Why are postings looking for tech work rare?

[whereflowersgon]

I see postings on "Now Hiring" by people offering tech/programming services or looking for that kind of work from time to time, but not very often. Considering how many people are looking for work I am wondering why? I am an experienced software developer with a background in web development including HTML, JavaScript, Perl, MySQL/databases with some PHP, Java, and CSS.

I am interested in working in this industry for two basic reasons. I am somewhat homebound and I like the kind of community support I have seen here. Do people looking for programmers in this business look for resumes the same way as in any other business? If people don't typically use "Now Hiring" to look for work in my area where might they best look?

Thanks

[raymor]

People who are good stay busy and don't much need to solicit work, I think.
Word of mouth largely does the trick. In thirteen years, I've been "all caught up"
and in need of more work three times, I think.

Also, assuming you're good, you've probably participated in technical discussions
where people have read "how to ask smart questions". 99% of webmasters have not,
so the webmaster boards work a little differently. People generally do not look at
other people's posts when they want something. Instead, they start a new thread.
This is true even if they KNOW there are already several threads answering the
question. There are thousands of threads answering the question "which web hosts
are recommended", yet people post new ones every week. They don't read the
"work wanted" posts any more than they read the thousands of posts about which
hosting companies people recommend. So someone looking for a script will make a
post with a subject line like "question". You then have to read the posts to see if
they are looking for software that a) doesn't already exist as an off the shelf product
and b) is something you want to write.

Do people looking for programmers in this business look for resumes the same way as in any other business?

Rarely. More often they hire a) the first idiot to come along , b) someone recommended
by a friend or c) the cheapest moron they can find. Software quality in this
industry is horrid. Most software ("scripts") are written by people with no formal
training whatsoever. Most haven't even read a single book related to programming.
In thirteen years, I've seen exactly ONE PHP script that didn't have a giant security
hole.

[whereflowersgon]

As a first step in following raymor's advice I have set up a sig linking to an advertising page and would very much look forward to any commentary on the sig or the page or improving either.

Thanks