> Why would the Java shop pay you the same as a developer who has spent the last 5 years doing Java full time who can be productive in Java right away?
Because you bring a lot of other experience to the table, and in just six months you will be completely up to speed?
In any software company of real complexity it's going to take six months or so to really hit your stride anyway, regardless of whether you've used their stack before, because you'll still have to learn their codebase, standards, processes, etc.
If they underpay you, guess what any self-respecting and talented developer will do? Leave. They'll be gone the second they're up to speed with the new stack because they found someone else willing to pay the full rate.
Because you bring a lot of other experience to the table, and in just six months you will be completely up to speed?
In any software company of real complexity it's going to take six months or so to really hit your stride anyway, regardless of whether you've used their stack before, because you'll still have to learn their codebase, standards, processes, etc.
If they underpay you, guess what any self-respecting and talented developer will do? Leave. They'll be gone the second they're up to speed with the new stack because they found someone else willing to pay the full rate.