He’s a good-looking fellow in his early 20s, and he’s a senior at a university. He’s majoring in computer science and thinks he’s going to make “a ton of money” when he graduates. Through his grandparents, he was able to get a part-time job. It’s not a complicated job, but he’s having trouble with it.
His grandparents asked me to talk to him, and I tried but got nowhere. One of the first things he wanted to know was if I liked one of his favorite bands. I’d never heard of them, so he tried another, which I had never heard of either. In frustration, he asked what kind of music I like. When I answered classical, some jazz and some opera, it sealed my fate. He probably thinks animals are more intelligent than I am.
So then he told me he was very smart.
I’ve been fortunate to know a lot of very smart people, and none of them ever told me they were smart. I figured it out by what they said and what they did. In my experience, the really smart people are humble about it.
All I wanted to explain to him was that his part-time job could be excellent training for his first big job after he graduates.
He just doesn’t seem to know that when someone hires him, he has to do what they want the way they want it done. He also has to not do things they don’t want.
For instance, he likes to just start dancing in front of everyone with no music playing. It kind of makes you wonder if he’s on drugs or something. It’s not a confidence builder for customers, colleagues or management.
If he’s working at a counter with customers in line, he thinks nothing of leaving his post to get something to eat. They should wait till he gets back.
These are just a few examples. I could go on and on. Basically, he was very good at doing all the little things that would aggravate his superiors. His rallying cry is, “I’m a goofball. You just have to put up with it.” You can only do that for so long. Well, he got fired. Somebody told me he cried when it happened.
What really bothers me is this guy has had eight years of elementary school, four years of high school and three- and-a-half years of college, and he still doesn’t know these things. He’s worked a number of part-time jobs, especially during summer vacations; how could he not know this stuff? As a senior scheduled to graduate in May, is he even close to being ready for a real job? I wonder how many people his age have the same problem?
Admittedly, computer/software people are often known for their quirks and idiosyncrasies, but with all the cybersecurity problems going around, companies are expecting more and more from their IT folks.
Would you trust a computer system, probably the backbone and nerve center of your company, to someone like this? In many companies, when the IT system shuts down or gets hacked, the company is paralyzed.
I haven’t spoken with him since. If he’s internalized this and understands how he was practically begging to get fired, this could be a valuable lesson and save him from losing a real job after college.
On the other hand, what usually happens is people who get fired often decide it was because they had an unreasonable boss who was just in a bad mood that day. If that’s the case, he may find that most of his bosses are unreasonable, and he’ll get fired a lot.
He seems to think that being what he calls “cool” is more important than satisfying his customers or his bosses. I haven’t checked, but I can’t imagine there are a lot of good-paying jobs for goofballs, even with a degree in computer science.
In the last year, big tech (e.g., Meta, Microsoft, etc.) and many companies have been laying off software and computer people as if there are too many of them. I’m told someone from the unemployment office was commenting he had never seen so many high-end geeks looking for work.
I understand our friend got his part-time job back. It sounds like he’s learned, and if he’s lucky enough to get that big job after he graduates, I hope he’ll be able to keep it.
Ronald J. Bourque, a consultant and speaker from Salem, has had engagements throughout the United States, Europe and Asia. He can be reached at 603-898-1871 or RonBourque3@gmail.com.
