Too many consultants just say what the client wants to hear. This is dishonest and not useful to either party. I know my Perl and I say what I think is the best way to solve a problem. I don't expect you to apply all of my ideas but I do want them to be heard and properly evaluated. You subscribe to Perl On Call for my ideas so you should at least give them a good listen. When I see it, I will shout that the emperor has no clothes! This honesty is something some clients appreciate and desire while others shrink away from it. Which type are you?

In some shops a shroud of seriousness prevails. I enjoy working with Perl and express that through my humor. If you are not able to handle fun in a programming environment, then we are probably not a good match.

I can sling around HTML and of course I can use Perl to generate and/or mung it. But I won't win any web design awards in the next week or two. My web architectures isolate web design from application logic and content by using templating systems. This allows web designers to work on the presentation of your site independently of the coding. It is best to hire specialists in each area and not to look for individuals who can do it all but are not equally strong in all the areas.