} I have been sending out my resume to whatever Rails jobs I can find.
} There is a limitied supply unless you want to relocate. It seems like
} the Rails stuff out there gets alot of applicants, though I am not sure
} if they tend to be locals, very experienced etc.
}
} I have also been applying for C++, Java, and Perl jobs. I have alot of
} background in C++, but am a little rusty. I have done some Java, but
} not really J2EE. I have been trying to send out 20+ resumes a week so I
} can't limit myself to Rails. I need to find a job.
If you need a job, you need a job. I worked as a Microsoft whore for almost
a year (developing a large, mission-critical, internal, database-backed,
VB.NET desktop app, employed by a consulting company and contracted out to
the company developing and using the app). I did this because I was moving
to another state and I needed a job to pay the mortgage. It wasn't my
favorite experience programming-wise, though the compensation, benefits,
and work environment were pretty good.
I spent my free time learning stuff that interested me, however, which
happened to include Ruby and Rails. I then got lucky in that a very
appealing local job was announced on this mailing list. I applied for it
and, happily, got it.
} Here is one problem I seem to have, I wonder if others have this
} problem. Although I apply for Java and C++ jobs, since I am hoping to
} find Rails work, I may not come across as overly enthusiastic, though I
} try my best to give a good impression.
Out of the various companies looking to hire programmers, only a slim
fraction of them give a damn about "enthusiasm" per se. The closest they
come is that they want to know that if they bring you on and invest the
time and money in training you (no one is as productive their first week,
or month, or even year as they are in subsequent weeks, months, and years;
that means that even if there is no formal training, they are paying you to
learn how to do your job effectively for the first N days you are working
for them, plus the time you are taking from co-workers in your learning),
you won't leave before that investment has paid off.
You are unlikely to get a full-time job, as opposed to a short-term
contractual position, if it looks to them like you working for them would
only last until something better comes along. There was a time, well before
I entered the workforce, when there was a mutual agreement of loyalty
between employer and employee; this time has past, but most employers still
give it lip service and expect potential hires to do so as well. You are
ultimately lying to each other, but it's just a ritual you have to observe,
like saying, "doing fine, how are you?" when someone asks how you are,
rather than telling them your very real problems.
} Sometimes I feel too relaxed at these interviews, and I feel like I
} should be a little nervous or on edge. I try to sit at the edge of my
} chair instead of laying back in the chair and so on, something I read
} along time ago, but I feel like I need to throw water in my face or
} something.
This is a red herring. Yes, you need to appear attentive and on the ball,
but nervousness implies a lack of confidence in your own competence. It is
your responsibility, as an interviewee, to make the interviewer feel that
hiring you would be a benefit to the company; if you don't appear to be
confident of that, why would the interviewer have any confidence?
} The other things, is I get asked technical questions on C++ and Java that
} I may be rusty on. Since I am focused on Rails, and that's what I have
} been studying, I feel I may be spreading myself a little thin. Today I
} was asked what a virtual C++ destructor was, I blew that one as well as
} why .h files where needed besides .cpp files, which I realized within 5
} minutes after the interview it's because of linkage. I won't get these
} same answers wrong a second time of course.
This is egregious. If you are applying for a position that requires certain
skills, you had better be able to demonstrate your competence in those
skills. Being able to hold up your end of a discussion of virtual
destructors, pure virtual methods, duck typing as it applies to templated
classes/methods/functions, what goes in header files rather than source
files, when to inline methods/functions, how to use the C preprocessor
effectively, STL iterators, etc., etc. is necessary to demonstrate your
competence in C++. If you can't do that, you don't *deserve* to get a job
programming C++, period. Dedicate the time to developing and polishing your
skills, because you shouldn't expect to get a job requiring skills in which
you are not competent.
On the flip side, if you are unwilling to put the effort into competence in
a particular skill (and this means a lot more than looking up the answers
to questions you blew in an interview), don't apply for jobs requiring that
skill.
} Another question. I am mid 40's. I would like to know some stats on
} older programmers. I would like to keep writting code until I am at
} least 75, though maybe not full time all the time. I have some money
} saved for retirement, but I would actually like that to be part of my
} retirement plan is to not really retire fully. Anyone else feel that
} way ? Are there alot of older programmers ? Does the job market for
} older programmers look promising or not ? Are there similar or
} different age descrimination issues down the road ? Ever wonder about
} that ?
There are rumors of a shortage of software developers at the moment. True
or not, the combination of the rumors and a growing backlash against crappy
(typically defined as "poor security," e.g. Windows) means that employers
are, largely, more concerned about competence, which comes from experience,
than cheap labor, which comes from youth. That does mean (and I keep coming
back to it) that you need to be able to demonstrate your competence.
--Greg
