Job opportunities as a programmer?

Any advice on where to occasionally search?

[punisa]

Hello friends : )

Was kinda thinking about my career today and decides to share my thought with you.

I'm a small business owner, dealing with advertising and web development.
Step by step, year by year, my business is slowly reaching that stage where I'm only occasionally needed. In case my managers start to go loony or something :P

I would love to keep myself occupied and find a job somewhere. Preferably somewhere out of country, so I could do a bit of travelling as well : )

But where to start guys? I live in Europe (but not in EU).
Any recommendation or experiences where one could hunt down good offers?
Please feel free to share all general information on the topic :)

What level of education is needed? How does formal education weights versus actual skills?
I got a bachelor degree in economics n management. Not really IT department there : P

What skills are hot nowadays?
What skills got you the job you have today (if you work)?

Personally this is my scope:
- php
- mysql
- javascript (incl. ajax and certain libraries like prototype and jquery)
- flash
- graphic design (photoshop)
- video editing (vegas, premiere etc)
- advertising
- some offline programming

Is it redundant to mention skills like HTML and CSS here? Are they considered self-explanatory?

As a business owner I kinda developed myself as a "Jack of all trades" without any specific focus on a single field. Pro or con?

Do you have a certain portfolio to present? How do you do that?
I mean I understand that a company which develops web pages can easily flash their products, but what about other stuff?
For example I developed a complete work environment for my employees online. A large application where they can exchange tasks LIVE and run a huge frontend database like system.

But I can't just give username and password for our system to a potential employer now can I?

There are many projects that I developed internally for our company which can't actually be presented easily. I can detail out all things I've done, but there is not a single "click here to see" : P

Anyway, would love to hear from you guys on this one : )

[rocknbil]

but what about other stuff?

Keep a generic demo copy uploaded somewhere behind a login, give it only to prospective clients. If the logins get leaked and the wrong people get in, remove all the test login data from the DB.

In a PDF or on-site "portfolio" pages, collect some screen captures for a visual walk-through. Don't get too detailed, as prospective clients seem to be easily overloaded with too much information.

[grandpa]

My best source of job opportunities come directly from the network of contacts I've made. I talk to people -- tell them what I can do, and what I won't do. A few satisfied customers, and no real dissatisfied customers (most important) keeps me busy enough to claim "the glass is half full".

[punisa]

Thanks for the input guys :)
rocknbil I like that idea, doing screenshots or even a small flash video of what the system does is a good idea. At least I avoid the problems of having them loging in.

And as you said grandpa, happy customers are the greatest reference.