Re: maintaining skills

Alex, 

I would advise that you find another  career or transition to something non 
AS/400 like network analyst. The salary is much lower than it used to be, & I 
am not optimistic that things will improve much there. Secondly, there are more 
such people looking for what jobs there are, so the company will be very picky, 
and will invariably select someone who has all the skills you mentioned and 
also worked in the industry at a larger competitor. 
I was able yet to get an operators job, this may be an avenue for you, but the 
bottom line as well is that what is your income picture like, are you in need 
of a paycheck, and if so, do you have a comfortable job alternative? 
My advice would be to look into training for a different career avenue. There 
are in fact hot areas where there are jobs. Generally, these are the Health 
admin, the networking, and the Accounting. 
Should you wish to be a programmer then you can always take a course of study, 
but it should be .net, Java, etc...

I wish there was reason for a better assessment. Know that there are many who 
are in this quagmire w/ you.



> -----Original Message-----
> From: Alex Montalvo [mailto:AlexMRPG@xxxxxxx]
> Sent: Tuesday, March 15, 2005, 10:35 AM
> To: MIDRANGE-JOBS@xxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: maintaining skills
> 
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> 
> Hello All,
> 
> I am an AS/400 programmer specializing in RPG ILE in desperate need of a foot
> in the door. I have been out of work since 10/2004. I have 3 years experience
> which is possibly part of the problem; lot's of people with more years in. 
> I would like to know also is there any place (website), where I could practice
> coding Ex: (RPG, DDS, CL) to keep my skills fresh while I am looking? 
> 
> Regards,
> 
> Alex M.
> 
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