Most people don't know what a mainframe is, and lately, even fewer are making it their life's work. Understandably, I get a lot of questions about how I chose the mainframe as a career — and I think the fact that I am a 24-year-old female has a lot to do with it.
Act Now! Activate a FREE three days trial to InformationTechnologyCrossing.com, because you know how important it is to know about all the jobs.
''NEON is working closely with local colleges and IBM to create mainframe programs and host career fairs at colleges across the country in order to educate students about this industry and its promising future.''
While the call to develop code in Assembler language was very strong (wink wink), it all started much before that. Both of my parents are Assembler mainframe developers, and I attended my first SHARE conference while in utero.
Fast forward 18 years: I was an eager freshman at the University of Arizona (UA), and whether from genes or osmosis, I knew I wanted to work in the mainframe industry. Preparing for that career would be easier said than done. My college classmates told me I was nuts for choosing a career on a ''dead'' platform, and my professors weren’t much more optimistic. I found only one Assembler language class to prepare me for the job I would take upon graduation.
While at college, I surveyed all the computer science (CS) students at UA. In this survey, I asked questions like:
''If you had to describe the mainframe in one word, what would it be?''
''Do you think the mainframe is still useful/important today? In the future?''
''Would you say you know a lot, some, a little, or nothing about mainframes?''
''Have any of your professors ever mentioned the mainframe?''
And similar questions for Assembler.
The results of the survey were what I expected, just not what I was hoping:
91% of the students that responded had little of no knowledge of the mainframe
95% said no CS professor had even mentioned mainframes to them!!!
The most common ''one word'' description of the mainframe in the replies was ''old''! Old! Yes, of course they are old, but only a few replies mentioned that they are an important part of our daily computing world!
Most students were pretty confident that mainframes are a dying breed — that their end is near and few companies use them today.
97% said they hadn’t/wouldn’t consider a career on the mainframe.
From my professors, I heard, ''Well, that’s not where the money is'' or ''That’s an odd area of CS to pursue.''
Don’t get me wrong — my years in school were some of the best of my life, but my professional education and development really took place during the internships I completed each summer with NEON Enterprise Software, where I am currently a developer. Each summer, I was fortunate enough to attend SHARE conferences, work with seasoned professionals (the best in the field), and absorb real-life applications of what I was learning in school.
Now, with just over two years of full-time work under my belt, I’m learning more about the mainframe and Assembler programming, and I’ve seen that there will always be something new to learn to better my career. I’ve also noticed that there are not a lot of young professionals joining the ranks at my company, and I don’t see many people my age at industry tradeshows or conferences.
As is true with many technology industries, the mainframe industry is experiencing a serious shortage of skilled workers. My struggles finding proper training to work as a developer on the mainframe weren’t the cause of that problem, but rather, one of the results.
With the graying of the workforce that we are seeing now, by 2010, there will be no one to support the mainframe. Considering that 95% of Fortune 5000 companies continue to operate on the mainframe, the job security in this industry is quite compelling.
Fortunately, several industry leaders have joined together to ensure that I won’t be working alone in ten years. Through the Academic Initiative, NEON is working closely with local colleges and IBM to create mainframe programs and host career fairs at colleges across the country in order to educate students about this industry and its promising future. Schools participating in the Academic Initiative teach a set of courses on the mainframe, and participating companies provide internships to give students real-world applications for what they learn in the classroom.
I am very invested in doing my part to ensure that more students have the opportunity to choose the mainframe — in 2005, I became the project manager for zNextGen, a user-driven community that aims to connect peers and facilitate shared experiences among emerging mainframe professionals.
Fortunately, I found a company that is just as committed as I am to increasing the flow of new expertise to our industry. When you are making the decision about which technology path you want to follow, consider the mainframe. After all, job security, good pay, and challenging work are not a guarantee in every field.
About the Author
Kristine Harper is a developer for NEON Enterprise Software and works as an Assembler programmer in the area of research and development on IMS projects. NEON is the technology leader in enterprise data management software and services. As the rules of business change, our solutions let you efficiently control, protect, and manage your data with confidence. Founded in 1995, NEON Enterprise Software is headquartered in Sugar Land, Texas, and serves customers worldwide with its dedicated team of industry experts. For more information about NEON Enterprise Software, visit www.neonesoft.com.
InformationTechnologyCrossing Fact #84: Those who use InformationTechnologyCrossing always know about available industry opportunities, which makes finding a job easier.
Danielle , Hartford
InformationTechnologyCrossing has a huge quantity of jobs. Amazing website!
Mary , Philadelphia, PA
InformationTechnologyCrossing has a great number of jobs and that too at one place. Good work!
Gregg , Tampa, FL
I was greatly surprised at the number of postings I found for my profession. It gave me the possibility to search in other cities, as I was considering a move to other locations in the country. I was very happy with the service and will recommend to everyone I know looking for employment prospects.
Barry , Reno, NV
My friend told me about EmploymentCrossing. I was able to locate several job positions that I may not have found other wise. This was well worth the one-month membership fee. I tell everyone I know about the possibilities of this site.
Julie , Chicago, IL
EmploymentCrossing is too good and very user friendly. The best feature is the submission of the resume and cover letter online. The search engines are also very fast.
To compare InformationTechnologyCrossing with other job sites
Bring Order and Structure to Your IT Job Search
You have perseverance and can accomplish anything you put your mind to and finding the ideal IT job is no exception. We have a tradition of helping our members accomplish anything they set their mind to. With complete information about every IT job in the market at your fingertips you are going to go far.
You have very high standards for the sort of employer you are working for and also for yourself. You are not afraid to work hard to fulfill your duties because you value security and peaceful living. We give you the tools to pursue your dreams for you and your family.
Become part of a tradition of research excellence that has elevated the careers of countless IT professionals just like you.
Complete the sign up process today and become part of our site today.
Tell us where to send your access instructions:
Total Jobs on InformationTechnologyCrossing
262,358
New Information Technology Jobs This Week
72,511
Jobs on EmploymentCrossing Network Available to Our Members
Web Designer United States-OR-Merlin
The company is strongly committed to its web presence. Attractive graphics and a satisfying user experience are important parts of that goal. The ...
A Google job search may not be a preferred alternative, as all Google job descriptions are available at the Google website, and one can apply for jobs directly through Google. However, actual experiences suggest that most candidates called for interview at Google were directly contacted by a Google recruiter, and quite unexpectedly, without having ...
See Every Information Technology Job We Can Find on the Internet!
Unlike other sites, InformationTechnologyCrossing works for you and does not charge employers to post jobs and actually goes out and researches jobs for you. The jobs you see are the jobs we find for you and not the ones employers are paying us to post.
To compare InformationTechnologyCrossing with other job sites
Top 101 Reasons to Sign Up for InformationTechnologyCrossing
Reason 56: InformationTechnologyCrossing lets you save up to 10 resumes and up to 10 supplementary materials online (even as Word or PDF files) and access them from anywhere there is an Internet connection.
Start doing things the way they should be done.
Make objective career decisions with unbiased research, facts and information about IT jobs. Your perseverance, follow through and dependability will all pay off when you have access to:
IT jobs from every company employer career webpage we can find.
IT jobs from every professional job source we can find.
IT jobs from every job board we can find.
IT jobs from every newspaper classified ad we can find.
IT jobs from every specialized IT publication we can find.
IT jobs from every federal, state and local government career page we can find.
IT jobs from every public interest, nonprofit and other career page we can find.
Tell us where to send your access instructions:
Today at InformationTechnologyCrossing
15,723 - Jobs found in last 24 Hours72,511 - Jobs found in last 7 Days262,358 - Total Jobs Found
Your privacy is guaranteed. We will never give out, lease, or sell your personal information.
InformationTechnologyCrossing - #1 Job Aggregation and Private Job-Opening Research Service — The Most Quality Jobs Anywhere
InformationTechnologyCrossing is the first job consolidation service in the employment industry to seek to include every job that exists and not charge employers to post jobs on its site.
InformationTechnologyCrossing uses sophisticated technology and manual work to comb employer websites and other job boards for jobs and bring them all to its site.
