Finding Experienced Labview Programmers

[LV_Pro]

I agree that part of the problem is that LabVIEW is promoted as easy to use, probably depressing the salaries (I know I am frequently depressed!) thereby probably limiting the number that will spend the time and energy to become really proficient. The other side of that is that there are a lot who use LabVIEW that aren't necessarily "proficient", having never been exposed to good LabVIEW style/practices, because in some ways LabVIEW is easier to get started in. Of course, since my company is largely based on our supplying the needed expertise to other companies it might not be in my interest to promote a wider level of LabVIEW education in the general community!    

[testengineer_com]

There are lots of experienced LabVIEW programmers that are members of LAVA, LabVIEW Advanced Virtual Architects.

Members of LAVA could be another source of LabVIEW experience.  There is a place within forums.lavag.org

to post employment description.  The LAVA forum could be a great place to find the experienced people you want.

I am not a spokesperson for LAVA, though I am a member.

Good Luck! 

[falkpl]

Thanks we will post on lava as well.

I dont totally agree with the statement:

"Of course, since my company is largely based on our supplying the needed expertise to other companies it might not be in my interest to promote a wider level of LabVIEW education in the general community!"

I think that the wider exposure that the next generation of engineers (and management) to LabVIEW the better fot the consultants.  This exposure will open the doors to new markets where many projects are not automated because the task seems too daunting or the engineer doesnt know where to start.  If the engineer at least knows that labview is an option the ball will get rolling.  Sure there will be some more competition and some companies will do inhouse development but I believe that a larger market share fort labview will benefit us all.  Also the language will grow and mature faster with a larger user base. 

[EWTech]

There is another perception problem as well: LabVIEW is not viewed as a programming/IT skill. LabVIEW is perceived to be an engineering skill and part of an overall engineering skill set. It is assumed that any bright engineer can pick this up on the fly all while working their regular day jobs. I agree that the engineers that I have been associated are extemely smart as a whole and are very likely to have the ability to master this. Not in a few weeks and not while doing three other things at the same time. This is the reason there are likely to be more "dabblers" than "professionals" as far as LabVIEW users go.

[Ray.R]

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falkpl wrote:

Thanks we will post on lava as well.

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Paul,

Are you actively looking for experienced programmers?  

RayR

[LV_Pro]

Hey,
   Please note that my sentence "our supplying the needed expertise to other companies it might not be in my interest to promote a wider level of LabVIEW education in the general community!" was "tongue in cheek" with a , as a "LabVIEW Champion" one of my self chosen missions in life is promoting the wider use and knowledge of LabVIEW (kind of boring life, eh?). I recognize that as LabVIEW's use becomes more wide spread the opportunities within that community grow as well. In the 15 years since I first picked up the pile of blue 3.5" floppies and installed it on my 486 machine with 32M of RAMI've watched as the industry has gone from "LabWha?" to the companies at least having heard of it. But I have to agree that too many companies think that it is just a small tool in the engineers toolkit, "that the bright young engineer should be able to pick it up while doing their day job".




Message Edited by LV_Pro on 11-05-2007 06:02 PM

[hollowhorse]

"Are there any Experienced programmers looking for jobs or is this a lost cause?"

Actually yes, me being one of them.

The problem I've found is there doesn't seem to be much demand for LV programmers in the South East of the UK. Most programming jobs appear to be in the North and the Midlands, for which I would have to re-locate (something my wife doesn't want to do). So at the moment I am considering setting up an office at home and going self-employed, although I'd obviously I'd still need to travel to meet with clients from time to time.

[hollowhorse]

Message Edited by hollowhorse on 11-06-2007 04:45 AM

[Ray.R]

Well-said Putnam...

Sounds almost poetic..  Although I didn't realize you were also a poet..  🙂

[hollowhorse]

Putman you're absolutely right, but I think NI is partly to blame for this. LabVIEW was advertised to us exactly as "a tool that any bright young engineer should be able to pick up while doing their day job". Which is the main reason it was adopted by the company I work for. It was only when we started using it in anger, that we began to understand the depth of the skills & experience required to write "good" full-scale applications. The net result is that is that I have ended up doing most of the company's LabVIEW coding (because I already had a programming background) but not getting any rewards for my efforts because my work is not perceived as real programming.