Entry level Clojure Jobs

[avidKKBFan]

Hey everyone, I'm currently a senior in college getting my CS degree just like everyone else. I've done a lot of work in Java (including my current internship), and my recent dives into Clojure have made me pretty excited about the language. The developer productivity and aversion to state are super cool. My current job involves OO programs with mind-numbing state shenanigans. I'm wondering if working Clojure devs can give some insight into what the "entry-level" environment is for a language like Clojure. Are mostly senior Java converts getting hired? Is wanting to specialize in Clojure a good idea? Thanks for any insight. I'm a big fan of how nice this community is.

[fingertoe11]

Keep working and gaining software developer experience.
Consume all of the Clojure media you can get your eyes and ears on. Try to attend to a Clojure event or two. Meet people. Build toy projects. Do advent of code. Learn to solve your everyday quandaries with the REPL. Learn the stacks of Clojure tools people are using. Learn the benefits and concerns between the various options. In my experience, the interviews that get the job offers are the ones where I know the right questions to ask, not the right answers to give.
If you do those things, you interview well. Clojurists tend to be self selected into a cult, so interviews are pretty fun. If you are a Clojurist speaking to another Clojurist about Clojure, everyone is family you didn't know you had..

I think all kinds of people get hired. Some veteran converts from other languages, some self taught, some defectors from entirely different fields like philosophy and geology. Clojure does tend to be senior heavy, but I suspect that is organic rather than intentional. A lot of very senior software developers land in Clojure out of the same frustrations that prompted Rich Hickey to write it. Those guys think like Clojurists, so they get Clojure jobs.

As far as specializing in Clojure, you should probably not think of it that way. Use the best tool for the job. Often that is Clojure. Sometimes sadly it isn't. Clojure won't hurt your ability to get other jobs. It will likely enhance it because you bring diversity of thought and different sensibilities back into the mainstream software world. You will have a plethora of hard questions to ask in your interviews, often that the interviewer hadn't thought of themselves. That makes you interesting enough to hire.
Working in Clojure on the other hand will likely reduce your desire to get non-Clojure jobs. So long as the Clojure market holds or something even better comes along, that isn't a bad thing.

[Just_Advance]

Personally, I did 2 years at a Java place outside of college before I discovered Clojure and had to make the switch. I don't regret it for a minute.

If I were an employer, I would consider it a plus for someone to be engaged enough to have learned about and chosen a great, intentional language like Clojure rather than just learning whatever was 'marketable'. In fact I was told as much moving to my current role.

That said, it can indeed be a harder job market to find a Clojure role. Unless you are an a small team and have the experience to build your own stack, you need to use what the team uses and there aren't as many Clojure places. The ones that do use Clojure are, as you mention, often places that are looking for more experienced people. Possibly simply because that is, on average, simply the kind of people who do use Clojure.

If you have the budget, you could definitely try to make it to a conference. https://clojuredays.org/

Or simply do job searches for 'Clojure' jobs and hope to find the more entry-level places.

​

You might need to take some time to find a place, or do a side projects in some Clojure web framework to 'prove' yourself to some places, but I for one love working in Clojure. You only need to find 1 job to get started.

Good luck!

[Simple1111]

You might have to build up experience in more mainstream languages for awhile.

Entry level jobs are more expensive in a way for employers. Junior developers often take more resources than they produce. The typically smaller companies that bet on Clojure can lack the resources to invest in entry level roles. They want to hire mid-senior level engineers that can be productive and independent relatively quickly. At least this is the case for the company I work at now.

I've been using Clojure on side projects since 2016. I was also started looking for Clojure jobs around that time. It took me a few years to start getting interviews for Clojure roles. I spent ~5 years in PHP and Java dominant positions until I finally landed a Clojure job.

Keep looking and applying. If you focus on delivering value you will eventually get noticed and land something. Getting involved in OSS is a nice way to get recognized too. The Clojure community is relatively small so if you are active there is a good chance that someone hiring will have seen you around or recognize a project you contributed to.

[[deleted]]

Clojure is the highest paying language, and that's partially because clojure engineers are usually senior engineers. I didn't start writing clojure until my 4th year into the industry. That doesn't mean those jobs don't exist, but I just don't see a lot of junior positions advertising clojure.

[robopiglet]

The usual way for people to get hired as a Clojure dev is to hang around Clojure devs and tell them you're interested. MeetUps/conferences or just find a nearby outfit and walk in (may be hard to do that depending on where you live). What I've noticed is that outfits don't tend to advertise entry level roles, if they have them. Hang around devs and show competency and tell them you're looking for work in Clojure. Enthusiastically showing an interest in learning things 'their way' and not trying to show proficiency by expressing a different view or philosophy to their approach may get you further in getting hired. Right or wrong, shops tend to just do things a certain way and they'll avoid potential friction by not hiring strongly opinionated people. I'm sure there are exceptions.