Part-time Perl Developer Position based Reading, UK

[David Cantrell]

On Thu, May 26, 2011 at 12:19:34PM +0100, Peter Edwards wrote:

> BT did a study some years ago of teleworking and assessed it as an
> appropriate option for highly skilled workers who can use technology to
> enable their collaboration and whose work can be measured by deliverables
> rather than on a "sitting at their desk" basis.

OK, here's something for you to consider.

Let's assume that you and I work together.  You like working at home, I
prefer to work at work.  Now, one day we need to discuss something.  How
do we do that?

How, for example, do I understand what you're saying?  How do I quickly
scribble a diagram to show you?  I have tried all kinds of
video-conferencing "solutions" and none of them can do either of those
crucial things.

Those "collaboration tools" only work if they work well for all the
participants.

> To get a gig like that you must have some worth to a business - industry
> knowledge, domain knowledge, contacts - and some personal attributes -
> organised, flexible attitude - to make it work. You need something to
> differentiate yourself from some cheaper guy abroad.

Are you saying that people who can't - or won't - persuade manglement
that they should work at home are somehow lacking in those requirements?

> What do I mean? Well I was designing and rolling out systems for recruitment
> companies and the ideal time to do releases was 7 p.m. so a teleworker doing
> it remotely was ideal

Well done.  I'm glad it worked for you.

> BTW don't diss the "puerile coffee banter" too much. Many employers regard
> Perl programmers as misanthropic weirdos with no social skills. That might
> be okay if you're just gonna sit there typing code but if you have to talk
> to customers to figure out their requirements and keep them happy then be
> careful. I took one guy on-site and the customer told me never to bring him
> back, saying "What kind of crazy guy is that? I never want to speak with him
> again.". YMMV but you're trying to sell yourself and your skills and the
> more options you close off the less potential work you can get.

Talking about how many birds you shagged last night or how much you had
to drink or about TEH FOOOTBAWL or about what was on the idiot-box last
night or what AWESUM SPORTS CAR you don't know a damned thing about but
really want - none of that has any bearing on being able to talk sense to
a client.

-- 
David Cantrell | Nth greatest programmer in the world

Did you know that shotguns taste like candy canes?  Put the barrel in
your mouth and pull the trigger for an extra blast of minty goodness!