Glass Wall

AntiPattern Name: GlassWall (under construction)

Like a GlassCeiling? that prevents certain people (ie women) from rising as far in their profession as others, a GlassWall prevents people from expanding into other fields, not because they lack the ability, but because they lack the relevant experience.

"You are as only as good as you were!"

Type: Management

Problem: Companies want to hire someone who is a good match for the job.

Context: Staff hiring

Forces:

when hiring staff, the emphasis placed on experience as opposed to ability
possibly because of the number of applications per job, that's as far as most candidates get

Supposed Solution:

When hiring someone, an obvious starting point is their resume. This naturally focusses on what someone has done in the past.

Resulting Context:

What that individual wants to achieve in the future is not covered, or only touched on during the interview.
Thus, candidates are filtered out and selected purely on the basis of what they have done.

Design Rationale:

Related AntiPatterns: AnAthena, DryWaterhole

Applicable Positive Patterns:

Candidates should get in the habit of listing aspirations in their resume
Employers should assess how much training they would be willing to accept in a near match. This would avoid a DryWaterhole.

AntiPatternCategory: Management

Also Known As: ?

Examples in the Literature: ?

Examples in Practice: Check your resume!

I've had a TeleportingGlassWall? situation when I've been moved between managers. The original manager - a project manager who didn't have a lot of time to put toward the project - left the whole development cycle to me, except for some of the talking to the client. The next one came onto a project and elected themselves the DBA and architect, and switched platforms, presumably based on my incompetence to make those choices. (My title is just "programmer"; how would he know?) The next one sandwiched me somewhere in between. I didn't have an official list of competencies. Each manager came to me, teleported the glass wall somewhere else, and tossed me right over it... --JesseMillikan

An aspect of your personal CareerManagement? is to get into a job based on your skills in X and while you are in there, finagle your way into a job where you can develop skill Y. This is the only way to keep your skills current. Of course, you have no skill in Y to start with, and you learning on the job is an expense to your employer. GlassWalls are an attempt to contain these costs. It's understandable, but it means the good people will leave.

CategoryAntiPattern