When presented with two candidates for a bar job, Mine Host will always select the one that has not attended the TAFE bar course.
There is a reason for this. Graduates of the a TAFE college (Technical And Further Education) bar course are almost universally hopless at bar work, furthermore they often have their head in the clouds.
Once, with time on his hands, Mine Host enrolled at a TAFE college, to see what he could learn. He also hoped to learn, on the side, why TAFE graduates were so useless.
The answer came on Day one,
Day One: "Sensitivity to Aboriginal & Islander employees in your workplace". One of the key parts of this very forgettable learning module was how we must all integrate with Aboriginal & Islander people.
However: At one point us "bar & restaurant" course participants were instructed to wait under an awning, lest we inadvertently integrate for a few seconds with the participants of the "bar & restaurant course - for persons of Aboriginal & Islander race" who were entering a nearby building. There was no answer given to the question, why weren't we all in the same class?
Day Two: "Sexual harassment in the workplace". Amongst other things were we taught to not stereotype people by sex, i.e. a girl can be just as good a motor mechanic as a boy, and that a boy can just as easily sew & knit as can a girl.
The only memorable part of this extremely forgettable module was that from that day onward two of the nubile young lady participants turned up every day half-naked, purely so they could be outraged if any of the blokes made an inappropriate remark.
This didn't stop the staring, nor the comments, but there was nothing they could take to the head teacher to get anybody thrown off the course.
Their experiment ended when one of the Islander girls in the class (who inexplicably hadn't been allowed to enroll in the one for "aboriginal & islanders only") offered to thump the two girls if they didn't put some clothes on. Co-incidentally, after that the two girls arrived for class fully dressed. (Co-incidentally, because one of the things we had learned in class was that threats of violence & torture "never" work).
Day Three: How a computer hard drive works, & we were taught to strip one down. Mine Host was fascinated, but was unable to make any connection between this & bar work.
Day Four: Simple arithmetic, but we had to answer in longhand, rather than in digits. (eg, for 20 + 45, we were not allowed to answer: 65. Instead we had to answer: Sixty Five)
Most of the class failed this module.
Day Five: Typing lesson. (Yes, this is a bar & waitressing course!)
Those who could already type would be identified by wandering teachers, who would offer you the chance to "test-out" of the class. You could not ask to take the test, it had to be offered to you.
Two girls beside Mine Host were offered the chance to test out, and were were allowed to leave the class, having "passed" typing.
Mine Host raised a query with the teacher, pointing out that he had looked over the girl's shoulders, typed the same test, had typed it faster than they, but unlike them had not made any errors.
The lady teacher* haughtily informed Mine Host that he was male, therefore it was "ridiculous" to claim he could type as well as girls. Furthermore he had not been offered the test, therefore wasn't eligible to "pass" the typing course.
Thus Mine Host, who had better things to do than spend the next two hours typing out "the cat chased the rat", picked up his notes & pencils and walked out of TAFE college, without bothering to switch off his computer, tidy his workstation, or to resign from the course.
* The same teacher taught Day Two of the course: "Thou shalt not stereotype by sex."
Showing posts with label education. Show all posts
Showing posts with label education. Show all posts
Friday, February 17, 2012
Monday, January 30, 2012
Stability
To clarify some confusion with the previous post:
Mine Host operates in the private sector of the economy (other sectors of the economy are the corporate and the public sectors). In the private sector a university degree is more or less irrelevant, as people are hired by ability & aptitude.
Typically Mine Host will make a hiring decision during the job interview. A typical job interview for a key appointment lasts Two to Three hours. Sometimes the interview (& corresponding inspection of the job by the applicant) may be spread over a couple of days.
Formal qualifications are a curiosity. Experience is crucial, background a factor, & compatibility with Mine Host & with the current makeup of the business are the deciding factors.
However due the the employment crisis in Australia (there just aren't any staff available) several roles are unfilled. When hiring Australians one is mostly scraping the bottom of the barrel. This leads to changes in the business model & also in recruiting strategy.
The employment laws in Australia are weighted so heavily in favour of the employee that some roles are more or less out of bounds to Australians, as it will be placing the business at too much risk of unjustfiable on-costs by putting bottom-feeders into some roles.
Some jobs require stability, & have to be filled for a minimum of three years to provide the required stability to the role.
There are Two roles in Mine Hosts's organisation that have not attracted an Australian applicant in several years.
Both of these roles are well paid senior positions that pay well & carry a lot of responsibility.
Hence Mine Host has turned to hiring from overseas. This does not necessarily bring competence to the role, but it does bring stability.
Mine Host operates in the private sector of the economy (other sectors of the economy are the corporate and the public sectors). In the private sector a university degree is more or less irrelevant, as people are hired by ability & aptitude.
Typically Mine Host will make a hiring decision during the job interview. A typical job interview for a key appointment lasts Two to Three hours. Sometimes the interview (& corresponding inspection of the job by the applicant) may be spread over a couple of days.
Formal qualifications are a curiosity. Experience is crucial, background a factor, & compatibility with Mine Host & with the current makeup of the business are the deciding factors.
However due the the employment crisis in Australia (there just aren't any staff available) several roles are unfilled. When hiring Australians one is mostly scraping the bottom of the barrel. This leads to changes in the business model & also in recruiting strategy.
The employment laws in Australia are weighted so heavily in favour of the employee that some roles are more or less out of bounds to Australians, as it will be placing the business at too much risk of unjustfiable on-costs by putting bottom-feeders into some roles.
Some jobs require stability, & have to be filled for a minimum of three years to provide the required stability to the role.
There are Two roles in Mine Hosts's organisation that have not attracted an Australian applicant in several years.
Both of these roles are well paid senior positions that pay well & carry a lot of responsibility.
Hence Mine Host has turned to hiring from overseas. This does not necessarily bring competence to the role, but it does bring stability.
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Higher Education
University degrees are supposed to mean something.
They are a distillation & condensation of other people's experience. Perhaps many lifetimes of experience, condensed into a few years of learning.
Thus a graduate with a degree is supposed to be already in possession of knowledge that would otherwise take perhaps a decade or two to learn the hard way.
Mine Host is somewhat forgiving of mistakes by the low-paid, particularly if they are his employees.
However he is ruthlessly demanding of those who are degree-qualified.
Especially those who hang out a shingle & charge multi-hundreds of dollars per hour for their expertise.
They are granted little latitude for error. Mine Host is remarkably unforgiving of mistakes made by degree qualified people.
Their degree is supposed to say they are bristling with knowledge & expertise in a certain field. They are supposed to be expert.
They are a distillation & condensation of other people's experience. Perhaps many lifetimes of experience, condensed into a few years of learning.
Thus a graduate with a degree is supposed to be already in possession of knowledge that would otherwise take perhaps a decade or two to learn the hard way.
Mine Host is somewhat forgiving of mistakes by the low-paid, particularly if they are his employees.
However he is ruthlessly demanding of those who are degree-qualified.
Especially those who hang out a shingle & charge multi-hundreds of dollars per hour for their expertise.
They are granted little latitude for error. Mine Host is remarkably unforgiving of mistakes made by degree qualified people.
Their degree is supposed to say they are bristling with knowledge & expertise in a certain field. They are supposed to be expert.
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Socialist Outcome?
Hmm, judging from the barrage of email & a couple of comments, the previous post wasn't very clear in meaning.
One role in Mine Host's organisation that pretty much requires formal qualifications is that of accountant. An accountant was hired, with a degree from a certain university.
This turned out to be to date one of the bigger hiring mistakes of Mine Host's.
The damage done to Mine Host's image & reputation, not to mention the damage in the internal processes & accountancy software, was beyond parallel.
Mine Host has employed plenty of complete nitwits. However this one was without equal.
That this dud was packing a university degree was incomprehensible.
Mine Host does not accept that this person passed the examinations required to qualify as an accountant.
The blighter was too stupid to post a letter. Mine Host gave them a pile of urgent letters to post (mail is a sensitive area, and the accountant is one of the few people trusted to handle it). A week later the letters were still sitting between the keyboard & the monitor screen.
A bit got said about this, in response the degree qualified person looked up at Mine Host, smiled like an idiot & nodded like a marionette.
The letters remained on the desk a further two days. The idiot wasn't competent to post a letter and responded to most anything by nodding furiously & smiling idiotically.
It is not known who sat the university examinations in this person's place, or if perhaps the pass grade was lowered to accommodate the full-fee paying students. But this person cannot have demonstrated a standard of scholarship sufficient to satisfy the requirements of the accountancy profession.
For heaven't sake they were too stupid to post letters, or answer the phone, or even to place a phone call. They couldn't even be relied upon to place a lunch order.
It took months to fix up the mess. The cost in grey hairs, never mind dollars, was immense.
Yet a professor (Mine Host has this professor's name copied down diligently, in case they ever meet) has put their signature to a piece of parchment to say that this person has satisfied certain academic thresholds. When clearly no such achievement had occurred.
For heaven's sake, the coot couldn't even be depended upon to be able to write their name on a piece of paper.
Such was the scale of the discrepancy between the representation on the degree, & the reality, and such was the loss, inconvenience & damage to Mine Host, that he is now gun shy about hiring anyone with a degree from that university.
Universities have no excuse when they issue a degree under false pretences, the quality of the graduates is the quality of the university.
A quick phone around to a few other employers brought a series of stories that the quality of graduates from this university isn't what it used to be.
A phone call to a family acquaintance who marks papers for this university revealed that they were under pressure to "pass" students regardless of their scholarship standard, & the shame of this was the cause of this acquaintance's impending parting from this university.
Mine Host's money is too hard earned to risk it by dipping his toe in that pond again. "Graduates" of that university will have to look elsewhere for a job. (Or perhaps conceal their dud degree from employers.)
One role in Mine Host's organisation that pretty much requires formal qualifications is that of accountant. An accountant was hired, with a degree from a certain university.
This turned out to be to date one of the bigger hiring mistakes of Mine Host's.
The damage done to Mine Host's image & reputation, not to mention the damage in the internal processes & accountancy software, was beyond parallel.
Mine Host has employed plenty of complete nitwits. However this one was without equal.
That this dud was packing a university degree was incomprehensible.
Mine Host does not accept that this person passed the examinations required to qualify as an accountant.
The blighter was too stupid to post a letter. Mine Host gave them a pile of urgent letters to post (mail is a sensitive area, and the accountant is one of the few people trusted to handle it). A week later the letters were still sitting between the keyboard & the monitor screen.
A bit got said about this, in response the degree qualified person looked up at Mine Host, smiled like an idiot & nodded like a marionette.
The letters remained on the desk a further two days. The idiot wasn't competent to post a letter and responded to most anything by nodding furiously & smiling idiotically.
It is not known who sat the university examinations in this person's place, or if perhaps the pass grade was lowered to accommodate the full-fee paying students. But this person cannot have demonstrated a standard of scholarship sufficient to satisfy the requirements of the accountancy profession.
For heaven't sake they were too stupid to post letters, or answer the phone, or even to place a phone call. They couldn't even be relied upon to place a lunch order.
It took months to fix up the mess. The cost in grey hairs, never mind dollars, was immense.
Yet a professor (Mine Host has this professor's name copied down diligently, in case they ever meet) has put their signature to a piece of parchment to say that this person has satisfied certain academic thresholds. When clearly no such achievement had occurred.
For heaven's sake, the coot couldn't even be depended upon to be able to write their name on a piece of paper.
Such was the scale of the discrepancy between the representation on the degree, & the reality, and such was the loss, inconvenience & damage to Mine Host, that he is now gun shy about hiring anyone with a degree from that university.
Universities have no excuse when they issue a degree under false pretences, the quality of the graduates is the quality of the university.
A quick phone around to a few other employers brought a series of stories that the quality of graduates from this university isn't what it used to be.
A phone call to a family acquaintance who marks papers for this university revealed that they were under pressure to "pass" students regardless of their scholarship standard, & the shame of this was the cause of this acquaintance's impending parting from this university.
Mine Host's money is too hard earned to risk it by dipping his toe in that pond again. "Graduates" of that university will have to look elsewhere for a job. (Or perhaps conceal their dud degree from employers.)
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Disqualified from Employment
Due to bitter experience, Mine Host will never employ anyone with a degree from Deakin University.
It is Mine Host's considered opinion, based upon experience, that employing a Deakin University graduate is a gamble no employer can afford to take.
It is Mine Host's considered opinion, based upon experience, that employing a Deakin University graduate is a gamble no employer can afford to take.
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Culturally Insensitive Teacher
A teacher is in front of her class of teenagers. Mid-lesson a teenage boy (from another class) strides purposefully into the room, without so much as a bye-your-leave, marches to the desk of a girl pupil (his younger sister) and sets about bashing her.
The beating is fast, savage & expert. By the time teachers have intervened, blood is drawn, lips are smashed, her dress is torn, bruising and black eyes follow.
How was this handled by the teachers?
The Police are not called. Instead the Teacher whose class was interrupted gives the boy detention, or lines to write out (or something equally mild) as punishment for interrupting class & failing to "show respect" for his sister.
A day or two later the teacher is again in front of her class. Mid-lesson a woman (mother of the abovementioned brother & sister) strides purposefully up to the Teacher, without so much as a bye-your-leave, and with brutal swiftness sets about bashing the Teacher.
The first blow knocks the Teacher back over the teacher's table. The table is tipped over, the Teacher lands with a thud on the floor. Class props & student projects are sent flying as the woman's intensely physical attack on the Teacher continues.
This time the Police are summoned. The woman is taken away by the Police, all the while loudly proclaiming that nobody "interferes" by telling her son how to handle his sister AND gets away with it.
The Education Department tut-tutted aplenty and pressured the Teacher into not pressing charges against the woman. The police "investigated" & found no charge to stick the woman with.
The Teachers Union didn't wait for the Teacher to contact them. Instead the union's senior official in the nearest city immediately made a public statement that they would be helping the Teacher with counselling on the matter of cultural insensitivity, and that Teachers in general should be more culturally aware of the norms of the towns in which they teach.
During a newspaper interview (on another matter) the reporter seeks Mine Host's opinion on, amongst other events, the recent high school "incident". Mine Host, having just read in the press the comment by the Union, gives a quick opinion on the topics of:
Protection of Members (union abrogation of),
Common Assault,
Public Disorder Offences,
Safety in the Workplace (as viewed by the Trade Unions)
Classroom Discipline,
Liability of Employers who fail to take measures to prevent staff being assaulted at work.
And a quick character opinion & suggested alternative career of the union official who made the reprehensible statement implying that the Teacher brought it upon herself.
The reporter blurted: "That union officer is my daughter!"
Then calmed down Three seconds later & said "By golly, you're dead right though, I've never thought about it like that before!"
This, in a Queensland state high school, in a Queensland town, in 2010.
The beating is fast, savage & expert. By the time teachers have intervened, blood is drawn, lips are smashed, her dress is torn, bruising and black eyes follow.
How was this handled by the teachers?
The Police are not called. Instead the Teacher whose class was interrupted gives the boy detention, or lines to write out (or something equally mild) as punishment for interrupting class & failing to "show respect" for his sister.
A day or two later the teacher is again in front of her class. Mid-lesson a woman (mother of the abovementioned brother & sister) strides purposefully up to the Teacher, without so much as a bye-your-leave, and with brutal swiftness sets about bashing the Teacher.
The first blow knocks the Teacher back over the teacher's table. The table is tipped over, the Teacher lands with a thud on the floor. Class props & student projects are sent flying as the woman's intensely physical attack on the Teacher continues.
This time the Police are summoned. The woman is taken away by the Police, all the while loudly proclaiming that nobody "interferes" by telling her son how to handle his sister AND gets away with it.
The Education Department tut-tutted aplenty and pressured the Teacher into not pressing charges against the woman. The police "investigated" & found no charge to stick the woman with.
The Teachers Union didn't wait for the Teacher to contact them. Instead the union's senior official in the nearest city immediately made a public statement that they would be helping the Teacher with counselling on the matter of cultural insensitivity, and that Teachers in general should be more culturally aware of the norms of the towns in which they teach.
During a newspaper interview (on another matter) the reporter seeks Mine Host's opinion on, amongst other events, the recent high school "incident". Mine Host, having just read in the press the comment by the Union, gives a quick opinion on the topics of:
Protection of Members (union abrogation of),
Common Assault,
Public Disorder Offences,
Safety in the Workplace (as viewed by the Trade Unions)
Classroom Discipline,
Liability of Employers who fail to take measures to prevent staff being assaulted at work.
And a quick character opinion & suggested alternative career of the union official who made the reprehensible statement implying that the Teacher brought it upon herself.
The reporter blurted: "That union officer is my daughter!"
Then calmed down Three seconds later & said "By golly, you're dead right though, I've never thought about it like that before!"
This, in a Queensland state high school, in a Queensland town, in 2010.
Wednesday, June 03, 2009
It is, It was, It holds, It held
No stranger to making statements to police, Mine Host is able to rattle off a statement verbatim, without any need for said statement to be moulded into format by the officer taking the statement.
The police officer taking the statement has only to type fast enough to keep up. This rarely happens. Despite now being able to type, modern police are no faster than the pre-historic police who typed two-fingered.
Recently when making a statement, Mine Host was forced to make more than the usual amount of corrections to his statement.
Mine Host at first did not grasp the problem:
The Constable did not understand the difference between past and present tense. The statement was about an event that happened a considerable time ago, in a business no longer operating, in a premises since demolished.
Thus the statement must be in past tense.
The officer persistently typed the statement in present tense. Mine Host told the Constable that being as today nothing is the same as it was at the time of the event, the statement must be in "past tense".
.....Blank look.....
Oh no! The Constable doesn't even know what "tense" means.
Mine Host gingerly went through the statement correcting tense.
The Constable's spelling was unreliable unless the word was phonetic, reverting in several instances to asking Mine Host to spell the words he was dictating.
One of the qualifications required to be sworn in as an officer in the Queensland Police is to have obtained a university degree.
Mine Host is tending to believe this to be a "claytons" degree, and not one requiring proficiency in the English language.
Yet Mine Host is expected to believe that this person, with such pitiful grasp of their native language, is able to grasp the law.
(Mine Host does not believe that Constables have much of a grasp of the law, or even much grasp of what their job is supposed to be, experience has taught him this)
The police officer taking the statement has only to type fast enough to keep up. This rarely happens. Despite now being able to type, modern police are no faster than the pre-historic police who typed two-fingered.
Recently when making a statement, Mine Host was forced to make more than the usual amount of corrections to his statement.
Mine Host at first did not grasp the problem:
The Constable did not understand the difference between past and present tense. The statement was about an event that happened a considerable time ago, in a business no longer operating, in a premises since demolished.
Thus the statement must be in past tense.
The officer persistently typed the statement in present tense. Mine Host told the Constable that being as today nothing is the same as it was at the time of the event, the statement must be in "past tense".
.....Blank look.....
Oh no! The Constable doesn't even know what "tense" means.
Mine Host gingerly went through the statement correcting tense.
The Constable's spelling was unreliable unless the word was phonetic, reverting in several instances to asking Mine Host to spell the words he was dictating.
One of the qualifications required to be sworn in as an officer in the Queensland Police is to have obtained a university degree.
Mine Host is tending to believe this to be a "claytons" degree, and not one requiring proficiency in the English language.
Yet Mine Host is expected to believe that this person, with such pitiful grasp of their native language, is able to grasp the law.
(Mine Host does not believe that Constables have much of a grasp of the law, or even much grasp of what their job is supposed to be, experience has taught him this)
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