the "no good Perl jobs"/"no good Perl programmers" myth

[Adrian Howard]

On 6 Aug 2006, at 15:35, Nik Clayton wrote:
[snip]
> I think a lot of this is because people have a "won't bother"  
> attitude to these sorts of things, for whatever reason.  One of my  
> other hot button topics is the "we own everything you do" clause in  
> the contracts.  I indicated at the interview that that wasn't  
> acceptable, and had it removed, so if I do it on my equipment and  
> on my time then it's my code.  Do other people bother 'fighting'[2]  
> about stuff like that?

Always. It was a pleasant surprise to not find the "we own  
everything" clause in my last contract for once :-)

Actally - I tell a lie - I did leave a non-compete clause in a  
contract once because it was so amusing. It was something like "you  
won't work in the same business within 45miles of our registered  
offices within six months of leaving the organisation".

I pointed out that:
a) I wasn't working at their main office
b) They're industry was network based and could be run remotely  
anywhere in the world

but they didn't seem to care... very odd folk.

[snip]
> [2] Wasn't really a fight.  They said "Oh, OK", at the interview,  
> and accepted the amended contract without a fuss.

Yup. That's always been the response I've got to. Companies have  
normally spent £Nk to find you and get you to the point of signing a  
contract. You're in a pretty darn strong position at that point.

Cheers,

Adrian