another area of interest could be database management, especially on older oracle based database systems (like 11g). there is a shortage of people there as well.
-eric from the central office of the technomage Guild, Vital Statistics management. On Oct 17, 2017, at 12:44 AM, David Schwartz wrote: > I don’t mind talking with you, but I think you’re being given some rather > biased advice by someone who probably has no experience in the field. > > Programmers as a whole tend to be introverts and rather anti-social. At least > us older folks fit that mold. The younger ones are a bit more sociable. > > With your background, you don’t need a CS degree. Just get some specialized > training in some language and platform that’s hot right now that you can get > lost working on for a while, and you’ll be set. > > Just try to avoid the web arena. I work in Delphi, which is Pascal. I’m left > alone to work by myself most of the time. In fact, I’m working at a place > righ tnow where my boss is in Baltimore and I’m in Phoenix. Nobody here in > Phoenix deals with me in the office. It’s rather strange. I don’t know why > they hired me to work out of this office, but that’s what they wanted. > > Web developer … no. No, no, no! Too many short-turn high-tension projects > with constantly conflicting requirements. And it often involves the > programmer working closely with a graphic artist (unless you do both). > > > Consider this: anything that gets you maintaining legacy code would probably > be a good position for you. COBOL, FORTRAN, Delphi/Pascal, MUMPS / Caché > > These are skill sets that employers need to fill on a regular basis, and > they’re getting harder and harder to find even minimally qualified people. I > worked at a place a few years ago and they hired kids out of college with > Liberal Arts degrees and put them into a 12-month training program teaching > them MUMPS. Why? Because there’s no way to learn it otherwise. They couldn’t > find anybody to hire! > > You might wonder, who the heck is using MUMPS today? Believe it or not, the > entire US Dept. of Veterans Affairs is powered by MUMPS / Caché on the > back-end, and Delphi on the front-end! The place I’m at now uses Caché, in > fact. It’s an old legacy healthcare data system. > > (MUMPS was originally developed to run on a Borrough’s mainframe computer > that was built to support the needs of hospitals. That was the 1970’s. Here > we are nearly 50 years later, and the VA is probably the biggest MUMPS (and > Delphi) user in the world. It ain’t going away any time soon.) > > You might or might not be a good fit for a maintenance role, but if you are, > learn one of these older languages and it could end up being a really good > gig for you. > > -David Schwartz > > > >> On Oct 16, 2017, at 10:09 PM, trent shipley <[email protected]> wrote: >> >> Dear plug-discuss, >> >> I currently work as a telephone customer service representative. There are >> no sales, but I still hate it, it pays poorly, and I'm bad at it. >> >> I have three disabilities, I'm bipolar (well treated with medication), >> autistic (high functioning), and I have attention deficit disorder. (Also, >> I'm 50, which is effectively another disability.) Three disabilities is >> enough to qualify for Vocational Rehabilitation services from the State. >> >> I like programming. I'd like to be in IT, I think. I had a couple years of >> experience back between 2000 and 2002, mostly writing SQL queries in Oracle. >> I have a BA with majors in history (3.5 GPA) and math (2.25 GPA), an MA in >> anthropology, and unsuccessful attempt at a PhD in anthropology, an MS in >> information management, and a community college Certificate of Completion in >> computer programming (CIS department, not CS). >> >> There are two major barriers to my getting a job as a programmer. First, it >> seems to involve way too much interaction with people for an autistic >> person. Second, it requires a four year degree and internships. Voc Rehab >> doesn't want to pay for it, and I can't pay for it myself. >> >> So the option of web developer came up. The Labor Department's web site said >> you could qualify to enter work as a web developer with a post-high school >> certificate. Unfortunately, I suspect that being a web developer requires >> even more people contact than being a programmer. >> >> Nevertheless, my assignment for the week is to talk to two web developers. >> I'd appreciate any contacts list members could provide that would be willing >> to provide a 20 minute interview about their work, either web developers or >> programmers with less than a BS. >> >> Regards and thanks, >> >> Trent Shipley >> [email protected] (junk e-mail account) >> --------------------------------------------------- >> PLUG-discuss mailing list - [email protected] >> To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change your mail settings: >> http://lists.phxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss > > > --------------------------------------------------- > PLUG-discuss mailing list - [email protected] > To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change your mail settings: > http://lists.phxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss
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