[Mpls-pm] Food for Thought, on Perl in the Minneapolis marketplace..

[Gary Allen Vollink]

Gypsy,

What you point out is very true: that, at this maturity level, Perl is niche
in the marketplace.  That is self-fulfilling given your own search criteria.
 Something I've learned though ... a good developer is a good developer,
regardless of the language you give them.  An entry level programmer is
entry level, regardless of language.  That collage degree pushes a lot of
different languages on us for the very reason of making sure they can pick
up a new language if that's where the job is.
Maybe you give a PHP or C developer a chance to learn Perl for you.  The
requirement of Perl for entry level is not necessarily realistic.  No more
than looking for someone with Progress database experience, or Irix
experience.  Not because these things are not useful or important, but
because they are just far enough out of the primary education stream, that
looking for an entry-level person who knows these systems is not easy to
find.  Yet most Linux guys can find their way around Irix, and most Oracle
people can understand Progress.

Even with direct Perl exposure, an entry-level person will require more time
and patience to learn your systems anyway.  With learning Perl, like any
language, the hardest part is learning what libraries are available and
acceptable on your systems (which even experienced Perl programmers have to
learn at each new site).

What I am saying here, is that you are in the BEST position to push Perl out
into the world.  You do this by offering people the chance (and keeping your
own interview skills sharp).  One new developer at a time.

Thank you,
Gary Allen

On Thu, Oct 22, 2009 at 12:07 PM, Gypsy Rogers <gypsy at freeq.com> wrote:

>
>
> 7 years ago the same guy who would go for $25k right now would go for $40k.
>
> It is all supply and demand.
>
> But, I was just trying to give you a different perspective based on my own
> experience.
>
> I know I can put a request out for a low end php guy in that price range
> and
> get more resume's then I have time to sort though, many with a degree
> (because a lot of fresh grads are delivering pizza for a living right now
> for less then that), but it's not the same for perl.
>
> I'm sure you can discount this perspective and shove your nose in the air
> and say "yeah, well, we are better, and no-one you can hire at that rate
> would have half a brain" but that exact attitude is what is killing perl.
>
>
>
> On Thu, 22 Oct 2009 11:43:28 -0500, Gerd Knops <gerti-pm at bitart.com> wrote
> :
>
> >
> > On Oct 22, 2009, at 11:03 AM, Gypsy Rogers wrote:
> > >
> > > That being said, I fully admit to not using jobs.perl because I get
> > > spammed
> > > with $80k employees where I want a $25k to $35k employee and can get
> > > one
> > > with other languages to do the same jobs.
> >
> > I have to wonder how realistic it is to get anyone with a college
> > degree for $25k to $35k. In companies I worked for entry-level salary
> > for people with half a brain typically was in the mid-$40k range.
> >
> > Gerd
> >
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> >
> >
> >
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