Hiya. I must admit to not having time to properly keep up with the list, so if this seems out of place, that's why. Firstly - on the matter of cheap routes into a tech job - I think it's very easy. In my experience employers love enthusiasm and realistic outlooks very highly. By the second thing, I mean being prepared to put in long hours to learn stuff, to not getting huge wadges of cash to start with, and not having a glamourous project. I don't have any formal qualifications at all - didn't go to uni - but was very lucky to find a great job. Also, in the UK (and most of Europe), like Australia from what Jenn was saying, uni education is "free" - but getting less so. Still, there are not the same barriers to education as exist in USA etc. However in developing countries I would guess that it is much more difficult. I think being female can be a huge advantage to getting cool jobs. I have experienced a bit of sexism, but overall at work it is minimal and normally just from dumb clients. The good news is that I have found companies want more females in their teams. They seem to like a better balance - not just gender wise but in backgrounds, cultures etc. Like anything creative, solving a programming problem involves bringing together lots of random ideas, experiences and knowledge. I could use everything I've ever learnt in my work. It's not just about learning algorithms in college and coding them, thank God! So the more different experiences you can build into a team, the more different ways of thinking you can cover, the more likely that every problem will have a person who can understand it and code it. Of course the person has to have some aptitude as well! A dumb lass isn't going to succeed, but nor is a dumb lad. I'm not saying that it is all easy, that any female could get a technical job, just that there are advantages as well as disadvantages. One other thing - being female and without a degree, any dumb company who is run by PHB's and old fashioned ideas will prob not even call me in for an interview, so as a side effect I only get jobs in interesting exciting creative places. :) Best wishes, æ -- "Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage." Anais Nin ************ [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.linuxchix.org
