But they were very specific when they asked for Perl and MySQL skills, which suggested that they knew what they were looking for.

The second ad (requiring a degree in Computer Science or Mathematics) gave the impression that only persons having one of those qualify for the job.

But if it's a programming job and it could be done with Perl and MySQL, it puzzles me that they should specifically seek persons with a degree in CS or Mathematics.

From the general reading I get from the above, while a degree in CS or Mathematics certainly helps, it's not a prerequisite in some areas of programming.

But they were very specific when they asked for Perl and MySQL skills, which suggested that they knew what they were looking for.

To me "Perl and MySQL skills" isn't very specific. What kind of MySQL experience? What kind of Perl experience? What kind of application needs to be developed? What kind of other skills need to be developed? Etc.

This could be anything from moving a bunch of data from some Excel files to a MySQL table all the way up to building something like Amazon.

But if it's a programming job and it could be done with Perl and MySQL, it puzzles me that they should specifically seek persons with a degree in CS or Mathematics.

I don't know for sure - we'd have to ask to be certain :-) It could be something as simple as a degree-only hiring policy.

However my bet would be that when they wrote "Perl and MySQL skills" what they got was a bunch of CVs from people who didn't have the necessary experience for the task at hand. So they chose the shortcut of specifying a degree as a quick way to winnow some wheat from the chaff. Of course by doing this (and sticking to it) they'll also throw away a lot of wheat and keep some chaff - but they only need one good grain so they don't care.

From the general reading I get from the above, while a degree in CS or Mathematics certainly helps, it's not a prerequisite in some areas of programming.

Oh I agree completely. But just because it's not a prerequisite for doing the job doesn't mean it won't be a prerequisite for getting the job. Sad, but true.

I can't remember exactly what the job specs were but I think it's something to do with designing a browser-based interface and something to do with data analysis.

But just because it's not a prerequisite for doing the job doesn't mean it won't be a prerequisite for getting the job. Sad, but true.

Indeed.