[Info-vax] Possible VMS jobs

[Arne Vajhøj]

On 12/19/2018 3:04 PM, Bill Gunshannon wrote:
> On 12/19/18 1:49 PM, Arne Vajhøj wrote:
>> On 12/19/2018 1:25 PM, Bill Gunshannon wrote:
>>> And, if you were following the discussion here VMS jobs do
>>> not show up on those sites as neither do COBOL or Fortran.
>>
>> Not so.
>>
>> Roland frequently post VMS jobs from there.
>>
>> And my search revealed COBOL and Fortran jobs.
> 
> Sigh, if they are even real, they are most likely IBM mainframe
> requiring decades of specific IBM experience, JCL, CICS, DB2, etc.
> Not VMS.

Most of COBOL is mainframe.

Fortran is most likely Linux.

>> But:
>>
>> https://www.dice.com/jobs?q=openvms+and+cobol&l=
> 
> 1. They are a contractor looking for a body.  Guess who gets
> most of the money from that job?
> 
> 2. Converting SQL (whatever that is) to Oracle.  Where is the VMS
>     connection?  "The candidate will be trained on OpenVMS or Linux
>     platform if they don't have prior experience."  But nothing
>     about this job speaks of VMS at all.

:-(

>> These companies have a specific full time
>> permanent positions they need to fill long term.
> 
> That's not what the ad says.  It plainly states "long term CONTRACT".
> the idea that they have hired these kinds of people in the past
> does not mean they would now.  What's more, based on what information
> they provide this could well be a conversion away from VMS to Linux.
> In which case if you are looking for VMS work it is likely very short
> term.

My comment was more general - not for this specific ad.

Yes - there are also contracts.

But somehow I don't think you would fit the typical
contractor anno 2018 profile either.

>> I suspect that you are more looking for companies
>> that have something they want done. It will take
>> X months. The system is important so they can get the
>> funding if they ask, but they have not asked yet
>> because how to find an expert in a niche area
>> for a short term engagement. So the opening
>> will first show up when they know about you.
> 
> That's a likelihood.  When I first showed up at the last
> COBOL gig I had (2012) I walked into a stack of SCR's
> (Software Change Requests).  Because they had not had
> a COBOL programmer for a while there were a number of
> them.  Knowing that they have not been able to hire a
> qualified COBOL replacement since I left, that pile is
> probably rather large by this point.  :-)  I am sure
> there are other places in the same boat.  Finding
> them is the problem.  ANd then once you find them
> you have to sell them on hiring you.  But finding them
> is the first and hardest part of the quest.

Hopefully your inbox are receiving some pointers.

Arne