[gaius]

Yeah, it's like kids who show up to their first interview and say "I have 15 years experience", meaning they have been playing with computers since they were little. Ermm, no, work you didn't get paid for doesn't count. You aren't being paid to program. You're being paid to solve business problems with code. Even for hardcore geeks this is true, the problem a compiler writer is working on is actually the problem of the CFD guys who want to optimize their simulations, and their problem is actually the problem of the auto guys who want to build better cars. Or if you're working on a filesystem your problem is actually the problem of the database guys who want to process transactions faster, and their problem is really the problem of traders. Experience of that is what matters.