I wish more programmers took a few writing classes so they would appreciate how to write an email with the correct punctuation. I've seen far too many emails where the author didn't appear to understand how to formulate a complete sentence or understand where to put a paragraph break.
I wish more freelancers took a class in business accounting so they'd have an idea of how to do it and what a good (or bad) contract looks like... or understand the value of their time. There are far too many that decide to become "freelancers" and yet have no idea on how to do the basic business items that come with being a freelancer.
I wish more programmers took a class that had a public speaking component. Reading powerpoint slides as a team presentation is boring. The work environment isn't just "I write code" but also a transferring of knowledge from one person to the rest of the team.
I wish more programmers took some classes in history, or physical sciences - things outside the major. I've had more than a water cooler conversations where a person doesn't understand how the length of the day impacts the temperature, or is surprised at the similarity of events today and those of thirty some-odd years ago. This concerns me, not for the skills of work, but rather the understanding of the world outside of the office.
To these things, English composition, human communication, contemporary economy, arts and culture, political science and history... oh, those are are excellent class titles to help fill out those I wish items.
I wish more freelancers took a class in business accounting so they'd have an idea of how to do it and what a good (or bad) contract looks like... or understand the value of their time. There are far too many that decide to become "freelancers" and yet have no idea on how to do the basic business items that come with being a freelancer.
I wish more programmers took a class that had a public speaking component. Reading powerpoint slides as a team presentation is boring. The work environment isn't just "I write code" but also a transferring of knowledge from one person to the rest of the team.
I wish more programmers took some classes in history, or physical sciences - things outside the major. I've had more than a water cooler conversations where a person doesn't understand how the length of the day impacts the temperature, or is surprised at the similarity of events today and those of thirty some-odd years ago. This concerns me, not for the skills of work, but rather the understanding of the world outside of the office.
To these things, English composition, human communication, contemporary economy, arts and culture, political science and history... oh, those are are excellent class titles to help fill out those I wish items.