“Lessons Learned at School”
Worcester Polytechnic Institute, my alma mater – developed its own scale in relationship to the idea of competency, and stressed it applicability to real-world problems. Their method rated compentency into five simple categories, and in my view, it is a much better approach. I have adopted it here (copied directly from my freshman handbook), and elsewhere on this site, to rate my familiarity with specific technology “products”, their “features”, and their “use” accordingly:
1 = Demonstrates Incompetence
2 = Suggests Incompetence
3 = Suggest Competence
4 = Suggests Mastery
5 = Demonstrates Mastery
Try to remember that the term suggests is a “soft” term. For example, being “certified” in a particular technology, for example, does not necessarily guarantee “competence” – as in “competent and capable of solving the real-world problem directly at hand”, or for that matter, a willingness to do so. Maybe the individual slept through the class.
Neither is the opposite true – there are plenty of very good engineers as well as business people that have no specific formal training, but are the nonetheless incredibly competent or successful. Think about the problem-solvers in your own experience if you’re unclear of this – or simply consider someone like Bill Gates.
How does that apply here?
Amazingly, what you, really, want to know can be discovered by reading the resume, or listening carefully during an interview, or meeting:
0 = “I didn’t hear…What was that you said? – Who’s going to Starbucks?”
1 = “I was in the room, when somone mentioned the technology”
2 = “I researched it on-line, and downloaded an evaluation package”
3 = “I was an active member of a committee that selected it”
4 = “I purchased/installed it and committed myself to making it useful”
5 = “I utilized it at my organization and solved a real-life business problem”
6 = “I worked around its limitations to solve an even bigger business problem”
7 = “I extended its associated ROI by making recommentations/enhancements”
8 = “I started a user group to evangilize its use thoughout my industry”
9 = “I became the vendor’s product manager”
10+”I started a company who successfully (and legally) reverse-engineered it”
Hence:
0/1 = Demonstrates Incompetence
2/3 = Suggests Incompetence
4/5 = Suggest Competence
6/7 = Suggests Mastery
8/9 = Demonstrates Mastery
Seasoned. Competent. Professional.