in reply to the next step

First, let me address the question of "What is hot on the market?" given the context of the rest of your post(getting a position of some sort that will allow you to grow as a perl programmer). The biggest single industry which has a use for perl programmers is biotech, specifically bioinformatics. I may be biased because that is the field in which I work. Of course, many industries have a need for perl programmers, some of which may not even know until you show them!! >:)
My advice to you is to get any job that you are reasonably satisfied with so that you can at least ay the bills and get the real world experience necessary to move your career forward.
Oh, and although many others in this thread have mentioned open source development I think your original post dealt specifically with paying gigs, right? In that regard I have never *ever* had an interview where the person interviewing me asked or cared about experience gained outside of paid employment(i.e. school and open source projects). Just my mileage, others may vary.

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Re: Re: the next step
by emilford (Friar) on May 09, 2002 at 16:55 UTC
    I'm glad to hear that bioinformatics is hot on the market, seeing how that field is one of my primary interests. Bioinformatics is also the field I have the least experience in. If I were interested in pursuing Perl in this direction, what recommendations could you give me? Are employers looking for people with strong Perl backgrounds or stronger science backgrounds? Is it possible to get a job doing bioinformatics with a solid understanding of Perl, but only a basic science background?

    I can see your point of view that open source isn't always what companies are looking for, but what other ways do I have to get "practical" experience. There is a sick cycle of you need the job to get experience, but you need the experience to get the job. Many struggle with getting into that circle in order to get that initial experience. Companies tend to want programmers with 5+ years experience in a specific field. How am I suppose to get that experience if a company is reluctant to hire me?
[reply]
      I guess it depends on the employer. Most places put a big emphasis on the science though. Many pure "science" types think that they can get a biologist and have them learn programming but that a Comp. Sci. type is somehow incapable of learning the science in order to effectively translate the solutions to problems into code. My best advice is to get some experience as a paid employee with a university lab group. These are the spots which are most likely to hire a programmer and let them grow. Of course, look into as many opportunities as possible, it is just that places like that have a lower barrier to entry.
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Re: Re: the next step
by krujos (Curate) on May 09, 2002 at 18:06 UTC
    Two other fields that use perl a lot: Testing and Quality Assurance. Lots of large test engines for software packages are written in Perl. This is doubly true if your software has to be tested on many platforms. You might look at getting an Internship in a testing department (make sure your not just clicking buttons). It could work out well that you get to write code, and learn first hand from people who know their stuff.
    -my 0.02
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