This has been an interesting thread, so I'll toss in my unique point of view...
I have never held a full time job for anyone but myself. I find good opportunity and take advantage of it. I make decent money also. I have not marketed myself as a PHP developer, but rather as a problem finder and solver. Many times, clients do not know what they need - you need to find the appropriate solution to their problem, even though they do not know what their problem is! If you become well at doing this, you *will* be able to find business. Maybe it takes a passion for the field. But you do need to be able to recognize the issues and apply your vast knowledge (from many different areas) to it, and come up with a solution that your clients did not even know was possible. Now, this will not happen all the time, but when it does, you will be getting more business from them, and other businesses that they talk to. For those of you that have a mind for business, there are hundreds of unique opportunities that you can use to generate money. The site I am currently working on is owned by three people (including me). The each of us bring a very different skill to the table. I bring technical skills and problem solving, partner 1 brings Sales and marketing, partner 2 brings financial backing and a mind for business. The result is a site that is expected to top $1,000,000/year by 2003. When I first encountered the above venture (it is only 1 year old), I did not know PHP (I have had other experience - not web based though). I said "I'll have your site working in 7 weeks". What a seven weeks! But I spent some crazy hours working on it, learned PHP, MySQL, CSS, HTML, etc..., and delivered the site (3 days late). Look for niche groups of people that you can market a particular, useful service to. Keep your eyes peeled - you will turn things up. In the mean time, learn. Become not only good, but excellent. When you have mastered PHP, master MySQL. When you have that down, learn how TCP/IP works, learn C, learn Perl, learn how to write Windows Apps that interface with the data on your Web server. Read, Read, Read. Feed your brain, be observant, and you will find ways to market yourself. More and more in the job market today, I see people that are good in 1 area. But one area is not good enough for most business issues. My hobby (that's what I call it) is finishing my Electro-Mechanical Engineering Technology Degree. They have the right idea - output students that can help a business with electronice, robotics, computers, plc's, mechanics, machining, etc... The student may not be fluent in all, but they know enough about different areas, that they can come up with ideas for solutions, and then figure out the details are. Keep in mind, a Job is not the only way to go. Learn, learn, learn more. Just my (limited) experience. Jason Garber IonZoft.com At 09:32 PM 1/24/2002 -0500, you wrote: >Vincent Stoessel wrote: > >>On another list that I am on someone made this very bold >>statement: >>"I've seen a lot of jobs for ColdFusion & Oracle or MS SQL server >>experience combinations. Don't let anyone fool you, PHP/MySQL is not >>going to land you a job [;)] " >>now, as someone that was making avery good living doing Linux based >>web application development last year and now among the jobless I am >>beginning >>to question the validity of having all of my eggs in the LAMP (linux >>apache mysql php) >>basket. I just recently built a NT4 to do some win based development on. >>I still have >>not installed any development enviroment cause it just feels so alien. >>Has anyone else >>out there feeling the pressure of going to the win32 side to pay the bills. >>Thoughts? > > >This really depends on how you want to work and/or approach 'jobs'. > >Do you consider a job a place to go for 40 hours a week and get a >paycheck? Or is it more than that? > >Being able to positively improve an employer's bottom line is always a >plus you can bring to any 'job' - you're there to do work and make them >money too. If you can help by furthering the use of Linux/PHP/etc due >to the licensing cost issues, so much the better. > >I will never again (bold words I know) *merely* have a job where I'm >told what to do by someone who doesn't really give a rat's ass about >me. :) (been there done that too many times). When approaching a job >now, I would be more proactive about what impact I can make in a company, >and the Linux/PHP skills/experience would be a facet of that, no doubt. > >Sure, there are many people advertising for "ASP" developers, etc. Perhaps >they're not finding qualified people, and need to advertise? I'd say >PHP/MYSQL won't land you a job, but neither will CF, or Java, or anything >else. You need to sell YOURSELF, and if you sell your ability to further >a company's objectives (make money) many won't care what you use, or at >least won't care to the point of restricting you. There will always be >shops that are CF only, or MS only, or whatever. But there's a (growing, >I think) number of businesses out there that simply need to have things >work - be the person who helps them achieve their goals, and you'll >succeed just fine. > >Michael Kimsal >http://www.tapinternet.com/php/ >PHP Training Courses >734-480-9961 > > >-- >PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) >To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >To contact the list administrators, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > -- PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To contact the list administrators, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
