Message-ID: <32FB419A.53B1@mail.amsinc.com>
Date: Fri, 07 Feb 1997 09:52:10 -0500
From: John Heidelberger <john_heidelberger@mail.amsinc.com>
Reply-To: john_heidelberger@mail.amsinc.com
Organization: American Management Systems
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Subject: Re: Does anybody hire entry-level Smalltalk programmers ???
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the Swamp Wizard wrote:
> 
> I've been lurkig on this group for a while and I notice tons of jobs for
> experienced programmers, but I don't see any for someone without any
> experience.  What gives?  I mean, EVERYBODY at one point was entry-level!

I think there are several reasons for this not the least of which
include:

1) Smalltalk jobs at large companies are at a premium.  By this I mean
that people in the industry see how much Smalltalk programmers are
getting.  Once an opening comes up at a large company there is a
preponderance of "postings" for that job.  It seems much less risky to
take someone who knows the company and has proven their ability in
another technology (i.e, Cobol) and retrain them in Smalltalk then it is
to hire someone who is an unknown quantity and take a gamble on them.

2) College hires are cheaper.  It is less expensive for companies to pay
for a few experienced Smalltalkers then hire and train college students
in Smalltalk to round out the team than it is to hire someone who has a
few years experience and wants to start in a specific technology like
Smalltalk.  

In relation to number 2.  The "entry level" Smalltalk jobs are often not
billed as such.  At AMS we hire a lot of recent college graduates.  Some
get trained in Smalltalk many do not.  In many cases we bill the jobs as
general technology jobs that we will train for.  

These are two of what I'm sure are many reasons, that you won't see many
postings for "Entry Level" Smalltalk.
-- 
John Heidelberger
American Management Systems, Inc.
Object Technology Practice
