> Those seem to me like the sort of things that get worked out, once and
> for all, and then maybe changed perhaps twice per decade. Not the sort
> of thing you hire a full time employee for.

 From my experience those sorts of things are always under continuous 
development. Like there will be a list of additions and changes that is 
never ending (because items are added faster than the people can 
implement them). Again, part of the skill is trying to predict how 
general to make the optimisation, as often the management won't be much 
help (they'll come back and demand you implement some feature they 
plainly said they would never ever want 3 months earlier).

> And for that matter, if I can't get employment as a computer programmer
> - something which is in great demand and which I am provably good at -

I think there's a difference between coding what someone else tells you 
to, and coming up with the ideas yourself. I would have you'd be much 
better (and find more enjoyable) the latter.

> what are the chances of me getting hired for an obscure job that almost
> nobody needs which I'm probably not even very good at?

You're probably better off trying to get in to a large company as 
something vaguely IT related and then finding ways to show off your 
skills. That's often how it works.

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