Why do so many people not acknowledge help 27

[johnnymac43]

When a question is asked in a technical forum, the first reply is usually a useful piece of advice or a request for more details. In some tek-tips forums, the number of occasions when there is no response from the originator is substantial. In my view, a word of thanks or a simple answer to a question should be the 'normal' outcome.

I recently raised this topic in a technical forum. When it disappeared after a short time I was unsure whether it was because it was in the wrong place, or because the thread attracted some unexpected abuse:- (What is your problem?) (What are you complaining about?) (Why haven't you given more stars to us for our good advice to others?)

After some deliberation I have decided to try this forum in the hope of getting some serious discussion going.

Cheers

John

 

[dwarfthrower]

>> on the other hand, who, if emailed by a member, would turn down beer?!

You can email beer???

Man, I need to get with it.

 

[BruceReed]

Do you think thread401-452851 is homework, or an easy way to get a job without the proper requirements?

I don't usually mind helping , but this seemed WAY over the top for a Tip site.

Bruce

 

[dwarfthrower]

Looks to me like someone trying to bluff their way through an interview.

I don't think Cognos would be taught at lower-college level.

 

[MDXer]

I don't know any colleges teaching Cognos. If it is someone trying to bluff their way through an interview I doubt they will be able to. OLAP is one technology where it is hard to bluff. As an OLAP Engineer I interviewed dozens of OLAP "Experts" about the only thing they knew about OLAP was how to spell it.

"Shoot Me! Shoot Me NOW!!!"
- Daffy Duck

 

[GlenJohnson]

Cognos? With what I know about this, it would be easier for me to email beer. I'm bowing out on that one.

Glen A. Johnson
Johnson Computer Consulting
MCP W2K
glen@johnsoncomputers.us

http://www.johnsoncomputers.us

Want to get great answers to your Tek-Tips questions? Have a look at FAQ219-2884

"Once the game is over, the king and the pawn return to the same box."

 

[BruceReed]

Glen
That's my point.

I know are fair bit about Cognos, but the more I know about it, the more I know that I don't know a damn thing about it.

For the 2 guys to say "tell me everything about Cognos in 1 sentence or less", seems just like a way to BS your way into a job.

It makes me upset, as I have been trying to get a job in the Cognos field, and I have been told I don't have enough experience.

Oh well, I guess I am ranting again. Must be the heat.

Bruce

 

[bcastner]

BruceReed,

The responses to that thread are essentially an informal red flag.

Just imagine though even if your suspicions are true, which I suspect they are, if the interviewer knows anything about Cognos the fellow would not last very long in the interview process I should think.

 

[GlenJohnson]

Bruce, you've got a right to rant. The manufacturing company I work for, (Not my own PC business), is basically running a Novell 4.0 and W2K Server network. The big boss wants to get rid of Novell and go pure W2K. I was getting close to finishing the project, when my boss, (He's between myself and the big boss, so I have to report to him), tells me my job is being eliminated. I was moved out into the shop, took a drastic pay cut, and moved to second shift. There are way to many people out there pulling funky stuff. The boss that got rid of me refuses to learn anything about W2K, and when I tried to tell him somthing was black, he would say "No, it's white." To this day he's deleting hosts files off of pc's even though the AS400 guru wants them left so people can communicate with the AS400. Old boss doesn't think hosts files are needed. Rant away and beat your chest. Life is not always fair, but it does give you a chance to move onward and upward. (Really pushing my PC business around town during the days. I can rant also.)

End of rant.

Glen A. Johnson
Johnson Computer Consulting
MCP W2K
glen@johnsoncomputers.us

http://www.johnsoncomputers.us

Want to get great answers to your Tek-Tips questions? Have a look at FAQ219-2884

"Once the game is over, the king and the pawn return to the same box."

 

[arlems]

Glen, Maybe you want to write a letter to the bigboss letting him know what is happening. That the lower boss is on its way to destroy the communication lines of his company.

 

[johnnymac43]

Morning All,

My, this thread has certainly had a long run, with most of the contributions pretty close to the topic. Thank you all for your input - it has helped to put a lot of other things into perspective.

I guess it's inevitable, but it now seems to have drifted a bit. I wonder where it will lead.

Just to nudge the topic a little, I have found over the years that, in face to face situations, there are two distinct types of IT professional when it comes to the matter of seeking and accepting help from colleagues.

Type A seeks help when that seems the best option, and is appreciative of help given. This type willingly gives help and will offer help if the opportunity arises.

Type B seldom seeks or offers help, and often appears to resent any input from colleagues, even in situations sanctioned by management, such as code reviews.

Type B1 usually gets by without help, and is often best left in a dark room to produce brilliant results.

Type B2 usually makes a complete hash of a task, blames everyone else, and leaves others to fix the mess.

I sometimes wonder if many of the ungrateful questioners we have encountered in Tek-Tips are Type B2 individuals who use the anonymity of the forums to seek help but display their inherent characteristics from there on.

Enough for now,

John

 

[EdwardMartinIII]

Feel like producing a similar stratification of Answerers?

Cheers,


Edward

"Cut a hole in the door. Hang a flap. Criminy, why didn't I think of this earlier?!" -- inventor of the cat door

 

[johnnymac43]

Edward,

Since you asked, here goes with the brief version:

Type A attempts, not always successfully, to understand the questioner as well as the question, and to pitch a response at the appropriate level.

Type B assumes that quality advice is always good.

Type AB fluctuates wildly between these extremes.

Both of types A and B have an infinite number of subtypes.

Type Y offers witty remarks, and sometimes useful advice.

Type Z offers sarcastic remarks, and sometimes ditto.

This is the extent of the brief version. The full version would take up too much disk space.

Cheers,

John

 

[BruceReed]

It seems that school is back in, I have seen two questions that seem to point to "a student without a clue" & trying to find the answers to their homework at TT.

Bruce

 

[edfair]

Do us a favor and red flag them and give management a heads up that it is homework.
the site will be better for it.

Ed Fair
Any advice I give is my best judgement based on my interpretation of the facts you supply. Help increase my knowledge by providing some feedback, good or bad, on any advice I have given.

 

[BruceReed]

Ed

Thanks for the advice. Unless it is blatant, I give it the benefit of doubt & answer with a vague answer. If I get no response it was homework & it gets the red flag. If I get a more detailed response, the person is at least trying to help him/ her self.

Bruce

 

[sleipnir214]

Every student that posts a question is trying to help himself or herself -- by getting a better grade if nothing else.

Students are not allowed to post in the fora. Red flag them and let TT management decide on an appropriate action.

Want the best answers? Ask the best questions:

http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

TANSTAAFL!!

 

[cian]

Sorry to continue a discussion which has been dragging on for a long while...

Question: Why do we need thanks?
Sure it's nice to be appreciated, and it's polite to say please and thank you, and it's a buzz when you get your first stars but can anyone honestly say that in life they have always said please and thank you, that they have never forgotten to say it or to be appreciative for something they received?
We all come from different countries, have different ways of doing things, have different attitudes, are different ages and view things differently. Polite to one may not be polite to another...and some people simple don't know forum ettiquette!
let it slide is my opinion!

Red-flagging: i'd urge caution and only do it in obvious cases! Just my 2 cents!





- É -

http://www.ssi-developer.net/elgoog/

 

[johnnymac43]

Acknowledgement, the key ingredient in this thread, is not just about thanks, and certainly not about stars.

Essentially, it is one or more of the following:
> Got your message.
> This is what I did / need / have.
> I do / don't need more.
> Thanks.

Cheers,

John

 

[cian]

Spot on..i missed that, it IS "acknowledgement" as opposed to "thanks"
But I personally still don't need acknowledgement. maybe it's just me.

I enjoy answering questions, makes the brain work for a while and I feel like I have helped someone, that's my reward, if the person who asked the question takes the answer and runs then so be it!




- É -

http://www.ssi-developer.net/elgoog/

 

[sleipnir214]

cian:
My reasons for participation are similar to yours. The act of coming up with answers is a reward in itself.

However, it is irritating in the extreme to me when I post an answer to a question and don't even get feedback that the questioner has even read my answer, much less found it useful.

Want the best answers? Ask the best questions:

http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

TANSTAAFL!!