Re: Expectations for different levels of programmers

Dee,

Since no one else seems to be willing to step up and answer this, I
will.  David, while this might be non-tech, it is an issue deserves to
be addressed.  If you have additional questions, please contact me
off-list.

There are really two career dimensions that exist in your question ...
that of programming and (systems) analysis.  In the AS/400 world, they
often become confused (as is the additional dimension of operations). 
While I would submit that most employees are more focused on their W2
compensation than their title, their title tells the rest of the world
"where they are in the pecking order.  In my company, I have tried to
move away from titles and focus on responsibilities & authorities and
paying at the market for a person's value.  Here, everyone has
"Systems Development" on their card ... unless they have sufficient
leadership responsibilities to justify a more formal designation.

Where most AS/400 pros fall down is in the analyst dimension of their jobs.

While I could write a book (or do a Ph. D, dissertation) in this area,
I will try to keep it brief.  The specifics of what is expected may
vary wildly with:

 - the technologies that you are using in your company
 - whether you write your own software or are modifying a package
 - the size of your staff
 - the formality of your company in using titles
 - your hiring strategies and "local marketplace" expectations

Here's  my $.02 on the titles that you listed.  I have sorted them in
sequence of their position on most corporate pecking orders.

Junior Programmer -  Has basic education (2 year college, tech school,
or 4 year degree in a non-related field), but little practical
experience.  Is still learning the mechanics of programming.  Usually
has little or no business perspective. Job is to learn and perform
assignments that reinforce that learning.  Promoted out of this
position after satisfactory completion of training program.  Skills
include mastery of programming logic, Command Language, DDS, RPG
fundamentals, and batch programming techniques.

Programmer - Former Junior Programmer .  Understands the mechanics of
programming.  Still has little or no business experience.  Knowledge
of interactive programming, including maintenance of sub-file
programs.

Programmer / Analyst - New hire with a 4 year degree in a related
field or a programmer with demonstrated business experience. 
Understands the mechanics of programming and has some business
perspective.  Minimum knowledge is Command Language and maintaining
"Subfile Programs".  [At the same time, this is a fallacy, because
this is the "minimum job title" that a respectable 4-year computer
science graduate will consider and, if they come from a "respectable
program", there is only a 5% chance that they will know RPG. CL, or
anything about the AS/400 (or anything about business for that
matter).]

Senior Programmer - Demonstrated mastery of programming techniques,
including sub-file programming issues.    Hopefully can serve as a
mentor to new staff.

(Systems) Analyst - Fundamental knowledge of the technology that the
company is using.  Demonstrated knowledge of the business operations
of the company.  Demonstrated ability to:
  -  document IN WRITING the business requirements that create a systems issue
  -  document IN WRITING the dollar value of addressing the issue
  -  work with programming leadership to define IN WRITING a project
and the tasks necessary to address the business issue; and the level
of investment required to perform the project
  -  compute the return on investment metric used by the company to
rank investments
  -  provide top IT management with this documentation so that
projects can be assigned in sequence by the return that they will
generate on their investment.

HTH,

John Myers
(201) 327-9400



On Tue, 28 Sep 2004 20:54:29 -0400, Dee Westerfield
<dwesterfield@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> I'm interested in what is expected for each of the different levels of 
> programmers.
> 
> What is expected of a junior programmer vs. a programmer vs. a senior 
> programmer vs. a programmer analyst.
> 
> We are basically a small RPG shop in the process of training a new 
> programmerand I'm interested in what the rest of the world thinks vs. what 
> our company thinks.  I've been a programmer for many years and have lost 
> track of what to realistically expect from new people.