Reaction to my column last week linking musical preference and professional persuasion was swift, brutal and decisive. OK, so it wasn’t really brutal. Nor particularly swift – some took almost a week to respond. And decisive? Well, three strikes, really.
The column in question referred
to a study by a U.K. training company that suggested particular IT job titles seemed to correspond with particular musical tastes. I wondered aloud – though not especially seriously, I should point out – if this might be reflective of an archetypal personality suited to specific tasks, or even a possible predictor of success in a given endeavour.
Our readers beg to differ.
“”Somehow the current need of our society, as evidenced by the Chapman fellow you mention, to profile, label and tag people and their behaviour would have the world reduced to a convenient template to which non-thinkers can comply,”” notes Rodger Harding of Harding International & Associates Inc. “”Yet another societal checklist to secure herd approval would give added comfort to those who would otherwise be exposed as mediocre — leaving the original/creative types more on the outside than ever!””
Yvonne Rediger of SaskTel dismisses the idea more succinctly. “”There is absolutely no basis in any of this nonsense about music identifying your job,”” she writes. She’s been a techie, sysadmin, project manager and business analyst. Her musical tastes run the gamut from Barenaked Ladies to Bach. “” I have had different jobs, because, oh my goodness! I like to try new things. Same goes for music.””
(Note to Yvonne: No, I’m not sure what job function prefers country and western, but I’m sure one of our quick-witted readers will make a suggestion.)
One consistent theme is variety. “”I am CCNA, MCSE, MCSA, CNA v5, Net+, A+, Server+, MCP, MCP+I,”” chimes in
Kevin Metric, who is one designation short of a really funny punchline I can’t think of right now. His playlist includes Igor Stravinsky, Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker, Ice Cube and NWA. Jay Hall loves the blues; Dave Hildebrand leans toward alt-rock; Teresita Gotengco is into classical crossover. This would suggest that IT professionals have widely varying tastes in music, which would make them, Gord help us, individuals.
Which seems to disappoint Henry Atamaniuk. “”Actually, pigeonholing was what I was searching for,”” he writes. “”I was hoping that after reading the article, I would be able to say, either to myself or to my employer, ‘I’m really a security specialist because I like The Doors and Hendrix …'””
Thanks to everybody who wrote in. And a final note to Denise Gontard: No, I don’t think a career change is in order just because your co-workers listen to classic rock. I would, however, look for other co-workers.
Dave Webb is a member of the Everything But The Girl fan club.