[read_wharf]

The cool thing is, he could back into a programming job. Intern, QA, semi-technical gopher, job got through a friend, whatever. He seems to have some chops. If he's there for M months, and moves himself into a programming job for N months, he gets to say on his resume:

    JobCo
    M to N
    Role: Programmer, etc, etc

It's an option among options.

[diwank]

Indeed. That'd be incredible if he can manage that. Plus, he'll gain a lot experience.