Bits and bobs

[nwhyte]

1. Is this legal? Due to the large number of applications we are receiving and the particular nature of the position, please only apply if you hold a degree from any of the following institutions:
   • Oxford University
   • Cambridge University
   • University of Edinburgh
   • London School of Economics
     Although I clearly am qualified on that basis alone, I'm not sure I

Comments

[grahamsleight]

Re 1: wow. If you're not able to say what institution this is, are you able to say what *kind* of institution it is?

[nwhyte]

It's a lobbying firm in Brussels.

[blue_condition]

Probably not illegal, in that they're not restricting people on grounds of ethnicity, gender, religion, sexuality etc.

Certainly dubious though - you could claim that restricting it to UK universities restricts applicants based on nationality, but then again they're open to anyone...

[communicator]

I don't think it's illegal, but I think it is very misguided. Incidentally at my first ever job interview I was told that they had intended to offer the job only to an Oxbridge grad, but luckily they also did an IQ test on applicants, which sort of destroyed the policy. Not that IQ tests are a brilliant way of detemining ability, but it gave the proles a chance.

[blue_condition]

At least they're out in the open about it

[nwhyte]

Hey, as someone with a masters degree in medieval astrology, I represent that remark!

More seriously, I guess the company in this case are indeed recruiting in their own image. Their loss.

[captainlucy]

Medieval astrology isn't worth the parchment it's written on! It completely ignores readings from Uranus, Neptune, Pluto or Xena! ;)

[acesspadesdice]

Election observers? Do you have a link for Aussies/Asia Pacific region? The position description; When was it drafted, 1953? Quaint.

[nwhyte]

No idea, I'm afraid. Those countries aren't in the OSCE, so that route isn't available; I understand the the UN Volunteers scheme is one possible avenue, and your foreign ministry should be able to tell you if they do election observing anywhere.

[acesspadesdice]

Cheers. I'm aware the UN did the East Timor election. First port of call.

Is this legal

[xnamkrad]

When I was working in a different company that my present employment they brought in a policy that all new programmers / software developers had to have a university degree. After being burnt by several graduates who I'm sure were skilled in other ways but could not write working code, they changed to graduates from specific unis only who had as part of the course a nine month work placement.
SO it depends on what they are looking for. In the case of IT, it's all very well knowing the theorey behind database design, etc but that dont help when the invoicing software has crashed due to a bug and has to be fixed ASAP.

[jdigital]

This is true. It's entirely possible for someone to pass a Computer Science degree on the grounds of being a capable student, only to find themselves unable to write actual programs. Conversely, it's possible to be an accomplished programmer without having set foot in a university.

Of course, a university will teach you much of the theory and groundwork that a self-educated programmer may lack.

CS != programming

[nickbarnes]

A Computer Science degree may demonstrate an education in computer science, which is a branch of mathematics only loosely connected to programming. Many eminent computer scientists are lousy programmers. Many never write any software at all. Why should they? How will a piece of software help you to reason about P=NP, or category theory, or undecideable formal systems?