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So Jeri Ellsworth got fired today (Valve nextgen gaming hardware)
- Thread starter ThaiGrocer
- Start date
Formal training only gets you so far. Programmers have to self-teach throughout their careers. Schooling might get you a good base to learn off of, but you don't learn everything you need to in school. The best programmer I've ever met was self taught, I really think it depends on the person.
bistromathics
facing a bright new dawn
engineering degrees aren't english degrees
presumably she had what it took if she got past the initial valve interviews
I know it's hard, hell I have trouble with it sometimes, but before you post ask yourself, "Is this a constructive post? Am I adding something to this conversation? Am I a total dick?"
If you're answering 'Yes' to the last question without answering 'Yes' to the previous two you should strongly consider not posting. It will yield benefits in the long run.
You'll survive here yet.
Diseased Yak
Gold Member
Man, you have to go to school in order to justify your job?!?! Guess I'm on the wrong track here with my senior Database Administrator position and no college to speak of...
Joseph Merrick
Member
CrashPrime
Member
So what is it exactly that she did there? R&D? Engineering? People skills? Does this have anything to do with Steambox? Please don't let this be the end of Steambox.
You're right, it's a stupid, insensitive post that I never should have made.
I apologize for that and wish Jeri the best of luck on her next endeavor.
You disgust me, I bet you couldn't drop a table to save your life!
bistromathics
facing a bright new dawn
Sentenza
Member
Jesus Christ, this sounds like an argument from some bad guy in Karate Kid or Good Will Hunting or shit like that.
I'm not sure she actually needs to "recover".
According to her version of the story she was doing just fine by herself when Valve proposed the job, and she was even a bit wary/uninterested at first:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zsaRyRmAr0
DiscoJer
Member
It's generally not a sign of a healthy society when accreditation is valued more than actual ability or in this case, genius. Electrical engineering is hard. Learning it yourself is pretty amazing.
Schnozberry
Member
She seems pretty driven. I'm sure she'll land softly. Bummer that it didn't work out with Valve. Could be cultural and have little to do with her talent.
It was a stupid thing of me to write.
It's late at night and I wasn't thinking clearly, sorry.
My thoughts exactly.
Then I hope she can find something to do with all her new found free time.
I'm sorry, but this is a really stupid example. Both of their success has much more to do with right place and right time. Why do you think there is barely a single example of this sort of thing in the last decade.
ElectricBlanketFire
Member
element
Member
And worked at NewTek (Amiga), RealtimeAssociates, and Xilient (embedded h.264 hardware).
Making really well produced videos about science is pretty cool imo.
http://www.youtube.com/user/jeriellsworth/videos?flow=grid&view=0&sort=p
IlludiumQ36
Member
1st post-quality material if I've ever read it. Where were you, man?
SneakyStephan
Banned
I feel pain , and I'm not the one being fired.
I can't imagine how bad it must feel to get fired from Valve...
Like... being dumped by a nobel prize winning supermodel, or by a king.
Losing what I imagine is a dream job that everyone else in the industry would probably die to be offered.
I can't imagine how bad it must feel to get fired from Valve...
Like... being dumped by a nobel prize winning supermodel, or by a king.
Losing what I imagine is a dream job that everyone else in the industry would probably die to be offered.
I've seen worse.
See post 113 right above
I H8 Memes
Member
Damn now I'm really curious why she was fired. Couldn't have been from laziness as it's obvious that she loves working and constructing things. You can tell that even if she was sitting around her house she would spend most of her time building gadgets and circuit boards. Maybe she just wasn't creative in the right way to come up with the kind of hardware they were hoping for.
That's literally the case for every success story dude.
butzopower
proud of his butz
I don't know dude, pretty sure you have to write your own tail-recursive b-tree quicksort to get ahead these days. If that shit aint efficient how we gonna run facebook on the school's computers at the hourly rate they charge?
Yeah, the C64 guitar is cool too (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LM2bom8fsw).
Jeri Ellsworth was basically one of my heroes/heroines -- very smart, working for Valve, doing cool hardware/embedded systems stuff, and so forth. I also seem to remember the hardware lab at Valve heavily involving her. I can only imagine it's a sucky situation if she was forced out of that lab and there wasn't another opening available. I suppose we may never really know the whole story though.
Sanic
Member
Right.
Not sure if you're trying to refute his point or anything, but Zuck is the "barely an example" answer. His post still stands.
Ahahah! What?!? Yes, popular on YouTube but that's not why she has a huge following. Google her please.
Dropping out of elite schools isn't the same as never going. They still learned from the classes that they did take.
bloodyroarxx
Member
This is what I assume, Valve has said that not many people really fit within their workplace culture.
Hell as much as Id love to work there I know their way of working would NEVER work for me, its pretty unfriendly for someone not already on that wavelength.
bistromathics
facing a bright new dawn
yeah, there are some pretty core fundamentals that you kind of need to be able to understand. whether or not you end up implementing your own version is another story, but grasping those key concepts is pretty important. this thread seems to have derailed a bit, but the takeaway shouldn't be "college degrees, lol"
LunaticHigh
Member
Here we go...
The same could be said of any specialized degree that involves long lab classes and skill training as well as learning theory and research. "Vast majority" is overshooting it.
butzopower
proud of his butz
I was actually being sarcastic. I actually think a lot of the CS curriculums are outdated and way into what the majority of the professors were breaking into in the 70s in 80s as grad students. I can't say the same about EE, as I dropped out of EE since they were just pushing how to create a resume and not how to build something.
I respect people who get into these fields without formal training, and for the most part they are better people to work with and have more relevant knowledge.
Regarding this though, certain things are definitely cultural, and I can see / have seen how people not subscribing to the same philosophies can create difficult work environments. Usually, in these cases, it's people quitting and not getting fired, but sometimes people are oblivious or don't want to see it, and so it ends like this.
Well, the US should strongly consider restricting the title of 'engineer' to licensed professionals.
Beyond that, nothing. In fact, I think that sort of self-study is fantastic.
I have nothing to contribute on the main topic but I would say that, if nothing else, getting into a top school shows some work/intelligence and the will to compete.
As for technical fields, Albert Einstein, 'nuff said.
I do a lot of hiring and all I really look at is demonstrated experience, intelligence, and suitability for working as part of a team. Smart people can learn to do almost anything in a technical field with or without formal training.
As for technical fields, Albert Einstein, 'nuff said.
I do a lot of hiring and all I really look at is demonstrated experience, intelligence, and suitability for working as part of a team. Smart people can learn to do almost anything in a technical field with or without formal training.
LunaticHigh
Member
I don't think it's overshooting it by too much, but probably a little. But yeah, any specialized degree will fit the same bill. But it definitely falls into the category of significantly involving undergraduate degree. In any case, I don't think saying it can be fished out of a trash can is very fair to say.
Race cars and build chassis? Programming, designing boards and chips? I'm in love.
As does acquiring the needed knowledge without it, especially if you have the job history to back it up. College only shows you're willing to pay heaps amount of money for that same knowledge.
Not really. You can't just decide to go to a good school, you have to be admitted first.
If you're comparing to only other college students, then I would agree. But I wasn't talking about other college students.