Help Please. Python Programmer to PHP? Is it possible? | Hacker News Reader

Help Please. Python Programmer to PHP? Is it possible?

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I just moved to a new country and looking for a job. I am a Python programmer, more than 5 years experience in various web programming. I also quite good in Javascript, C, SQL, CSS, HTML, etc. The problem is that most jobs here require PHP. I know that I can transfer my experience to PHP given 1-2 weeks, but employers does not seem to believe me. Can you give me suggestions on how to convince them? If you believe they are right, kindly share me your thoughts. Please help me figure this out.

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Do some demo apps. Say you care more about company culture and development process than the stack. I recently made a similar move, although I had some PHP experience, it was many years-old and not really suitable to be cited as a skill any longer. If you burn up the 1-2 weeks on your own time, then you can commit to hitting the ground running without them having to spend that time "training" you.

Also, job hunting sucks. Keep at it, you'll make it work.

Sure. I've programmed PHP for the last 8 years, and C/C++ for 18 years before that. A few months back I picked up Python in about 5 days, dabbling part time. Django on top of Python took another day or two.

I now consider myself an advanced Python developer. It's actually much easier than PHP, but the lack of curly braces, and strict adherence to MVC were my initial hurdles.

I can't imagine going back to PHP at this point, even though everything I did in PHP was highly object oriented.

thanks for all the comments, i find it very encouraging. however, i have a follow-up question. most of the companies here are quite formal in their requirements, they are not quite satisfied with sample codes, demo applications, etc. Most of them honors a certificate over an actual demonstration of programming capabilities. I came across this online course, http://www.zend.com/en/services/training/course-catalog/php-.... Its quite expensive but i have a feeling that completing it might make it easier to convince prospective employers. What do you think of this option? Honestly, i really feel out of place here, its kinda tiring always trying to convince people that your worth something.

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