Re-training

[pete66]

Hi
Having been made redundant from a permie job, I am back in contracting again. Have a nice contract at the moment (hoping to get renewed at the end of the 6 months), but I am a mainframe COBOL programmer, and am concerned about how long I can keep going with just these skills.
I am thinking about investing in re-training, but am not sure what it's worth doing, how to go about it etc.
I did get some UNIX/Oracle training at my last job and, although I didn't get to use it much, wondered if it would be worth continuing with this. Am quite interested in LINUX (have an eeePc), but don't know whether this is gaining popularity commercially or not? Have also thought about moving more into the 'technical' side than application development.
Also, would it be worth working towards certification? I realise I will probably end-up in the old dilemma of not being able to get a job without the experience, and not being able to get the experience without a job, but would like to at least be working towards a 'Plan B'.
Any advice would be much appreciated.

[DodgyAgent]

Hi
Having been made redundant from a permie job, I am back in contracting again. Have a nice contract at the moment (hoping to get renewed at the end of the 6 months), but I am a mainframe COBOL programmer, and am concerned about how long I can keep going with just these skills.
I am thinking about investing in re-training, but am not sure what it's worth doing, how to go about it etc.
I did get some UNIX/Oracle training at my last job and, although I didn't get to use it much, wondered if it would be worth continuing with this. Am quite interested in LINUX (have an eeePc), but don't know whether this is gaining popularity commercially or not? Have also thought about moving more into the 'technical' side than application development.
Also, would it be worth working towards certification? I realise I will probably end-up in the old dilemma of not being able to get a job without the experience, and not being able to get the experience without a job, but would like to at least be working towards a 'Plan B'.
Any advice would be much appreciated.

If you are a Cobol programmer then I suggest that you tread water between now and retirement

[Francko]

Hi
Having been made redundant from a permie job, I am back in contracting again. Have a nice contract at the moment (hoping to get renewed at the end of the 6 months), but I am a mainframe COBOL programmer, and am concerned about how long I can keep going with just these skills.
I am thinking about investing in re-training, but am not sure what it's worth doing, how to go about it etc.
I did get some UNIX/Oracle training at my last job and, although I didn't get to use it much, wondered if it would be worth continuing with this. Am quite interested in LINUX (have an eeePc), but don't know whether this is gaining popularity commercially or not? Have also thought about moving more into the 'technical' side than application development.
Also, would it be worth working towards certification? I realise I will probably end-up in the old dilemma of not being able to get a job without the experience, and not being able to get the experience without a job, but would like to at least be working towards a 'Plan B'.
Any advice would be much appreciated.

Don't worry. We are all going to be rich in the future. Hard working people in poor countries will work for us for peanuts and they will be happy to keep it that way for the eternity while we enjoy sipping cocktails on the sun leveraging our managerial skills up to a point that we will have enough time to write more than 10.000 posts on this forum, in the meantime our house will grow 20% every year. We are boomed.

[SandyDown]

yes re-training is worth it, areas to retrain in depends on the industry, and your preference plus market demand, whether to do the training through an official training programme or just train yourself depends on your financial situation and your free time... once you feel comfortable you can apply to contracts that require your existing skill as well as extra skills in the area you want to retrain in, you probably need to drop your rates for the first contract or two, but once you got a the experience under your belt you can start charging full rates.

[threaded]

COBOL: you're quids in mate. Wouldn't bother with retraining.

[reddog]

As a Unix Admin I find that jobs are advertised with an emphaisise on a more tradional flavour of Unix as the main criteria with Linux being seen as a nice to have - that said Linux is gaining popularity rapidly - Redhat seems to be the comercial favorite.

As a veteran of many permie training courses I would say don't waste your money! Courses usually start at 9:30 and finish at 16:30 - with loads of breaks and the instructor telling you that we'll finish at 12:00 on Friday 'cos every ones got a long drive home' you don't really spend that much time learning!

If you have an idea of one flavour of Unix you can easily cross train at home with a book and an old PC.

I would stay stick to COBOL for now - may be unfasionable but there is work out there - cross train in your own time.

[Sausage Surprise]

Hi
Having been made redundant from a permie job, I am back in contracting again. Have a nice contract at the moment (hoping to get renewed at the end of the 6 months), but I am a mainframe COBOL programmer, and am concerned about how long I can keep going with just these skills.
I am thinking about investing in re-training, but am not sure what it's worth doing, how to go about it etc.
I did get some UNIX/Oracle training at my last job and, although I didn't get to use it much, wondered if it would be worth continuing with this. Am quite interested in LINUX (have an eeePc), but don't know whether this is gaining popularity commercially or not? Have also thought about moving more into the 'technical' side than application development.
Also, would it be worth working towards certification? I realise I will probably end-up in the old dilemma of not being able to get a job without the experience, and not being able to get the experience without a job, but would like to at least be working towards a 'Plan B'.
Any advice would be much appreciated.

**** me...my first IT job in 1986

[darmstadt]

COBOL: you're quids in mate. Wouldn't bother with retraining.

WHS. There's loads of COBOL work out there (although a lot is now being done in India but an experienced COBOL guy can get a good rate on the continent) and I get called up now and again but turn it down cos I hated application programming.