Toward that end... I just got off the phone with a very exasperated recruiter who was looking for “programmers without an attitude.” For “programmers who were not dead-set that the only way that something can possibly be done is their way.” (Like I said, he sounded very exasperated.)

It always bears remembering that Perl (or anything else) is a means to an end, not an end unto itself. Your job is to help businesses solve business problems, and to do that in a businesslike way.

You need to be able to articulate why it is a good investment(!) to hire you. A little humility goes a long, long way, because Perl ain't that mysterious... The folks who are dependable and easy to work with usually have all the work they care to do, and their reputation precedes them. People call 'em up asking 'em to do work, and sometimes wait in line many weeks or months to get them. It's not because of “what they know.”

Furthermore, physical location might not matter. If you're really good, you can work from where you are. But you have to build that momentum.