> Agreed. Training companies are dying out like flies because of costs and >companies are to cheap. Catch 22 - You want / need training, but companies >need solid proven experience.
As a 22 year old (two years ago) I found that the "shotgun approach" worked. Ask around until you find a company that is desperate and/or brave enough to train someone with proven interest. Proving interest, however, is not always easy. And not many young bloods have an interest in mainframes to begin with. I work together with my college to "recruit" people in the mainframe optional that is offered for senior year students. Out of ~100 students we get 5-10 to enroll in that optional every year. So even without IBM-created incentive, there is interest. But it will always remain a gamble for the company, since often times it is a gamble for the hire. Young folk these days have the tendency to not stay in one place for extended periods of time. >Agreed. This is another reason why there is a thing called 'sandbox'. ;-) This is also the reason why I don't feel bad for using Hercules as a teaching aid. I broke more "installations" than I can count, but I learned something new every time. So as long as IBM won't provide people with a straightforward way to learn, or even an incentive, I'm not going to start feeling bad for emulating their machines. I might not be able to learn all there is to learn in 5 minutes, but I should be able to learn how to work on a platform for free, at least. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [email protected] with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
