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Kenneth: Alex has gotten good replies from people with solid experiences and a willingness to share them at the risk of potential criticism. One question that didn't come up was: 'Is this the first time you were out of work for any length of time?' Why?...The first is always the worst; especially when it comes to self-confidence. Another question: 'Are you willing to relocate at a lower salary and in a potentially higher cost of living area?' Everyone appears to be bottom-feeding nowadays. I had an offer from a company two months ago and it was $11K less than what I was making at the current employer. Not so bad? I had previously taken a $40K cut when I accepted that position. Combined cut would have been...over $51K. Thank God I left the Long Island area and went to a way lower cost of living. I enjoy my work and money is really the third thing on my hierarchy of needs. A good suggestion would be to buy (or get from library) the book 'What Color is Your Parachute?' It has been improved with time and is still a very good primer for job changing/job hunting. As far as learning new 'techie' skills, you had better pick one that will last more than a year, or, two. This will be a hard choice. Things are changing so much, by the time you study and get a certification, it is outdated and you need to get another one. It cost big bucks to keep up with that on your own. I would suggest to beat the internet hard and apply for everything that you remotely qualify for. It is like the lottery since the audience is so large. Myself, I have already had 7 placements via the internet in mostly contract positions and one perm position (where I was laid off due to a lack of work in my specialty after 8 months as a perm in January, 2005). Perm is only as perm as the market nowadays. Community college courses or monitoring university classes for a small fee is a good route. That is how I picked up PowerBuilder when it was in vogue. To everyone who responded....it is nice to see that some people take responsibility for their fellow workers. I thank you for Alex. Ron. -------------- Original message from Kenneth H Werner <KHWerner@xxxxxxxxxxx>: -------------- > *** Please pay close attention when replying to a message on this list! > *** If you want the reply to go to the list, use REPLY-TO-ALL > *** Recruiters may advertise only permanent employment positions in this > list. > > > You have received some other replies to your message. They are all > things to consider along with my the future looks positive comments. > > If you have money to live on, look for a non-profit in your area with > an AS/400 and offer to give them 1 day a week to keep your skills > current. They will also be a job reference. > > Use your time to read up on parts of RPG ILE you have not yet had the > opportunity to use, e.g. free form if that is something you have not used. > > Use your time to read up on DB2/400 if you have not had the opportunity > to use. DB2/400.. > > CL has new features with V5R3. Read up on the enhancements if you have > not had the opportunity to use them.. > > There are CD versions of Linux that don't impact Windows on your PC. > Learn Linux commands. Cost of the CD will run from free to $19.95. You > have Unix commands if you have Linux commands. Linux and Unix skills > provide job enlargement/enrichment opportunities for AS/400 people. An > i5 lartition can be Unix. Unix can be in your future complementing your > AS/400. > > Go to www.redbooks.ibm.com and download SG24-6330. Read every chapter > that is not about cold call selling. Just read the theory, foundation > chapters till you fully understand what On Demand is. Understanding On > Demand will take you places. > > Forget learning "labor intensive" firewall, intrusion detection, > networks and anything Microsoft. The Redbooks I just had you downloaded > will tell you that "self healing" and "self adjusting" will replace > "labor intensive" for a company to stay in business. I have worked at > many companies with a telephone switching system. A phone switch is a > computer that unlike firewalls doesn't require "labor intensive" hand > holding. Things will become more like the phone switch. Don't spend > your time learning things that are "labor intensive." > > Finally have someone read your resume. For example, you have both > hospitality and people skills experience if you worked at McDonalds > during high school and these skills can be worded in your resume to give > if more than technical buzz and a leg up on others without saying > McDonalds. > > Alex Montalvo wrote: > > >*** Please pay close attention when replying to a message on this list! > >*** If you want the reply to go to the list, use REPLY-TO-ALL > >*** Recruiters may advertise only permanent employment positions in this > >list. > > > > > >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. > > > >_______________________________________________ > >This is the Midrange Jobs: Postings & Discussion (MIDRANGE-JOBS) mailing > >list > >To post a message email: MIDRANGE-JOBS@xxxxxxxxxxxx > >To subscribe, unsubscribe, or change list options, > >visit: http://lists.midrange.com/mailman/listinfo/midrange-jobs > >or email: MIDRANGE-JOBS-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx > > > > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > This is the Midrange Jobs: Postings & Discussion (MIDRANGE-JOBS) mailing list > To post a message email: MIDRANGE-JOBS@xxxxxxxxxxxx > To subscribe, unsubscribe, or change list options, > visit: http://lists.midrange.com/mailman/listinfo/midrange-jobs > or email: MIDRANGE-JOBS-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
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