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| Author |
Is a career switch to the mainframe/cobol world responsible?
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| PeterC 2006-05-28, 7:55 am |
| Hello all,
I am in my mid twenties and got five year fulltime IT experience (system
engineer in the microsoft world)
I found out that these days a lot of major companies are in desperate need
of mainframe people.
A manager told me they are hard to find, especially young people dont wanna
learn mainframe anymore.
I found a big financial enterprise which search a lot of mainframe
application developers (cobol, pl1, etc..).
Is the choice to switch to the mainframe world, and lets say become a cobol
developer, a responsible choice for a young
guy to make? Does the mainframe and the cobol has a future?
Thanks in advance,
Patriarch
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| Alistair 2006-05-28, 6:55 pm |
|
PeterC wrote:
> Hello all,
>
> I am in my mid twenties and got five year fulltime IT experience (system
> engineer in the microsoft world)
> I found out that these days a lot of major companies are in desperate need
> of mainframe people.
> A manager told me they are hard to find, especially young people dont wanna
> learn mainframe anymore.
They are especially hard to find if you don't look seriously enough for
them. I have been out of work for two years, as have many other UK
based mainframers. The problem is twofold: passage of work to India
(chance to rewrite EM Forsters work?) and managers not wanting to pay
much for the work.
>
> I found a big financial enterprise which search a lot of mainframe
> application developers (cobol, pl1, etc..).
Go for it. Stay clear of PL/1 as I think IBM are losing interest in it
(see the thread elsewhere in this newsgroup)
>
> Is the choice to switch to the mainframe world, and lets say become a cobol
> developer, a responsible choice for a young
> guy to make? Does the mainframe and the cobol has a future?
It is a reasonable choice if it pays and you have a serious chance of
longterm employment. However, if you are a whizz at Java then switching
to Cobol will be a retrograde step. However, a mix of Cobol and Java
could stand you in good stead when converting or integrating
Cobol/Java.
It is a brilliant choice if your current situation is unemployed or
matchbox seller.
>
> Thanks in advance,
>
> Patriarch
| |
|
| Alistair wrote:
><SNIP>
> Go for it. Stay clear of PL/1 as I think IBM are losing interest in it
> (see the thread elsewhere in this newsgroup)
PLEASE STOP POSTING THIS MISINFORMATION! IT IS BLATANTLY *NOT*TRUE*!!!!
If you [or anyone else] would like to take this up off-line, I will be
happy to do so. But, you are doing a grave disservice to those who read
this and then pass on unfounded rumors.
Carl
| |
| Alistair 2006-05-29, 7:55 am |
|
CG wrote:
> Alistair wrote:
>
>
> PLEASE STOP POSTING THIS MISINFORMATION! IT IS BLATANTLY *NOT*TRUE*!!!!
>
> If you [or anyone else] would like to take this up off-line, I will be
> happy to do so. But, you are doing a grave disservice to those who read
> this and then pass on unfounded rumors.
>
> Carl
Having checked back at the other thread: I am incorrect in saying that
PL/I is to be dropped (the article I remembered referred to an upgrade
availability). So let us amend my statement to:
Go for it. Stay clear of PL/1 as I believe it offers fewer commercial
opportunities.
| |
|
| Alistair wrote:
> CG wrote:
>
> Having checked back at the other thread: I am incorrect in saying that
> PL/I is to be dropped (the article I remembered referred to an upgrade
> availability). So let us amend my statement to:
>
> Go for it. Stay clear of PL/1 as I believe it offers fewer commercial
> opportunities.
>
Yes, but there is probably at least as good an opportunity for a good
PL/I programmer than there is for a COBOL programmer. May be even a
better opportunity. Particularly in Europe and the Far East, PL/I is
still very strong. Why would IBM have produced one more release of
Enterprise PL/I [V3.5] than for Enterprise COBOL [V3.4] if there were no
demand for the language?
And, if the venue is the U.S., I would suggest that you might survey the
top U.S. companies. Yes, all are probably COBOL users. But, probably
80% [a guess on my part, based on supporting both languages for most of
my 44 years in this business] also have a significant enough portfolio
of PL/I applications to warrant PL/I developers on their staff.
Carl
| |
|
| PeterC wrote:
> Hello all,
>
> I am in my mid twenties and got five year fulltime IT experience (system
> engineer in the microsoft world)
> I found out that these days a lot of major companies are in desperate need
> of mainframe people.
> A manager told me they are hard to find, especially young people dont wanna
> learn mainframe anymore.
>
> I found a big financial enterprise which search a lot of mainframe
> application developers (cobol, pl1, etc..).
>
> Is the choice to switch to the mainframe world, and lets say become a cobol
> developer, a responsible choice for a young
> guy to make? Does the mainframe and the cobol has a future?
>
> Thanks in advance,
>
> Patriarch
First, to paraphrase an old quote: Rumors of the death of the mainframe
has been greatly exaggerated.
While most of the trade press would have you believe that the world of
computing started with the PC, the mainframe is still alive and well.
And, there are active programs trying to attract younger professionals
into the mainframe arena.
You did not indicate your local, so it is a little difficult to make
recommendations for specific investigations that you might undertake.
For the moment, assuming you are in the U.S., I would suggest a look at
the zNextGen program between IBM and SHARE. SHARE is the large systems
IBM User Group. You can get a good view of the activities by checking at:
www.share.org
From that page, you can:
1) Find out more about SHARE, IMHO, the premier source for IBM
mainframe eduction and technical information. SHARE is an independent,
volunteer run association providing IBM customers with user focused
education, professional networking, and industry influence. It is not
your typical 'management fluff' or 'marketing' type conference. You can
get detailed and heavy technical information there.
2) See the agenda and activities from the last SHARE Conference in
Seattle last March.
3) See a first look at the agenda for August in Baltimore. If you are
particularly interested in programming languages, you can see the topics
that will be presented by the "Language Environment, COBOL, PL/I, C/C++"
project at:
> http://shareew.prod.web.sba.com/dis...onference_id=14
From there, select 'Search by Project'...
4) See a summary of the zNextGen program at:
> http://www.share.org/About/industry_news_conference.cfm
Good luck!
Carl
| |
| PeterC 2006-05-29, 6:55 pm |
| Thanks all for the replies so far.
Carl, I live in Belgium
Greetz
"CG" <carl.gehr.RemoveThis@ThisToo.attglobal.net> wrote in message
news:c6832$447b0f4c$d066072d$17871@FUSE.NET...
>
> First, to paraphrase an old quote: Rumors of the death of the mainframe
> has been greatly exaggerated.
>
> While most of the trade press would have you believe that the world of
> computing started with the PC, the mainframe is still alive and well. And,
> there are active programs trying to attract younger professionals into the
> mainframe arena.
>
> You did not indicate your local, so it is a little difficult to make
> recommendations for specific investigations that you might undertake.
>
> For the moment, assuming you are in the U.S., I would suggest a look at
> the zNextGen program between IBM and SHARE. SHARE is the large systems
> IBM User Group. You can get a good view of the activities by checking at:
> www.share.org
> From that page, you can:
> 1) Find out more about SHARE, IMHO, the premier source for IBM mainframe
> eduction and technical information. SHARE is an independent, volunteer
> run association providing IBM customers with user focused education,
> professional networking, and industry influence. It is not your typical
> 'management fluff' or 'marketing' type conference. You can get detailed
> and heavy technical information there.
> 2) See the agenda and activities from the last SHARE Conference in
> Seattle last March.
> 3) See a first look at the agenda for August in Baltimore. If you are
> particularly interested in programming languages, you can see the topics
> that will be presented by the "Language Environment, COBOL, PL/I, C/C++"
> project at:
> From there, select 'Search by Project'...
> 4) See a summary of the zNextGen program at:
>
> Good luck!
>
> Carl
>
| |
|
| PeterC wrote:
> Thanks all for the replies so far.
> Carl, I live in Belgium
>
> Greetz
Then, an alternative much closer to home:
GUIDE SHARE Europe
www.gse.org
Same organizational concepts...
Carl
| |
| Alistair 2006-05-31, 7:55 am |
|
PeterC wrote:
> Hello all,
>
> I am in my mid twenties and got five year fulltime IT experience (system
> engineer in the microsoft world)
> I found out that these days a lot of major companies are in desperate need
> of mainframe people.
> A manager told me they are hard to find, especially young people dont wanna
> learn mainframe anymore.
>
> I found a big financial enterprise which search a lot of mainframe
> application developers (cobol, pl1, etc..).
>
> Is the choice to switch to the mainframe world, and lets say become a cobol
> developer, a responsible choice for a young
> guy to make? Does the mainframe and the cobol has a future?
>
> Thanks in advance,
>
> Patriarch
Two job sites that may be worth a look:
www.totaljobs.com
www.jobserve.com
Jobserve allows a search by country.
| |
| hcmason@sbcglobal.net 2006-05-31, 6:55 pm |
| Hi Peter:
When I first started programming in 1985, there were several places
that used COBOL.
I started at Lockheed in January, and there were about 100 application
COBOL programmers in one large room. There were also other programmers
in outlying buildings. At that time, PG&E, United Airlines, and others
needed COBOL programmers. Things have changed. At Lockheed, the
mainframes are being replaced by SAP and other cots packages. SAP has
it's own language called ABAP. So the trend I've seen is that the
Mainframe COBOL applications will be replaced. So I would advice to
look at a more current trend. Last time I looked for a job as a COBOL
programmer circa 1999, I could have worked a couple of contracts doing
Y2K stuff, but now circa 2006 such things seem to have gone away...
Chris.
PeterC wrote:
> Hello all,
>
> I am in my mid twenties and got five year fulltime IT experience (system
> engineer in the microsoft world)
> I found out that these days a lot of major companies are in desperate need
> of mainframe people.
> A manager told me they are hard to find, especially young people dont wanna
> learn mainframe anymore.
>
> I found a big financial enterprise which search a lot of mainframe
> application developers (cobol, pl1, etc..).
>
> Is the choice to switch to the mainframe world, and lets say become a cobol
> developer, a responsible choice for a young
> guy to make? Does the mainframe and the cobol has a future?
>
> Thanks in advance,
>
> Patriarch
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