Would you hire this person?

[Cecil Champenois]

Would you hire a person for a PHP programming job who has experience in other languages, i.e., Visual FoxPro, C#, ASP.NET, T-SQL, but is only a beginner in PHP?

 

This is where I am at right now. I am writing questions and answers for PHP/MySQL from the PHP and MySQL Web Development book for a university's exams. I am really enjoying using this language, more than I thought I would. I am becoming quite enthusiastic about PHP.

 

I would like to know if anyone would actually consider hiring me (this is theoretical right now) to write PHP programs, based on my previous experience as mentioned above.
 

Cecil

[Robert Gonzalez]

Honestly, I wouldn't. Just because you're a programmer doesn't mean you're a PHP programmer. There are tons of (often minute) differences between PHP and other languages that, if you don't really know them or PHP from the core, you will end up being a liability to the team. I'm not trying to be harsh, just putting it out there. Its hard for a seasoned PHP programmer to land solid, good paying jobs *with* a PHP background.

That said, if the choice was between a self taught PHP n00b and an experienced programmer just learning PHP, I'd probably favor the programmer just because someone that has programming/IT experience is generally more apt to learn other languages without much need for "teaching".

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[Cecil Champenois]

Robert,

 

In a way, I feel exactly the same as you do, because I've seen horrible self-taught Visual FoxPro developers who wrote, pardon my French, crap programs. However, these self-taught FoxPro programmers were asked to write programs for the first time; they were not experienced in any other languages. I cannot tell you how many programs I have re-written (literally) from scratch to get the programs done the right way.

 

Now, if a person had previous programming experience and came to me and said, "I want to work for you using a language I don't yet know", but, if he had several years of previous programming experience, I'd be willing to teach him, if he came in low dollar. And, if he had enthusiasm and was willing to study on his own time, I'd be a lot more willing to use him on a project.

 

There is a software developer whom I've known for many years named Michael Cummings in Orange, CA, who hired college students who had zilch experience for anywhere between $10 and $20 per hour and taught them in the evenings additional things beyond what their college courses taught them. All of them learned a lot and he got them for low dollars; they actually did good work for him, in fact, excellent work. But, he was willing to teach them to get them on track with his way of doing things.
 

Cecil

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From: Robert Gonzalez <robert.anth...@gmail.com>
To: professi...@googlegroups.com
Sent: Wed, August 18, 2010 2:12:08 PM
Subject: Re: [Pro. PHP Dev.] Would you hire this person?

[Robert Gonzalez]

That's a decent trade, in my opinion, if your business needs can handle that pace. Most companies nowadays are racing against the clock to get their product to market before they run out of venture funding so hiring on the cheap is not usually an option if it entails training or learning of any sort. But I understand where you're coming from on this and, if I was in that boat, I'd probably do the same thing to save some overhead.

[Javier Montani]

Cecil,
You could begin at a PHP Entry Level or Junior Programmer for a company that needs to do modifications instead of developing somthing from scratch and doesn't have to much demand. In that way you'll be able to learn based on real requirements.

2010/8/18 Robert Gonzalez <robert.anth...@gmail.com>