Posted on 09/27/2001 5:18:01 PM PDT by mlmr
This is a general question for techies and the people who love them. I have a relative who is married to a techie type. Consultant for 20 years. Subcontracted to one of the big 5 occasionally for project managmement. Business systems, inventory, financials, POS, materials tracking, delivery...you name it using IBM midrange systems. Made between 75 to 125 per hour (which is big money in this area) depending where he was working plus expenses.
Their lives changed and there were some family illnesses, deaths, and other problems. He really hasn't stayed on top of the changes. He has woken up to find his client base eroded and has been paralysed about retraining. What direction to go in, what to focus on, who's going to hire a 50 year old newly retrained guy? Is he ever going to be able to make dollars at previous levels? What kind of training does he need? He has even tried to get a job with the state and didnt make the cut. Is this a lost cause?
His wife is nearly hysterical. They are living on the retirement fund and between the taxes and the market, it isn't going to last long. They will lose their house. They have five kids, a mortgage and a car payment. He is stuck.
Well, that might be the problem .. that is not very current technology. The AS400 replaced those two machines long ago, but I have to imagine that he could come up to speed rather quickly.
Is he in Maine? where in the country? Heck, put his resume somewhere where we can digest it or pick it up. Has he been in touch with IBM for placement?
I know a few network and Exchange admins that will take exception to that.
I'm the tech director of a very large element supporting one service of an IT defense integrator.
We (geeks) have implemented neat open system internet technology, which has unfortunately put our national security at risk.
Frankly, the customers havn't given a rat's ass about security for ten years, while everything got worse.
So now, everything from the chlorine in the water supply to NASA's satellites is out there on the internet, if you know how to get to it.
The future $ for at least the next ten years is in it security consultancy. This stuff isn't rocket science. If your relative is really competent to be in the industry, should be no problem to convert.
Good luck.
System 36/38 was obsolete more than 15 years ago. There's not really much to say. I'd recommend your friend trying to leverage any language skills he has into another environment. Hopefully he has at least good Cobol skills and should try AS400, OS/390 or even VMS shops. That's short term, meaning broadening ones search to find an immediate job. In any case your friend simply has to learn new skills all the time or leave this profession. The simple truth is for S36/38 systems the handwriting has been on the wall for many many years.
Final correction : CCNA = Cisco Certified Networking Associate,
why I know ? Just picked up my first certification with it. 3 years experience with routers and that little piece of paper will get your foot in the door almost anywhere.
Now CCNP ? (network professional) ... that's where the money starts coming back in.
CCNA Cisco Certified Network Engineer
Thank you for the translation!
"A healthy male in his mid-years better never come crying on my shoulders because nobody will "give" him a job, I'll piss on his shoes."
Hmmmm...
"; I am 61 years old, half-blind, semi-retired (through no fault of my own), intolerant of halfwits, halfbreeds, halfholes and all other semi-precious imprecations the like of you spill about your plate like orts for stray dogs."
...who is crying on someone's shoulders???????
.......oh yeah, have a nice day.
I actually think there is a truth here, but there is huge fear too.
YOU BEAST!
I expect the demand for people who can work with routers and switching equipment to last for a while. We still have a conversion to IPV6 to get through, and a lot of firewalling and data stream encryption to do.
Thank you.
Have him read a book called "Who moved the cheese?"
He's Hem.
Sell the big house, settle into a lesser (but still comfortable) style of living AND RETIRE. You don't need to live the high life (keeping up with the Joneses). He deserves it. Of course all bets off if he still has young kids.
If he gets antsy, he can always get a $10/hour job to keep him outta the wife's hair.
Got it!
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