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 <trent.shipley@gmail.com> 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
trent1967.48@outlook.com (junk e-mail account)
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