In the Bay Area.

Everyone claims to be crying out for developers, but they reject all the candidates they're presented with, so in practice it's hard to get a job as a developer.

I think what you mean to say is "it's hard to get a job as a developer if you're not a good candidate".

More like "it's hard to get a job as a developer because companies' perceptions of 'good candidates' exclude everybody".

If you're actually a good developer (and easy person to get along with, not a serial murderer, etc) and in the bay area and can't find a programming gig... I don't know what you're doing wrong.

I'm not the best developer in the world, and I practically get offers in just going to bars in SF...

I'd actually like to back him up on this, at least partially. There is an outcry for developers in the Bay Area, but mostly just in the Bay Area and mostly just for web/mobile developers. The shortage is hyper-specialized, and thus so are the job requirements, thus excluding most of us who call ourselves developers.

Hm, well I'd say that if you are any other kind of developer looking for a job, it's really not that difficult to transition into web development. If it isn't what you want to do then that's fair enough, but it's where the market is.

There is strong demand for developers in the Washington, DC area as well.