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This was the first post I ever read by Patrick. It and Joel Spolsky's blog should be regarded as compulsory reading for all CS grads. Definitely set me on the right path.

I think a good follow up of "don't call yourself a programmer" is "Don't look for a job". The moment you start looking for a job, you're pretty much that "Java programmer" again. Somehow, the people I meet who can't find a job are those who are looking, while those who speak about their employment in literally any other way than "looking for a job" never seem to have a problem. I don't know exactly which way the causation link works (maybe people who are good at getting jobs are privileged enough to not have to think about it in that way), but I'm pretty sure that the word 'job' and mental model associated with it is not optimal.

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>Somehow, the people I meet who can't find a job are those who are looking This is a pretty clear example of a biased sample. If someone can find a job easily, then you won't spend much time looking for one. "Don't look for a job" is terrible advice for people who don't have jobs. Also, if you can't think of a good reason for a causation link you should really consider that maybe it is due to a confounding variable (there is no direct causation link).

Eh, I phrased it badly. Wasn't trying to distinguish between employed and unemployed people, but rather a distinction between those who don't have a job and say "I'm looking for a job" and unemployed people who phrase the same idea in a different way..

I think the point still stands, the longer you spend unemployed the more likely you are to describe yourself as "looking for a job" (unless you have given up entirely). If someone describes themselves as not looking for a job when they don't have one, it is possible they are just telling the truth, and when they do decide to look for a job they can find one quickly. I am pretty skeptical that thinking of yourself as looking for a job really causes you to have difficultly finding one - like you said, there isn't any readily apparent direct causative link.

Is this a variant of Spolsky's line that no good programmer should ever have to look for work; if you are good, work should just fall into your lap? Because it's horseshit.

Maybe this is true because I've only worked in a software boom in a large city but the only reason I've been out of work in the last 5 years since I switched from working in politics to coding full time is because I deemed the jobs available either undesirable or the pay insufficient. And when I say the pay was insufficient I'm still talking something well above median income. So Spolsky seems pretty right on, at least for the moment.

Trust me, this attitude comes from never having to survive a severe tech downturn. Consider yourself fortunate! As someone who survived two, I can tell you with utter certainty that there are very few people with jobs just falling into their laps when your profession is suffering double-digit unemployment.

What do you mean by "don't look for a job"? What specific action or attitude are you suggesting is superior?