good news for java developers

[Nigel Browne]

After a search of monster.com today I can confirm that java developers are still the most sort after developers in the computer industry.
After searching the US for computing/software jobs, here were the result from 27 august 2002.
java 949
vb 552
c/c++ 264
perl 248
cobol 120
c# 81
delphi 56
The same pattern can be seen in the UK which had the following results:
java 69
vb 49
perl 29
c++ 11
cobol 7
c# 2
delphi 2
Whilst the number of jobs is significantly down from this time last year, Java still comes out tops as the most sought after programming language skill in the software market.
The recent influx of people prediciting the end of Java, are totally unjustified. The amount of time and money currently spent on R&D within the Java community far out weighs that spent on any
other programming technologies.
The incorporation of J2ME on mobile phones and PDA's means a healthy future for the java programmers in that area.
Whilst the huge investments in Java by corporations such as BEA, IBM and Oracle mean that the J2EE middleware component market will also increase.
Feel free to do your own research to see how little impact .net is having on the current market place. Only 225 .net jobs in the whole of the US whilst in the UK only 5.
The software industry maybe downsizing but the java community is alive, well and increasing.

[JiaPei Jen]

Thank you for cheering us up on a gloomy day.

[John Fontana]

Java is still one of the most in-demand languages for sure. But the stats from online job boards is no indication.
Several recruiters compete for the same jobs, many of them are speculative, and any more than a day old are either taken or nobody will fill it.
Show me a change in unemployment rates. Until then, knowing Java is as useful as a clock in a coffin.

[Aniruddha Mukhopadhyay]

I am working in Japan and here the demand for Java programmers with experience in server side development is quite good and definitely more than VB or C expertise. In fact anybody with good exposure to J2EE architecture plus usual things like knowledge of patterns, bit of database concepts (preferably Oracle) would have no difficulty of finding job here.

[Roseanne Zhang]

So does in China. The problem is in the US. It seems they are in different phase of the moon.

[Rufus BugleWeed]

US stock market on longest downward slope in the last 60 years.

[Thomas Paul]

September was the worst month for the stock market since 1937. If GWB doesn't do something soon, when the invasion of Iraq comes we can bomb them by dropping unemployed Java programmers on them.

[Tom Salyers]

If GWB doesn't do something soon, when the invasion of Iraq comes we can bomb them by dropping unemployed Java programmers on them.[/QB]

Good thing I just got a new job.

[Derek Grey]

hi Browne,
Could you please tell me on how good those stats are concerning a fresh grad from college??
thanks

[Rufus BugleWeed]

New college grad will get a job sooner or later, especially if willing to relocate. Market is often hungry for young and cheap.

[Nigel Browne]

Originally posted by San Tiruvan:
Could you please tell me on how good those stats are concerning a fresh grad from college??

In the current climat all job offers seem to ask for the same. A degree in computer science and a few years experience. However this does not mean that every job is filled with the perfect candidate.
Within the software industry personal chemistry between employee in development teams is vital, so even if a candidate is properly qualified for a job doesn't mean automatically the hiring company will employ that person if they lack communication skills.
I have personally employed fresh graduate in front of more qualified people because they were more likely to fit into the team than the more qualified person.
Experience is the obvious thing that employers look for, but it is not always the deciding factor.

[Derek Grey]

-----
I have personally employed fresh graduate in front of more qualified people because they were more likely to fit into the team than the more qualified person.
Experience is the obvious thing that employers look for, but it is not always the deciding factor.
------
Boy!!! am I glad to know that there are people who think like you do too....

[Ijlal Jinnah]

Originally posted by San Tiruvan:
-----
I have personally employed fresh graduate in front of more qualified people because they were more likely to fit into the team than the more qualified person.
Experience is the obvious thing that employers look for, but it is not always the deciding factor.
------
Boy!!! am I glad to know that there are people who think like you do too....

Well, Well... I'd be dying for all that exposure for even $5/hr... Anybody out there?

[Pradip Bhat]

Where are you located?Location is important.If you are in India,3-5 years of experience gets $5/hr.Freshers won't get this much unless (s)he is from IIM,IIT(only comp.science)

[Marcus Green]

"Several recruiters compete for the same jobs, many of them are speculative, and any more than a day old are either taken or nobody will fill it."
This may be true, but note that the recruiters have to pay to place these adverts, so you have to ask yourself are they more likely to pay for adverts for roles they think they are going to fill or are they going to pay for adverts they are less likely to fill?

[John Fontana]

Originally posted by Marcus Green:
...you have to ask yourself are they more likely to pay for adverts for roles they think they are going to fill or are they going to pay for adverts they are less likely to fill?

1) Some recruiters send unsolicited resumes to employers. If that company EVER wants to hire one of those candidates, technically they must pay the recruiter.
2)In order to get permission to hire more H1-B's, companies must show that they TRIED to hire from the existing pool of U.S. programmers.
3) A recruiter once told me that they paid an annual fee to job listing sites, so they ran ads anyway when it was slow...did not cost them any more money to do so...

[Frank Silbermann]

Aniruddha Mukhopadhyay says that demand in Japan for server side Java development is very good. That's pretty impressive, especially considering all the doom and gloom I've heard about the Japanese economy in general.
I mean, America's recession would be much easier to tolerate if I, personally, still had lots and lots of great job opportunities. :-)
As for our stock market slide, it was inevitable. It had become like a pyramid scheme with people buying tech stocks in the hope of quick riches. People who trust schemes that are too good to be true are always going to fall prey to hucksters. (But now that everyone is scared to buy stocks, it's probably a good time to start buying again.)
Look on the bright side -- the recession gives us time to improve our Java skills without having thousands upon thousands of other new Java programmers raising the bar by doing the same. :-)

[Marcus Green]

Some recruiters send unsolicited resumes to employers. If that company EVER wants to hire one of those candidates, technically they must pay the recruiter
Having been in a position of recruiting 7 Java programmers over a couple of years I can confirm that some recruiters do send unsolicited resumes. And once you get used to the style of envelope they get thrown directly in the waste bin. Your description of the obligations implied by the receipt of a resum seems extroadinary. There is no equivalent in the UK
.
2)In order to get permission to hire more H1-B's, companies must show that they TRIED to hire from the existing pool of U.S. programmers.
What percentage of US jobs are actually considering H1B visa employeees. What percentage of IT jobs are filled by H1B employees?

3) A recruiter once told me that they paid an annual fee to job listing sites, so they ran ads anyway when it was slow...did not cost them any more money to do so...
This may be true under some circumstances, but why would you advertise (even for free) for roles you were less likely to fill. Why not advertise for candidates you are more likely to place. Processing resumes takes time and effort one way or another, there seems little point in putting effort into the skills that are less likely to result in commission payment.
My premise was that job adverts relate to the numbers of vacancies in particular skills. Can you suggest why agencies would place more adverts for the skills that they know would result in less commission.