Why Application Server Specific Job requirement?

[gopal venu]

As we all know J2EE is specfication and helps developer to keep away with vendor locking.
I mean if you know JSP/Servlet or EJB Spec Applicaiton server doesn't matter for a developer job.
But i got rejected in one interview just because I didnt work on WebSphere/WebLogic ...

Why recruiter wants to specific to WebSphere/WebLogic even I worked 3 yrs in Tomcat and has some exp in JBoss...

Note only this case I found may job ads specifying exp of one of the two.....

Now what to do for me ..as we know Both are commercial produts so I cannot download and run to learn...
Alos as all App server follow specification what new things employer looking while specifying both app server ??

Please help me out ..I am in deep confusion.

[Ulf Dittmer]

App servers are complex beasts - there is much to know about administration and tuning of any particular one. If the company envisions that the employee they're looking for would be involved in that, then obviously experience with that server counts for a lot.

My impression was that there are free developer editions of both WL and WS; have you checked lately if that's the case?

[Tim Holloway]

Everybody expects you to "hit the ground running". They also expect you to work for free, much less cost them time and money for training. So they want to to have been born working with the product.

You know and I know that the differences between platforms isn't all that significant most of the time for the average application developer. That, after all, is what the J2EE standard is all about. However, people in the hiring process are primarily there to filter people out, not to bring them in (if it sounds like I have an attitude problem, you're right, but I've been dealing with this for a LONG time).

In actual fact, it isn't even that they demand you to have 5 years experience with a product that came out 3 years ago. If you look more closely, you'll notice that they demand experience with a specific version of the product. I've actually been turned away because my experience was with a newer release than what they wanted.

Needless to say, I find this insulting, because it implies that I have little or no ability to adapt to new environments. And if that were really so true, the IT industry would be in sad shape indeed, since we're all encountering new environments every day.

A lot of people simply lie, say they have it, go on a crash study course and do a sterling job. I get stuck at the "simply lie" point. It has cost me some revenue, but I feel better about myself. Besides, I'd rather work at a place that can handle reality.

You can get evaluation copies of WebSphere and WebLogic. They may expire after a while and/or have other limitations, but they're functional enough to get comfortable with the platform. That's not a problem. The problem is that they usually expect you to already have 2-5 years experience using the product in question.

[gopal venu]

Thanks everybody for replying.

Can any body tell me where to get Free evaluate licence copy of WebSphere and WebLogic?

[Ulf Dittmer]

Can any body tell me where to get Free evaluate licence copy of WebSphere and WebLogic?

Google for "download evaluation weblogic" and "download evaluation websphere".

[Tim Holloway]

Or visit ibm.com and bea.com! IBM's eval page is at http://www14.software.ibm.com/webapp/download/byproduct.jsp?pgel=tryibmsoftware

[arulk pillai]

Originally posted by Ulf Dittmer:
App servers are complex beasts - there is much to know about administration and tuning of any particular one. If the company envisions that the employee they're looking for would be involved in that, then obviously experience with that server counts for a lot.

My impression was that there are free developer editions of both WL and WS; have you checked lately if that's the case?

Also, so much for write once deploy anywhere

[Ulf Dittmer]

Originally posted by arulk pillai:
so much for write once deploy anywhere

That's still the case, for the most part. But if there weren't differences in the areas I mentioned -administration and performance/tuning, amongst others-, then everybody would be using JBoss of GlassFish for free instead of paying big money for WS and WL.