첫 직장 보스 아저씨가 써준 추천서
2015년 10월 19일
늘 난 최선을 못했고, 모자랐고, 시간 낭비였고... 란 식으로 기억하는데, 정말 오랜만에 찾아보고 아주 조금 눈물찍.
요즘에도 가끔가끔 메일 보낸다.
To whom it may concern
Y**** worked for C***** CC from October 2000 to September 2001 as a trainee computer programmer. She worked under my supervision for the full period, so these comments are my personal impressions.
This reference should comment on her academic capabilities. I cannot do this directly, but I can draw inferences from her time at C***** which give a strong indication of her abilities in this regard.
When I interview staff I use a Mensa IQ test of 20 questions to be completed in 20 minutes. My conclusions are completely unscientific, but I get some insight as to how they handle pressure, how they react when I explain questions they got wrong, etc. The most anyone else has got right is 14, and several got 6 or less. Most do not finish in the time given. Y**** finished with 2 minutes to spare and got 19 answers correct.
The programming language I use is easy to learn and uses a database to store data. The first week is spent going through a tutorial which teaches the basics, and in the second week I encourage them to use what they have learned to create their own database, such as recipes or club membership records. Y**** finished the tutorial and created some simple databases within the first three days. Then without any prompting from me she wrote a 'Personality Analyser', asking a variety of questions and giving a variety of responses.
Apart from the obvious conclusions (she learns very quickly and, judging from her 'personality test', has a delightful sense of humour), I realised that she had grasped something that usually takes my staff a long time to understand. If one has the aptitude, learning to program is not difficult - you learn a limited set of commands which, if fed to a computer in an organised way, cause the computer to respond in a predictable manner. Many programmers learn the skill but rely on someone else to decide what the computer should do. Y**** realised that this new skill gave her a new medium with which she could express herself.
I started a new project using a new programming language with which I was unfamiliar. I used Y**** as my assistant. We would try to figure things out together, but sometimes I would have to leave her alone to find out the answers to some questions. On my return I was invariably astonished at what she had found. She would read manuals and other technical documentation voraciously, surf the internet to search for information, find forums where she could ask questions, etc. We made great progress in a short time, far faster than I would have by myself or with my other staff. Once past the learning stage, I would draw up a specification for a part of the project, discuss it with her, and leave her to get on with it. Based on my experience with other staff, I usually felt that I was giving her enough work for a week, but she would be back in a day or two asking what she should do next. The project was finished in good time, and is still in use today, more than 4 years later, with very few changes.
To summarise, here are my comments.
Ability to write and speak English - outstanding.
Academic potential - draw your own conclusions from the above.
Suitability for courses applied for - no comment.
Communication skills can be improved - she sometimes tries to impart too much information for me to keep up with.
Motivation, powers of analysis and independent thought - outstanding.
Relevant work experience - see above.
Disabilities etc – n/a.
Feel free to contact me for further information.
