Attention LAMP and Apple developers: You don't exist.

[elfs]

While I've used recruiters in the past, right now I don't need one; I am gainfully employed and enjoying my work. That doesn't seem to stop recruiters from calling me. I view talking to recruiters as a necessary evil; I want to stay in their databases, and often I see it as an opportunity to educate them about what I'm doing, so they can target their databases more effectively.

But I had the most clueless recruiter the other day. She called me and started pitching immediately, without even waiting. "We have a great opportunity in your area," she said. "We're looking for a UI developer with five years of .NET and ASP experience. Some C# would be good, too."

I said, politely, "I'm sorry, I don't have any of those."

"You don't?" she said, somewhat surprised.

"No. I don't have any .NET or ASP experience. I have never developed for any Microsoft platform in my career."^*

"So, you're not a UI developer, then?"

There was a long pause while I restrained myself from yelling at her through the phone. I took a deep breath and said, "UI development is a programming craft, not a technology. It can be done in many different languages and on many different platforms. I do it in LAMP. Some people do it for Apple products. You want someone who does UI development for Microsoft products. I'm not a good candidate for that."

"Oh," she said. "Well, thank you for your time." She actually sounded snippish, as if I'd lied to her or something.

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^* This is not actually true; I had an eight-month part-time contract in 1993 that involved both MS-SQL database development and a VB-based UI front end. It paid the bills. But I hardly think a job 18 years ago is relevant today.

Comments

[nyssasemephit.livejournal.com]

I know how that goes... Not knowing Microsoft technologies destroys you on entry level, be thankful for your experience.

[omahas.livejournal.com]

I'm interested in understanding more about that. Do you mean that most recruiters won't consider you if you don't have some MS tech on your resume, or that most companies use MS tech and there aren't that many jobs for non-MS tech?

[nyssasemephit.livejournal.com]

In this area, it seems Microsoft tech is the standard, with the exception of the kind of things the esteemed Elf does, however he has experience. There are positions for *nix users at places like F5, true, but as my old roomie used to say, if you are sans neckbeard and VAX experience, you need not apply. Meaning, of course, that you need serious experience. Entry level, even with certs, and a non-microsoft skillset, is KILLER here.