Please excuse me if this posting sounds like crying in my beer but the experiences I have had over the last 7 months demonstrates the callous disregard companies, all companies are giving y2k.

I am an IT professional, bachelors degree in CAD, master degree in CAM, 13+ years experience as a programmer, applications engineer, support manager and network manager. I am a CNE and MSCP-NT

Recently I was "downsized" out of a job. The last task I was assigned before being released was to completely replace the companies internal network to 1) rebuild the network and eliminate expensive down time and 2) make the network y2k compliant. I succeeded on time and on budget.

However, the pursueing job search has been fruitless. I have been a final contender for countless positions but ended up taking an entry level position just to be working. In every case that I am aware, the candidate that actually got the position was younger, I'm 47. Companies have been catering to younger candidates because they can work them longer and pay them less. They also have the audacity to cry to the government that they can't find qualified staff.

I'm working with several employment agencies, they have not had a single request from a utility company. They have not had a single request where y2k experience is a requirement.

I am considered by many to be obsolete (read not a recent graduate). At various times during my experience I have programmed in FORTRAN, C, C++, PASCAL, and BASIC. I have worked with Modican, TI, Siemans, AB, and other PLCs. Give me a little time and I can program in any other language. My whole carreer has been learning new things and keeping up with technology.

Different assignment over the years have required me to work with vision systems, voice recognition, robotics, and other assorted types of manufacturing systems. I have a lot of experience with manufacturing systems.

I have worked with assorted SCADA packages. I was around when the term SCADA was coined. I have worked with Indelec, Paragon, Factory Link, and other packages. I have worked on custum programming to collect data from PLCs and act on that data. My experience has taken me through the food, mining, entertainment, defense, automotive, and utility industries. I've worked on progressive die presses, feeder systems, canning lines, munitions controllers, and many other systems over the years.

All this experience, a loooooooong track record of spinning up anb solving problems, and I can't get a job. It's not my referances, it's not my resume, it's not my experience (I repeat, I have been a final contender countless times), all I can figure is that it's my age.

But even more disturbing is the scarcity of positions in manufacturing and utilities that will accept my experience and skill set. I have seen recent college graduates get selected for positions when they have a fraction of my experience and even less of a skill set.

The classic was the position I didn't get because they decided to promote from within. O.K., I can live with that. Then I was called back for a second interview by the man who got the promotion. He admitted outright he knew nothing of the technology and then told me I had the wrong skill set. He didn't even know wat the y2k problem was and he was in charge of the companies compliance projects.

Now that I'm done crying on your shoulder, the point is these companies are interested in saving a buck and that is all they are concerned about. They are not willing to pay the money to hire the people to get the job done. Y2k is going to cost a lot of money, and they are determined to get the problem solved with staff that don't even understand the problem (I do not mean to insult you gualified and knowledgable y2k engineers)..

Younger technical professionals that I talk to seem to be of the attitude that the problem is not that serious, even though simple tests on a common P.C. demonstrate a 97% failure rate. Why should we expect any less failure rate on embedded controllers?

Ladies and Gentlemen, the lights are going out on 1/1/2000. It will probably take about 20 minutes for the systems to fail, faults to be generated and the system to shut down.

Anybody care to comment.

-- Anonymous, May 14, 1998

Answers

What interests me more is the follow-up question: If it takes 20 minutes to take one local utility down, and a lot of them go down, what does it take to get them all back up? It takes electricity to generate electricity, including the fuel and spare parts needed to keep the system going. What percentage of the grid can we lose before it's a Humpty Dumpty scenario?

-- Anonymous, May 15, 1998

I haven't posted on this forum before, but I felt I needed to add my 2 cents worth. I too am "over the hill" when it comes to the computer field. I have found that by being a consultant, I have been able to stay employed. Most companies when they want a consultant or contractor, don't care about age or sex as long as you can deliver. I will admit that I am having a harder time keeping up with the "kids" and no longer have the desire to work 60-80+ hours a week. I have to agree with the assessment that companies feel that the "kids" can be worked long and hard and cheaper than those of us with experience. Of course, these "kids" also have no real world experience and no business knowledge that can cost the company dearly with very wrong decisions.

I get lots of calls for consultant/contract work, but I haven't been called once for a Y2k project. I will admit that my background is client-server and I get told that there is no problem there. (Boy are they mistaken.) I do have friends that are on the mainframe side and they have never been approached either. I have to agree that companies just aren't dealing with Y2k and the ones that I know are, have just started.

-- Anonymous, May 15, 1998

I too am over 40 and have changed careers several times. I have experience in PLC's and such but not to the extent you have. I am also a CNE. I have been involved in Y2K, a lot of research, full time since September and can't agree with you more. Nobody is doing it. Some companies are beginning to assess it. I know of one company that has been telling me for the past two months they will be finished their assessmsnt soon. It seems that companies think they have to finish the assessment before starting to fix anything. There will be a lot of dissapointed companies at the end of this year when they find no resources available.

-- Anonymous, May 19, 1998

Let me ask you tekkies a question: How long would it take (at 8 hours a day) to learn COBOL well enough to help out--- IF I had absolutely NO programming background at all? _________.

Question #2 What is the best way to learn it? Classroom? Self Study? If self study, are there any recommended "beginner" books?

My wife says I should learn it now, and in six months I could be able to help in remediation, and make a decent living.... Now I know most of you went to school for 4 years for this, but you took a lot of other courses...so be reasonable with your estimates.

-- Anonymous, May 27, 1998

Duane: I haven't been around near as long as many of these other people have, but I would tell you that it depends upon your abilities as to how long it would take to learn COBOL well enough to help out. They say your first language is the hardest, and I concur. I would tell you to forget about Y2k work. By the time you learn it, gain a little experience and get yourself in a position to help out this whole issue may well be over. In my opinion the only requirements for COBOL people at that point will be to mop-up and maintain existing applications.

I think the best thing you could do now to earn a decent living is to learn a language/skills that will be in demand now as well as after the Y2k issue. Get involved in C++, Visual Basic, PowerBuilder, Oracle or some of the other more widely used languages. There are enough of them, and lots of work now and I expect for the future.

As for the best way to learn, I found that its good to learn in a class\team environment to get an understanding of the basic ideas and concepts, followed by some good hands-on experience (its not a spectator sport, you have to jump in). If you could find a situation where there are good experienced people that you can go to after you have hammered away at a problem for a while on your own, I think that would be ideal. Its great to figure things out on your own, but at some point you are just spinning your wheels and require a little direction. This is just my opinion, but I have given much thought to this topic over the past year. I hope it helps.

-- Anonymous, May 27, 1998

Appreciated all the info. I too am too old. Worked as a machinist; they used to want experience, not any more. I think it's because they can't BS us. Fantasized about learning COBOL but would be just another mule throwing sandbags on the dike, which will break thru anyway. Hope for the best; prepare for the worst. Learn to get along without. Have expected it all to collapse for thirty years. I just didn't know exactly when and how. I do now. They called us survivalists, and did everything they could to denigrate the term. Am running an ad in American Survival Guide, looking for something (anything) on a farm in the boondocks. Will continue to check this site and garynorth.com from my only access - local library. If you want any advice on survival, contact me.

-- Anonymous, June 15, 1998