Friday wrap-up: Patching myths; resumes are useless

A sampling of what’s going on in the Oracle blogosphere in the first week of June . . .

As a follow-up to our recent post about how to snag an Oracle job, I offer Eddie Awad’s thoughts on the subject, namely that resumes are useless. (He references Andrew Wulf who claims that interviews are stupid.) The point these bloggers seem to be making is that you can’t always glean real information from a list of skills on a piece of paper, or even from how a job candidate presents themselves in person. Wulf wonders why interviewers rarely actually consult references (which might provide insight into how someone performs in the real world); he also notes that certifications don’t necessarily mean anything: “I’ve know people who aced certification tests and were utterly unable to develop any useful applications.” Awad says that resumes are usually “overcharged with buzzwords” but “when the moment of truth (the interview) comes, few candidates know the answer to very basic questions.” Bottom line? Know your stuff! If you concoct an impressive-looking resume but lack real skills, it will quickly become obvious.

Steven Chan lists and debunks five myths about patching — specifically, he addresses the most common reasons why people don’t upgrade their E-Business Suite environment. These include complaints about downtime, cost, and complexity. Chan dismisses these in turn. In response to the old saw, “If it ain’t broke, why fix it?” Chan would say that leaving your apps unpatched is asking for things to get broke. Kind of like never taking your car in for a tune-up — just waiting until it actually breaks down. “New releases are issued to provide new functionality and improve stability, performance, and security,” he writes. “If you’re running an older release, it has — by definition — issues in these areas that you may not have noticed yet.”

Finally, the topic of popularity in the Oracle blogosphere continues to draw attention. Justin Kestelyn feels “satisfied” that the OTN blogs are improving their reputation. He sassily remarks that “as an actionable resource (not just digital ‘fishwrap’ for blogger busy-bodies) — Oracle Blogs have few equals.” (I’m trying to wrap my brain around what the digital fish would be.) Doug Burns bounces back with a semi-rant on why the popularity contest is misled.

Who really cares if your blog is included on blogs.oracle.com or not? People are never going to believe this, but I can only tell you the truth. I’m spectacularly uninterested in my Technorati ‘ranking.’ […] Is it really so weird to just write what you want to write, have a good time doing it and occasionally help someone a little bit? […] Maybe part of the reason I’m within a million miles of the ‘Top 10’ of Oracle blogs is precisely because I *don’t* care too much?

I’ll leave you with that thought . . . have a good weekend all, and try not to obsess about your Technorati ranking too much.

-Elisa