[Phpwm] [Fwd: PHP developer - lead role - read on!!]

[Darren Beale]

> Without that, my (albeit limited) experience of those who've been
> self-taught (at least in the early stages), tend to just hack at
> something until it works and create maintenance headaches for
> themselves down the line, be it bug-fixing, integration and
> expansion, and performance.

I definitely agree that getting some conceptual knowledge in early is not a
bad thing but to stick up for the self-taught lot - include me - then at a
junior level I don't reckon there is much in it. If anything the people I've
employed in the past who have also been self taught can make up for their
script-kiddie nature by having a bit more workplace experience (things like
problem ownership, client facing skills, knowing when to get out of bed)
because they've been in the workplace for 3 years more than their graduate
colleagues.

The working environment can also help here. If you're self-taught and
working in larger dev team then all the bad habits will be beaten out of you
over time. :)

db