"I have a mind like a steel... uh... thingy." Patrick Logan's weblog.

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Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Weird Jobs

Dominique Boucher on programming jobs in Montreal, but I would suppose the same is true in a handful of North American cities...

Great programmers are not looking for jobs. They already have one. And they don't want to switch from one Java job to another, unless they are dissatisfied with other aspects of their job. But a fraction of them would easily consider another job if it involved Scheme, Lisp or Erlang programming (or other non-mainstream languages like OCaml, Prolog, Haskell, etc.).

So I claim that it is easier to recruit Scheme, Lisp, or Erlang programmers, even in Montreal, than Java/C# programmers.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

...assuming that technology is the primary overrider in a job decision, which IME is much lower on the list than the type of work you'll be doing, the team you'll be working with, the relative dysfunctionality (or not) of the company, and even (gasp!) money.

Patrick Logan said...

Weird languages, being weird, tend to be associated with the most interesting types of work, the most interesting team, and employers interested in results and willing to pay more for fewer, better, people.

So fortunately your concerns and good technology tend to go hand-in-hand.

Anonymous said...

Ah, LISP. How I love thee.

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About Me

Portland, Oregon, United States
I'm usually writing from my favorite location on the planet, the pacific northwest of the u.s. I write for myself only and unless otherwise specified my posts here should not be taken as representing an official position of my employer. Contact me at my gee mail account, username patrickdlogan.