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Need Techie Input for a Career that is Crashing and Burning
self | today 27 September, 2001 | self

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.


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To: mlmr
Oh, my kingdom for a pasel of young computer kids who would be available to run in and straighten out my system after I sabotage it's inner workings. I've thought about starting such a business and then franchize it. Hire 17-20 yr olds to work for slightly more than minimum wage to make house-calls for old biddies like me who love what a computer can do but has no clue as to how it works, and charge $50 house-call + $10 per hour. Let's see.......I would call it DOT COM RX, or some such cute name. What do you think? Would it fly?
81 posted on 09/27/2001 6:50:41 PM PDT by WVNan
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To: Bush2000
Good advice ...

"...different people define success in different ways. Sounds to me like your friend needs to do some soul-searching. What is the most important or fun thing that he has ever done? Sometimes, your heart leads you in subtle ways that you tend to ignore. Pays to listen..."

82 posted on 09/27/2001 6:51:01 PM PDT by GOPJ
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To: innocentbystander
You may have the last word:

I am going to assume that you are just an old bitter fool with nothing better to do than to spout off on this and other threads. Whatever. You will simply be ignored from this point on, so enjoy having the last word, idiot.

I am going to assume that you are just an old bitter fool with nothing better to do than to spout off on this and other threads. Whatever. You will simply be ignored from this point on, so enjoy having the last word, idiot.

I am going to assume that you are just an old bitter fool with nothing better to do than to spout off on this and other threads. Whatever. You will simply be ignored from this point on, so enjoy having the last word, idiot.

I am going to assume that you are just an old bitter fool with nothing better to do than to spout off on this and other threads. Whatever. You will simply be ignored from this point on, so enjoy having the last word, idiot.

by innocentbystander

83 posted on 09/27/2001 6:51:52 PM PDT by Old Professer
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To: mlmr
contact 'TEMP' contract agencies.... there is SO MUCH contract work available it is not funny... and at 100K+ a year EASY... (I have been a conractor for 15 years)
84 posted on 09/27/2001 6:52:46 PM PDT by Mr. K
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To: mlmr
He has had an excellent reputation in his area of expertise and a reputation for sterling honesty.

I would suggest that he buy a lunch for one of the people that he has been doing business with, and ask for an honest assessment of what skills they need, and where they see him as outdated.
Employers who have liked his work will probably be happy to help him move on. If they tell him that he needs one of the certifications mentioned before, he might ask if they would give him an "internship" (work for free, or nearly so) so that he could get an actual job on his resume. He would probably have to pay for the certification program himself, but solid work experience plus the certification is much better than the certification alone.

I'm suggesting a friendly lunch to talk about business opportunities, because that is often more comfortable for people who don't have good marketing skills (as you say this individual does not). It's less intimidating than asking the same questions in an office appointment.

85 posted on 09/27/2001 6:53:37 PM PDT by speekinout
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To: RevNan
It would help if you learned how to spell passel and franchise.
86 posted on 09/27/2001 6:54:28 PM PDT by Old Professer
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To: Mordichia
Linux. Red Hat - know it, breathe it, love it.

People say that microsoft needs to be broken up, but soon companies will start to realize that Microsoft is not the only solution. Linux is better faster and cheaper(free) then windows, and with languages such as PHP and MySql,it makes the open source solution a great way to cut costs.

87 posted on 09/27/2001 6:55:50 PM PDT by Shackman (spiffo9899@yahoo.com)
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To: Mr. K
Where? In New York? Doing what?
88 posted on 09/27/2001 6:57:31 PM PDT by The KG9 Kid
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To: Rightwing Conspirator1
I have heard of the book, I will recommend it.

A hem? Sounds ominous.

89 posted on 09/27/2001 6:58:14 PM PDT by mlmr
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To: mlmr,K7TNW
I completely agree with K7TNW's advice.

I don't know what part of the country your friend is in, but moving away from the big urban rat race and buying 5-40 acres with a nice house and a barn will do wonders for him.

I did this back in 1998-1999 time frame, and I'm perfectly happy now. I currently still do a little work for a few straggling clients, and I make about $5,000 to $7,000 per year with that. I hunt, fish, grow a few acres of garden, and I'm planting a vineyard next spring.

If you grow a lot of your own food, and buy the rest in big quantities when its on sale, you can live on much less than most people would believe. The key is to get completely out of debt and own your home and land outright. Paying interest sucks, and it will keep you working long hours.

90 posted on 09/27/2001 6:58:21 PM PDT by cc2k
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To: Old Professer
p-e-d-a-n-t, look it up prof.
91 posted on 09/27/2001 7:00:28 PM PDT by Duke of Milan
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To: mlmr
Perhaps he was in the wrong job to start with. You describe a number of characteristics, honesty, sterling reputation, that have nothing to do with coding. Perhaps these traits are manifestations of what truly inspires your friend.

What alternatives did he forgo when he first took the programming job? What are his passions? Put aside money and the security of the job. What does he want to DO? Answer these questions and the right job will reveal itself. He needs to look inside himself for what motivates him. He needs to find first the things that stimulate his interest. The job and the money will follow.

The best advise you can give your friend is to put aside the fear of the unknown and explore the known within. Only he knows what he really wants to do with his time. Sounds like he is being mislead by the fear of losing the security he once had. That is gone. But at 50, life has given him a portfolio of divers talents and interests that he could not catalogue in a week. And this no 25 year old can match. He has had decades in the work force to learn. Many of the skills he has learned he probably doesn't even recognize as marketable.

Tell your friend to take inventory. First of his desires and then of his skills. With this knowledge he will be able to find a place to deploy his talents

92 posted on 09/27/2001 7:00:43 PM PDT by trek
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To: mlmr
No "tech" advice here, but this is what happened to me a couple years ago. One day, my boss called me in and told me he was cutting my hours and salary by 75 percent. I went home and spent the first week in total shock. The second week I discontinued the bottled water, sold one of my cars, cut out the cable TV, the extra stuff on the phone--did anything and everything to cut my expenses and I picked up a part-time bartending job. Guess what? I found that I had more free time and was happier than before. Yeah, my kid had to finish paying for her own college education, but it worked out for the best for her, she was screwing around while Mom was paying for it but once she saw how large those loans were getting, she put on the afterburners and finished in record time.

I wish your friend the best. My first thought when I read of his predicament was that he get cards and flyers printed up and start his own business fixing people's home computers. Once he has a customer base he can install Carbon Copy on all their computers and then he can even fix them from home! Yeah, he won't be making the big bucks, but he'll be able to write off most of what he makes.

As for you, mlmr, you are a true friend, but don't forget, you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink.

93 posted on 09/27/2001 7:01:56 PM PDT by WillaJohns
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To: K7TNW
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.

They just dug out of a ton of unexpected medical bills. They have school aged kids and a toddler. They were actually headed to a simpler life and got blasted with other issues.

94 posted on 09/27/2001 7:06:16 PM PDT by mlmr
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To: slowdance
Have him use the skills and knowledges he had and learn more about network security, or digital image creation/integration. I see those as two of the big areas to open up. Good luck to him.

Good advice, check out joining IT organizations that keeps up on the latest IT, also. Apply at CSC they always have open jobs for all range.

95 posted on 09/27/2001 7:06:50 PM PDT by CaliforniaOkie
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To: trek
Trek - excellent advice. The best thing anyone can do for their career is to figure out what they are passionate about. A person who is passionate about being a manager of a car wash can end up making more money and being more successful than a person with a Ph.D in a field that they could care less about.
96 posted on 09/27/2001 7:07:00 PM PDT by Billy_bob_bob
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To: RedWing9
Thank you what a great idea. I cannot believe the options that are presenting.
97 posted on 09/27/2001 7:07:57 PM PDT by mlmr
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To: mlmr
IBM does placement?? Yes he is in Maine.

No, but they sure do hire contract workers if his skills are resellable.

98 posted on 09/27/2001 7:08:43 PM PDT by AgThorn
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To: Old Professer
... half-blind...

Find a girlfriend. Or better yet, find a whore - just network through your immediate family.

99 posted on 09/27/2001 7:10:26 PM PDT by Senator Pardek
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To: mlmr
That's true. I think he does have 400 experience, but not a lot. Is there a school for it?

That's what the reference to Rochester, Minnesota was about.

The new moniker for the AS/400 is the "iSeries" so if you do a search on IBM.com on iSeries Education or training, you should find a lot of online stuff as well.

Here's one good link:

 
iSeries technical education over the Internet
Free | Evaluate | FeePartnerWorld for Developers-iSeries offers a number of educational ...

100 posted on 09/27/2001 7:14:20 PM PDT by AgThorn
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