We're not hiring at the moment, but we use Python extensively. Even so, if someone was primarily a Python programmer, without equally strong skills in something else, we wouldn't be able to hire them.
As I say, strongly biased, unsupported by statistics, random opinion.
So anyone who thinks my comments as stated are inappropriate and deserving of a down-vote, please let me know so I can learn. My email is in my profile if you prefer that route.
Thanks.
But perhaps the real point is that "Named Language" only sells to HR departments. The people who really do the work are looking for people who are "Smart and Get Things Done(tm)." Listing fluency in only one language seems to mark a candidate as someone who doesn't program because they want, but program because they're trained. I've hired someone who couldn't program in any of the languages we cared about, because he could clearly program in a range of other languages, and was a natural problem solver.
I recently read a remark (third hand) from a basketball coach. They said: "I hire tall players. I can teach how to play, but I can't teach height."
Curiousity, puzzle-solving, hacking about, learning, playing withh computers, these are things that show that you are fun, smart, interested, self-directing, and generally have the potential to be useful.
I've got off-topic. Sorry. Hope that helps - there's lots of other advice here.
We also talk about hiring and training people who don't have Python backgrounds but have the right skill sets to transition.
Coincidentally with PyCon, Atlanta seems like a hotspot judging by the number of members of the PyATL and Django meetup groups.
https://www.indyneinc.com/employment/Employment/tabid/54/Pag...
https://www.indyneinc.com/employment/Employment/tabid/54/Pag...
(I'm hoping we can get around this somehow with Discovery's other offices—which are literally all over the world—but we'll see how that goes.)
We just finished a hiring round, which included Python. I expect that we'll wind up hiring some more in the not too distant future.
For what its worth, I post my jobs on Craigslist and at local university offices first, only falling back to the big job boards in a worst-case scenario because as an employer they present a poor signal-noise ratio.
I don't think many places pick Python because there are fewer people who know it. I know some people who use it in their jobs though and their employers sort of just understood that people had to learn it on the job. I wouldn't say Python is a hot skill really but it depends on where you want to work.
www.yelp.com/jobs
Here in the Bay Area, demand for Python programmers is pretty high.
.Net is almost dead here.
Dice.com posting: http://seeker.dice.com/jobsearch/servlet/JobSearch?op=302...
FYI -- I was about to apply for this until I noticed the 2-month contract. I'm more junior than what you're looking for but if you dropped the pay & extended the contract a bit I'd definitely be interested.
The contract starts out at 2 months because that is all my client will commit to at the moment, but I consider it likely to get extended if you are any good.
I don't mind missing out on applicants that are searching for the usual "ETL developer with Informatica or DataStage experience". I am looking for people with strong SQL, not a particular ETL tool. Thanks for the suggestion.
jobs@mixpanel.com
There seem to be quite a few smaller-to-medium web-shops using python.
Python is a relatively simple language, with a small learning curve, and many applications. I've seen python used as a tool more than a primary technology for shops (unless they are a web company running Django.)
My advice is that it seems like you are looking at your career a little narrowly if you are simply looking for "python jobs" because it doesn't seem like you are willing to challenge yourself.
Do a little more personal stretching and you may realize there are more real opportunities than you have previously allowed yourself to notice.
When looking for jobs, you have to see how the business world views a certainly technology, not a collection of personal opinions.
Python is a great tool no doubt - but I see little in the way of careers revolving around just python knowledge. In most hunts I see it as "icing on the cake."
But again - take my word for what its worth - a guy on the internet. However, the fact the OP even posted this question only supports my argument.
My opinion is that as a stand-alone language Python can do nothing that can not be done better with other, higher level, faster or more proven languages.
However, I think Python has a solid place in providing scripting support - it sure is a lot faster to install and start using than it is to write a scripting language from scratch in your language of choice, and Python fits most tasks well (the only exception I've come across is real-time rendering applications, although I haven't tried newer versions since about 2005...).
This vaguely fits the data too. :)
However, did you know that Sound Spectrum, the maker of G-force that was used in Apples iTunes as the high speed visualizer, uses python as a high performance scripting environment that runs through bindings in C to openGL.
So theres a direct application - but here it also requires Graphics knowledge and high performance C++.
Python is also big in science so if you wanted to get paid little and deal with beauirocrcy look to gov/acadamia.
"Ad hoc is a Latin phrase which means 'for this purpose'. It generally signifies a solution designed for a specific problem or task, non-generalizable, and which cannot be adapted to other purposes." -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ad_hoc
No mention to the size of the solution, big or small. The point here is the specificity.
If you're targeting a skill set for your next jump, that seems a bit silly. What is it that you want to do? :)
In other words, Python is an on-the-side language for us that I would look for say a CS undergrad student to fill the need, where as for our C++ devs I have a much higher bar of required experience/education.
www.djangogigs.com
From this thread, it looks like python is being used mostly as python/django or for in house stuff only. Also where I come from, I hardly see a python job add without mentioning django. Is it correct to assume that there are very few industry jobs out there for python programmers who are not into web programming?
Python is straightforward and intuitive, but I don’t think anyone can master it in a week. For example, programmers used to writing Java code tend to write long, unnecessarily over-structured, un-idiomatic Python code. This is not because they’re bad programmers, but because they aren’t used to writing Python, and haven’t read lots of good Python code.
There are many, many people who could be good Python programmers within a week. Obviously a programmer with only C++ or Java experience could not; I only mentioned those languages for contrast, because you wouldn't hire someone to write C++ unless they were already a good C++ programmer.
The differences in style between Python and Ruby or Python and Perl, modulo the differences related to the available language features (which enforce themselves, and which account for most of the difference), are on the same scale as style differences between different C++ shops. You expect a good C++ programmer to adapt to the local dialect (assuming he has the technical chops to do so), so why wouldn't you expect a Perl programmer to adapt to Python? There's no way you would pass up a smart Perl or Ruby programmer for a Python job. (Vice-versa is another matter.)
As for experience with other tools, looking at Python in that context actually strengthens my point. When you interview a developer, you don't bother asking about build tools, IDEs, SCMs, or testing frameworks unless they're applying to be the local guru. I've never asked a candidate if he knew how to build a .deb package. I've never worried about how much a candidate knows about Eclipse. (Or Jira, or gdb, or cvs.) The cumulative amount of tool-specific knowledge required to do my job dwarfs the complexity of Python, but I really don't bother with that stuff when I'm interviewing somebody for my group.
A big technology like Django might be a different question. Django (as much as I've seen of it) seems to be considerably more complicated than Python. I could see wanting to hire a Django developer. But then it's a Django job and not a Python job, except by implication.
If you can write idiomatic code in a dynamic language a week after switching from C++ or Java, teach me your skills.
http://www.transloc.com/site/content/careers
This is a Raleigh, NC company that was started by a friend of mine.