Re: Midrange Jobs National Discussion

Scott, I would say, we are starting to see the situation improve
for the programmer, in terms of job opportunities.

The simple fact is that those companies who have the Iseries, and whose
entire business is based on it, are by and large happy w/ the Iseries
and do not wish to change it.

I have a friend who (still) prefers to be a contract programmer.
He apprises me of places he works, where he is interviewing, etc.
I am constantly saying, *They* still have the Iseries?

I work for a small (300 Mill in sales), (I guess small is relative),
company that the products are a household name around the world.

The youngest RPG P/A is 50, and they oldest is over 70. there are 3 others
and one Manager close to retirement.

Since this is a family business, the grandkids are starting to work.

I feel remiss by not telling them, that what are they going to do in 5-15
years when we will all be at retirement age, who will know CL and RPG?

I was told to shut my mouth about this, and I sort of agree, let them deal
w/ it.

THe system they have is all home grown, from soup to nuts.

What they seem to be doing now, and I suggested this, is to slowly migrate
to an Iseries package so that at the very least code support is always
available.

The largely enjoy the comfort and stability of the Iseries I think.

Having said that, I am hoping that I can find part time off or on site,
work in RPG any flavour, as used to be the case for many years. Until that
happens I cannot
say that there is an oversupply of RPG Programmers.

No matter what they pay, I always need the additional income, and I used
to have it, from 1993-1999.

Steve

*** 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.


(This is Scott Klement, if you don't recognize the E-mail address.)

I've been reading this discussion, and I just wanted to give my thoughts
on what I've observed:

a) I recently had to hire an RPG programmer.  It was very, very difficult
    to find someone.  I was not looking for familiarity with specific
    software applications, just experience with ILE RPG, and would be
    happy to train.

    I only had a handful of applicants.  I think I received a total of
    16 resumes.  Some of those were people who clearly didn't understand
    what I was asking for.  Perhaps half of the resumes were from people
    who had never programmed in RPG, but had worked in other languages
    (Java, .NET, Visual Basic, ASP).  There was one resume from someone
    who thought the position was for a truck driver!

    Of the ones who actually had RPG experience, most did not have
    ILE experience.  Those that did wanted to be paid very high salaries
    (Double what I make, and I'm already one of the highest paid people
    in our entire company.)

b) I frequently get e-mails from managers and meet them at conferences,
    and see messages in forums and lists (like this one) that say that
    there's a shortage of RPG talent, and that it's not good for a company
    to continue to bank on it.  In order to survive, they feel they have
    to go to another language, such as Java, where there are so many
    more programmers available.

c) On the other hand, I've been watching the job openings.  I'm
    semi-interested in finding a different job in my area, but there has
    been virtually nothing available.   If there's such a shortage of
    programmers, then why aren't there any openings?!

    Even if I wanted to move out of the area (and I don't, I have a family
    here) there appears to be next-to-nothing that I'm qualified for.

    Many people consider me to be an expert in the field of RPG
    programming.  I receive, and help, people all over the world with
    programming questions.  I write articles all the time on the subject.
    But I'm not qualified for any of the positions?

    The positions all require specific software.  You must be familiar
with
    JDE or BPCS.  Usually (on top of that) they want some sort of higher
    degree on the subject.  So, despite being someone that thousands of
    RPG programmers look to for answers, I'm not qualified for very many
    of the (very few) openings out there.

d) I keep seeing people whining about how there's no colleges teaching
    RPG or iSeries.   Since there's no jobs available, why would colleges
    teach it?  But then, why is there a shortage?

Seems to be some very big contractions in the industry.  I just don't
understand how their can possibly be a shortage of programmers when there
are so many people looking for jobs.  Isn't that a contradiction?

And I've experienced both sides of the coin myself.    I just don't
understand why.

--
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