Fall 2006 Job and Career Trends for IT Professionals

[Guest.Visitor]

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All the AS/400, RPG stuff is at the bottom of the heap!!!

[B.Langieri]

** This thread discusses the article: Fall 2006 Job and Career Trends for IT Professionals **
As there become fewer AS400-iSeries and RPG people out there to support the iSeries and RPG, when someone does need support, iSeries people should ask for more money. One of my Access & VB.Net contractors makes the same rate as most of my RPG contractors. Many VB.net, ASP programmers make more. Also, it takes fewer people to support an iSeries and the up-time and reliability leave all other platforms in the dust. Why can't IBM get this message across to companies? Eventually RPG developers may get called back from retirement to modify and enhance legacy systems like what happened to COBOL developers for Y2K (at premium salaries or contract rates). But can we wait??

[Guest.Visitor]

** This thread discusses the article: Fall 2006 Job and Career Trends for IT Professionals **
Over a year ago, I was offered this job. It was an open pit (still is). I had to share the cubicle. I now have the biggest cubicle with a real big desk, one extra chair for visitor,two computers (one laptop for home and one heavy duty desktop), own phone with direct dial and long distance etc etc. They hired me immediately without an interview, the only "interview" i.e. a brief chat, was conducted by the recruiter's consultant. The consultant that I was suppose to support did not know how to program in subfiles so used DFU in his CL to enter data, then validated it in batch. Now that consultant is kicked out, all programs are rewritten in /free, embedded SQL, ILE, etc etc My pay was half of what I made in good times, now it is the same. There is more. They are pressurizing me to accept full time job with a clear shot at the I.T. Manager's job and beyond. Dave, technically you are a league above me. If I can just stick my foot in the first opportunity off-the-bench (no matter how pathetic it was), and then sky rocket from there, then you can certainly do much better than me.

[Guest.Visitor]

** This thread discusses the article: Fall 2006 Job and Career Trends for IT Professionals **
Websphere alone has almost the same jobs as all Oracle jobs combined. Then add DB2, RPG, Cobol, AS400, and Java/400 jobs, and you will find that entire System I rocks!!! Ofcourse do not discount C and Java as a non-400 language.

[Guest.Visitor]

** This thread discusses the article: Fall 2006 Job and Career Trends for IT Professionals **
There are two types of managements that do not accept new ideas. First are the mediocre legacy RPG/Cobol programmers who got promoted as I.T. managers by sticking to one company. I know one junior operator (not even a career programmer) who is now the I.T. manager of a group of companies by sticking to that company for 22 years. It is not their managerial abilities that keep them on the job but their ability to convince top management that they are indispensible because the code is too complicated for anyone else to handle. Naturally they want things their way. For this type, it is a matter of time before top management kicks them out as they hate dependencies. Now they normally kick the entire As/400 shop alongwith the System but some just kick the management and retain the shop. One should stick to the shop, be on the radar of the top management, and be ready with your homework. The other types are those who have badly been burned by claims of improved productivity thru re-engineering, only to see disasters. These guys say, "Dont fix until it is broken". For this type, you need to be on the radar screen of the management but below the radar of the fellow workers. Once you actually deliver the goods and they have faith in you, you normally start getting a free hand. I have dealt with both types of management several times in my career.

[Guest.Visitor]

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David said: It is only a matter of time before I get to the point where I will be sorry for not taking the first spot offerred. I know what you mean. You have to wonder if the music has stopped playing and contractors need to find a chair. Chris

[Guest.Visitor]

** This thread discusses the article: Fall 2006 Job and Career Trends for IT Professionals **
I for one, and I know many many more, who are looking for a chair. However the only people on chair seem to be guys who are on those chairs for two decades or more and will never ever let a senior person come close to them. The best thing for a guy like me seems to find contracts, mostly to keep the seat warm for an empty position, or in a conversion project. Contracts like that of yesteryears, when contractors refused to accept a job because it was low-paying and did not allow deductions, are over. Now a days it is more paying to find a job. A $45/hr job gets you $90k a year. However an $80k job gets you another 8-12k in bonuses, another 8k in vacations, 6k in medical benefits, and much much more. Then you have perks like discounted products, free training, etc etc etc. Not to mention are the big advantage called stability in life. Yes there are still guys making $80-100/hr working on legacy RPG, and are doing so for many many years at the same place. However they are endangered species and "heavenly" powers are keeping them alive

[belgorodskym]

** This thread discusses the article: Fall 2006 Job and Career Trends for IT Professionals **
Last August I was offered a job at an RPGIII shop full of sad people, but 5 min walk from home. I declined, making them almost cry. When I was laid off in November I immediately landed in a Java/Oracle shop, with a cheerful team and great management. I commute 1 hr each way but think it was a wise choice. Mike B

[JRonline]

** This thread discusses the article: Fall 2006 Job and Career Trends for IT Professionals **
Does anyone out there have any suggestions as to how and where to find training on SAP and/or JDE?? Free training would be great, especially for us in the unemployment lines. I'd truly appreciated any opportunity to get some hands-on experience on any of these 2 packages and would accept lower than market pay for the opportunity to get trained. As Bob said, these skills are becoming more and more prevalent in the AS/400-iSeries-System i world and the majority of available positions require 2,3 years of experience.

[B.Langieri]

** This thread discusses the article: Fall 2006 Job and Career Trends for IT Professionals **
While I am not sure about SAP training, I do know from a former JDE One-World EnterpriseOne trainer, that all of JDE's (Oracle Peoplesoft's EnterpriseOne) training required that your employer needed a current JDE license to access any on-line training and self study as well as a license in order for you to attend their classroom training (at a substantial class fee I might add). So unless you work for a company that is using the JDE ERP products, you cannot participate in training. You cannot buy the training at any premium. If JDE Business Partners were smart, They would hire analysts and developers without JDE and train them or put them through the training and have additional talent to put on projects. Years ago one bank I knew took in entry level IT grads for a 3 month internship. At the end of the internship which was mostly classes, they would hire about 10 out of a class of 30. Everyone benefited from the experience.