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

[Gypsy Rogers]

> That's
> quite true. But I think, it often applies to the supply and demand for
> the products of hiring business too. I bet you have lots of different
> challenges running a small consulting business, you mention that your
> business is often under constant cost pressures from competition. Is
> that a fair statement? 


Absolutely, I'm constantly fighting the battle between quality and price,
and I'm always competing with people who are using over seas cheap labor. Or
that the nephew of the hair dresser's wife.



> 
> > 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.
> 
> Do
> you think part of this is demographics too? I think the majority of
> Perl coders are at a different part of their careers than PHP coders. I
> have no way to compare this to PHP coders but I did read (and fill out)
> the Perl survey's for the last few years, that indicated many more folks 
> 




Again, yes, demographics are a big part of it. 10 years ago entry level perl
guys were in abundance these days the toy is php. Everyone who learned perl
when it was an entry language is much more mature then I need right now.




> I found it interesting that
> you choose not to use the jobs.perl.org site to look for employees. I
> guess i would have thought that with a salary range listed that you
> could have had a better selection of matching candidates. Did you get a
lot of replies from overseas as well? 
> 



Last time I used jobs.perl.org I received applications from overseas
contractors when I want someone in my office once a week, and people asking
for twice the rate I was looking to pay. That being said, this thread did
push me to go ahead and post again to jobs.perl.org even though I don't have
much confidence just to say I did and give it a chance.





> I
> think maybe that part of this thread that is most sad is not the lack
> of Perl jobs but the lack of new software/web app/internal startups in
> the Twin Cities. I lurk on the minnebar, minnedemo, mpls ruby list and
> others, there are few mentions of new ventures but not many. I would
> like to blame the general economy for this but I'm not sure that is the
> case. It seemed that this area had a fairly large drop of new ventures
> after the dotcom bubble burst. Maybe this is part of an maturing
> development community that whats less risk in life. Or maybe just a
> complete lack of funding sources. Or Both :)
> 
> I would love to
> hear about different perspectives on the startup software/internet/web
> startups/new company state in the Twin Cities. 
> 


Actually, there is no lack of startups, there is a lack of investment money
for startups, there is a significant difference there. Part of my business
model is to be technology partners for startups where my company provides
the development for them in exchange for equity base. I turn down potential
clients in that arena daily. 

The problem is that the perception of the investment community is that
dotcoms are dangerous because of the dotcom bubble. 

The bane of all technology seems to be a lack of understanding from the
outside world. I find myself so often trying to have one foot in each of
these worlds and it's a hard balancing act to keep.





> Take Care,
> 
> Lee
> 
> 
>