I am going to respectfully have to call you out on this one. First off, where is this fact that php devs earn less than RoR engineers? I am sure there was some

I am going to respectfully have to call you out on this one. First off, where is this fact that php devs earn less than RoR engineers? I am sure there was some who earn less and some who earn more. The point though it that if you are aligning yourself on the latest technology, you will absolutely always lose in the long run. I would say I am in the top 5% of engineers by salary in my area. I never lead out with the language or framework or cool new 'sexy' technology that I think a business should/could/has to use. When looking for employment I never even worry about what the company is currently using. I literally only worry about aligning myself with their business objectives. What are the problems they are facing? How can they decrease costs or, often more importantly, increase revenue? Why do they need me and how can I solve their problems starting immediately? Now, you might say, well then you won't get hired on everywhere you apply to. Absolutely! And thank goodness. If I walk into an interview and all the current employees can talk about is the finer parts of minutia within the latest build of Rails, I would rather not work with them. If all I can be asked is how many ways you can concatenate a string in .Net and an example of when to use each, again, I will pass on that company. (yes, I have been asked exactly that question, and there are more ways than you think). Why would I pass? Well they sure as hell aren't aligning themselves with the needs of their business, how am I going to? Trust me, if you would like to stay on the top of the pay curve, align yourself with business objectives, particularly those which align with money. Don't worry about the 'new sexy'.