British Computer Society?

peetee said:
They tried to get us into it at uni, I thought it was a bit of a **** take because if theyd let me in it cant be that great.
If someones chartered etc it obviously does mean something, but just paying £40 to be a member shows nothing really does it?
You could go to uni, get a degree and finish then apply for a job, or you could do the same and pay £40 for the membership, it makes absolutely no difference for the majority of people i expect.
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Except you need a degree in CS and 3 years industry experience to become a MBCS? :)

FWIW I used to be an associate member of the IoP but packed it in because unless you were following the standard "research" route they didn't want to know and it was very difficult if not impossible to attain a full membership without going down the academia/ research route.

I don't think the BCS is quite as bad for this TBH and another fringe benefit is free access to journals and eBooks.
 
It's utterly utterly useless unless you're an academic. University professors love it but that's about it.
 
I know two members and to date I dont think I know how it has benefitted them, though one is a freelance consultant who really REALLY worked hard and gained all his knowledge, the other won an award for an area he wasnt even an expert in.
From that, its good if you know your stuff and back it up with what you know plus references, failing that, like the latter person I mentioned, its was mainly for both his and the company's kudos and nothing more.
 
emailiscrap said:
Of course I wouldn't:rolleyes::rolleyes:
If it was a relevant qualification then it would be an asset. As far as I'm concerned, membership is not any use to me at all.
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That doesn't explain why you see membership as a negative? You like the shiny certificates that anyone can get but you don't like people who have at least a certified amount of relevant experience in the IT industry. That makes no sense whatsoever.
 
You've quoted my reply but either haven't read it, or don't understand it.
If there was an industry specific qualification, then yes I would see it as a positive.
A membership of the BCS as an organisation in isolation is utterly meaningless as it can be bought with no real world requirement of skill or ability.
Typically, the people I have interviewed who have mentioned it* on their CV have tended to be the least capable candidates.

*I say mentioned, what I mean is they have harped on about, as it is normally a focal point on an otherwise bland CV.
 
emailiscrap said:
You've quoted my reply but either haven't read it, or don't understand it.
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Trust me, I'm not the one with comprehension problems here.

emailiscrap said:
If there was an industry specific qualification, then yes I would see it as a positive.

A membership of the BCS as an organisation in isolation is utterly meaningless as it can be bought with no real world requirement of skill or ability.
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No, it means that have reached a minimum standard of relevant experience in the IT industry. Experience > certificates unless you believe all that computeach crap about a bin man getting a MCSE and suddenly driving a Merc. It's not bought either - the subscriptions are so small as to be irrelevant - hell, my company will even pay your subscription fees - there is a reasonably thorough application process before full membership is given.

You still haven't answered the question as to why you see membership as a negative.

emailiscrap said:
Typically, the people I have interviewed who have mentioned it* on their CV have tended to be the least capable candidates.

*I say mentioned, what I mean is they have harped on about, as it is normally a focal point on an otherwise bland CV.
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Really the least capable candidates or the ones you've unreasonably discriminated against because of your own personal feelings about the BCS?
 
If I were looking at a cv and it quoted BCS membership without further stating they were actively and constructively involved with BCS meets etc then to me it would simply have been quoted because someone had misinformed them it was somehow advantageous to include it and I'd question why they felt it necessary to include and why they felt it gave them the edge...................this would be followed by disregarding the cv and moving onto the next one, simple as

Nothing wrong with membership if it also comes with being actively involved to provide input and output and a business or technology awareness or improvement to the individuals knowledge thats relevant, to simply go on-line and join to simply ascociate oneself with BCS is 100% meaningless irrelevant utter crap and insulting the intelligence of a prospective employer and imho deserves the cv to be binned
 
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