[JOB] Sr. Python Developer, Northern VA

[Anton Vredegoor]

John J. Lee wrote:

> You may not realise it if you haven't been applying for work since you
> did that, but I'm sure you've done a lot for your "employability" (I
> hate that word, it implies that it's a one-sided business, clearly
> false) by working as a freelancer.

Since I'm freelancing my leverage has been a lot better and it has 
resulted in a few short term regular job contracts. Unfortunately 
there's also the new problem that when people learn that they can also 
employ me as a freelancer they might prefer that, since it gives them 
less risk, but then they don't want to pay me a freelance tariff :-(

> Your original rant seemed rather one-sided, though.

Yes, I tried to let it slip that it was a rant. At least it has got some 
discussion going.

>> The basic problem however is that it's just not anyones business
>> whether one has been walking through the country making pictures or
>> doing some desk job. All that should matter is can he do the job and
>> is he motivated. Asking a person who he *is* (resume) is not Pythonic!
> 
> I sympathise but conventional wisdom (which surely has a lot of truth
> in it) is that employers are not faced with the problem of minimising
> false negatives (failing to hire when they should have hired).  They
> are faced with the problem of minimising false positives (hiring when
> they should not have hired).  That's a gross simplification of course,
> but I'm sure you appreciate the point -- if you're hiring employees,
> being fairly risk-averse is probably quite rational.

So when we really mean business, you're back to static typing?

> I've often thought that randomness is a good thing here though,
> globally -- a world of perfectly rational selfish employers would fail
> to employ legions of highly productive people.  Luckily incompetence
> in hiring steps in often enough to save the day, in this best of all
> possible worlds <0.75 wink>

For me it's easy: I just can't stand handing over my resume anymore 
(that's because of severe psychological damage caused by the Dutch 
social security system), so whatever happens, I'm forced to find 
rational employers. And with rational I mean a dynamically typing 
employer! I'm the kind of employee object that when it gets typechecked 
it raises a ResumeError.

> (no hiring incompetence at the employer I'm just about to move to, it
> goes without saying :-)

Well, on my next leisurely stroll along the river side, I will 
consciously enjoy the freedom of currently having no job instead of the 
usual "I'm lucky I have no kids to worry about", just to humor you!

A.