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It’s great to see such an interesting discussion! I would be very interested to see the demographics of the people who have responded. From the emotion in some of the replies it seems as if many people have taken this very personally - possibly CS undergraduates, CS graduates or people responsible for creating/delivering a CS course in a uni? My interest isn’t particularly with these people, however I am extremely interested in opinions of fellow employers.
As the person responsible for the management and recruitment of developers in a UK based software development company, I share some of Dan Zambonini’s thoughts. For a long time I have wished that the graduates we have recruited were more commercially aware (find me a manager or project manager who works with developers who doesn’t agree!)
In fact over the years I have become so disappointed with the quality of most of the graduates that I encounter that, these days, I rarely recruit graduates until they have some commercial experience under their belt. I also know that we are not the only company to think like this, so perhaps rather than personally attacking the author, students and universities should take this as valuable feedback from an employer – the person you should be out to impress!
Ultimately a university has a responsibility to its students to ensure that they are educated to a level that makes them employable. And students have a responsibility to themselves to study a course that makes them employable. If enough employers think like this then it could be the beginning of a problem. It is certainly something that students should think about before choosing which degree to do and within that, which optional courses to take.
There is a wealth of different computer based courses for student to choose from. I definitely see more CVs from CS students. Perhaps more effort is needed to advise them which course to take for their chosen career.
Personally I subscribe to the Joel Spolsky way of thinking in recruitment and look for are people who 1) are smart and 2) get things done (http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/fog0000000073.html - it’s an interesting read) rather than skills based recruitment. That perhaps is even more worrying for CS students as, if I am not specifically interested in skills, and Dan Zambonini’s thoughts above are not valid (as so many people have claimed) then I’d probably prefer to employ a Physics graduate (intelligent, great logical/problem solving skills…).
The point raised below about university lecturers having to teach themselves the skills before they can teach their students is a good one, but also another worrying one. Perhaps there is an argument to bring in outside expertise for some of the skills training?
I dare say that the syllabus for the CS course varies wildly between the US and UK. I cannot personally speak for the US but know that the within the UK the content and quality of the courses varies enormously. If a few of them started taking these point on board then they may find that a larger percentage of the graduates they churn out are useful to the employers.
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When I came here the curriculum had 6 computer classes and 17 classes in business, accounting, finance, and general education (the associate's degree). After conducting research with area employer's we changed all that around. The students now get A+, MCP, Linux+, one or more programming classes in Java, C++, or .NET as "general ed of computing" and then specialize with 7 classes in CCNA/CCNP and two in VOIP. It seems to be working very well.
My colleagues from around the state are starting to see the value in a general computer background with a specialization field like Cisco, Microsoft, Unix, Linux, CISSP, and programming.
With respect to computer security classes I just gave a present on "why computer security courses are failing in community college" What was meant to be an intellectual discussion turned into a verbal bashing of "how could I ever have suggested such things..." like (1) no upward track to computer security training (where is entry-level), (2) no pay for good teachers ($35k is "average" starting pay for community colleges) (3) No one wants to hire someone with an associates degree in computer security, unless mom owns the company, (4) declines in programming courses are making it difficult to keep "good" security programs, (5) Too many non-computer security trained managers running computer security departments, and (6) the "best" computer security students are strong in mathematics...90% of incoming community college students cannot even place into college algebra...
As far as transfering in to a university...more and more, we are hearing employers scream about generalists with lots of business and management courses. They want a "chameleon," someone with a broad background who can adopt quickly in any circumstance...just make one type a programmer, one type a networker, and one type a databaser (if you will). Of course every employer has their own specific wish list too.
Very intriguing article. Kudos.