LOT - including to independent "general public" consultants. As long as you have the cash, you can sign up to any JDE class nowadays.

Becoming a JDE developer or consultant is difficult. The rewards are there - you get paid a lot, and there is a lot of demand - but I'd expect the developer or consultant to have gone through some sort of baptism of fire before I'm prepared to pay for them.

 

[Null Value]

Re: What\'s in YOUR resume?

[ QUOTE ]
The real blame is the US corporations that are greedy enough in the short term that think this is a viable solution.

Luckily many organizations have felt the sting of outsourcing, and have canceled some of their outsourcing programs.

JDE Training was a "closed shop" under JDE - and it was weird. Under Peoplesoft and Oracle, it has opened up a LOT - including to independent "general public" consultants. As long as you have the cash, you can sign up to any JDE class nowadays.


[/ QUOTE ]

You are right there, Jon. But it all comes to the same point - money. US corporations outsource to help their bottom line and there are 'sweatshops' by the dozens out in India to cash in.

And yes, under Oracle, documentation is widely available and much better I'd say.

Regards,

Shailesh

 

[BBritain]

Re: What\'s in YOUR resume?

This is in response to Alex and Bago,

First, I'm not saying that knowing DD items contitutes a good developer, but I am saying that NOT knowing DD items constitutes a poor developer. The same thing goes with naming events or report sections or form types.

If you work even 1 hour a day - 12%, in development and you can't name more than one DD item then I'm sorry, even if you proved to be the greatest developer in the world (and it is memory that is your downfall) then I wouldn't want you working for me. If I interview someone....no no no, let me start over. I did interview someone who gave me good answers and in less that 5 minutes we were talking about there favorite tricks in coding and I was learning some neat little things from him. He didn't answer all the questions perfectly, but enough for me to recognize that he knew what he was talking about. In fact, I felt kinda rude at first, when I would say OK right in the middle of his response. Once he realized I was saving us both time, then he was all for it. We ended talking for two hours and having a great time!

Philosophy wise, I am a big proponent of divide and conquer. I would rather ask some easy questions up front (and establish that they know what EV01 is) than ask the high level stuff, and spend an hour on the phone only to determine that they know helpdesk stuff great but don't know how to move data from POs to VAs. By the way, when you know what PO, FC, BC, GC, GB, VA, FI, RI, RV, PC are then you have book knowledge (cuz they are all in the book), when you know AN8, CPNT, DOCO, RORN, MATH06, EV01, RESDESC, UPMJ, AA, RAT, FT2, then that tells me you have used them and must have at least a little experience (cuz they are NOT in the book).

AND I'll save the fact that I feel kinda like a traitor to our profession by offshoring for another post.

Ben again,

 

[andyklee]

RE: What\'s in YOUR resume?

Heck, I know most of those and I'm not even a developer!

I know I mentioned this before, but on the application side, if a business
analyst or consultant can't name the main tables for modules they've
supported recently, then you'd have to question their credentials.

Andy

 

[Bago]

Re: RE: What\'s in YOUR resume?

Phew, I feel a little bit better in knowing some of those.

I have never realised that those were not in the books or manual. Anyway, knowing these do not make you a guru of any type. It's just regurgitation really.

I had always thought that people were recruited for ROI value to the company, and not to actually further research the application.

I'm also beginning to think whether an ERP system *actually* saves a company money in the long-term at this rate. lol.

Going back to a point made by Whippingboy, legally speaking, any work carried out under an employment contract to a company (in the UK anyway) means that work belongs to the company, in terms of copyright, if I remember correctly. I don't think it belongs to the developer.

 

[Bago]

Re: What\'s in YOUR resume?

I don't know why this type of architecture or model was not shared to me. I sense that the company or team was not technically orientated anyway. Cos it is not what I was taught or used to, at university level. It used to frustrate me a lot too. I find that the IT world in real life is very much different to what was portrayed at university.

There aren't that many IT people out in this world who have made it as their careers. Not many would've followed it thoroughout their life time and actually keep up with the numerous changes too.

I'm kind of surprised to her that JDE developers are rare, but it does not surprise me at all. People also forget that technology moves so quickly that, it is also hard to keep up with the changes. So finding a true guru is even more rare!

 

[altquark]

Re: What\'s in YOUR resume?

[quoteI'm kind of surprised to her that JDE developers are rare

[/ QUOTE ]

Compared to SAP or Peoplesoft or Oracle Application Developers - absolutely they're rare. But thats natural since JDE only owns about 1% ERP marketshare. Of course, that % is growing (I hope/think) - so the demand for developers is also growing. Thats always a good thing.

However, if you were a developer choosing what ERP system you would dedicate your career to over the next 10 years - what system would YOU choose ? More than likely you'd choose SAP since you know there is a high demand AND high salaries/rates in that marketplace. Peoplesoft would be the WORST choice since it is the lowest salary range and is steadily being replaced with other products.

Unless you actually work for JDE (Oracle) - the chances are you "fell into" a JDE position - you were hired to do something, then the JDE implementation needed resources at your company and you were roped into it. Thats how most people end up becoming JDE people. Hence the relative rarity.

Certainly rarer than C or Java developers !

 

[owguru]

Re: What\'s in YOUR resume?

[ QUOTE ]
I also would not have known what the big 6 was: Deloitte & Touche, Anderson, Cooper......

I feel like I have gotten slammed as well. I give these interviewees as much benefit of the doubt as possible and I wish I could dictate the interview because there is soooo much more that I cut so as to not make a novel...

Ben again,

[/ QUOTE ]

Ben,

I hope I did not slam you at all!!! That was certainly not my intention

As for the "Big 6" question. Back in the beginning of days of OW, there was a 1 day introductory CNC class that we taught that covered the 6 basic terms that I listed before. In an interview, I would never simply say, "Tell me about the big 6." No. I would list them one at a time and let the interviewee give me whatever definition they like. If I want more detail, I would ask.

For example, if a person told me that the Pathcode was the "path to the code", which has been one of the key phrases in JDE training almost from the beginning. I might ask them to tell me WHERE I can find the pathcode, to list the 3 pathcodes used in the development lifecycle (DV, PY, PD), etc. During the interview, I might ask for the relationship between a package and a pathcode or the difference between a pathcode and an environment. Of course, here I am describing a CNC position. But these would also be appropriate to help determine how well versed a developer is in the architecture of the system.

BTW, one of the most important things I look for in a developer is their understanding of maintenance in JDE customizations. Do they believe it is better to change a JDE object or copy it to a new object before making the changes? Why? Is it better to make changes in the base UBE or at the version level? Explain. If they are a newer JDE programmer, I want to hear them mention the "What an Upgrade Preserves" chapter in the documentation. If they have several years of experience, I hope to hear them really be able to discuss the decision making process for this, the importance of documentation, the on-going effects of esu's and upgrades, etc. My favorite answer it, it depends on the modifications...followed by an explanation.

 

[BBritain]

Re: What\'s in YOUR resume?

owguru,

I don't feel slammed by any one responder, just overall in general. My main point with the earlier interview descriptions was that my questions HAD TO BE SO SIMPLISTIC in order to get correct answers. Then I would get responders that say I am insulting the interviewee, etc. and your expanded description of the big six question sounds a lot more like my interviews.

Ben again,

 

[altquark]

Re: What\'s in YOUR resume?

...And then along comes I and slams you for even THINKING of outsourcing development (!)...

I use some pretty indepth interviewing techniques - but I don't "grill" my interviewees (at least, I try not to !). I might ask them to describe a situation where they troubleshot an issue, or I might ask them to explain some of the foundation behind CNC. I try to steer clear of the obvious questions - like "what is a pathcode" and the "big 6" from the Foundation (Object Librarian, Central Objects, Replicated Objects, etc etc). I'm not even sure if that 1 day foundation class COVERS the "Big 6" anymore (although I certainly do !) - the term often gets confused with the OTHER "Big 6" - ie D&T, IBM etc.

Hey - by the way, that is might favorite CNC spiel - "a pathcode is the path to the code". It was actually initially created in the very first CNC "Teach the Teacher" Training Class ! We all had to create a "skit" or a sketch describing one of the Big 6 terminologies - and I Adrian Clegg I believe actually coined the term !