Computer Programming Certificate Questions

CornMuscles

United States25 Posts

July 25 2013 05:24 GMT

Not really 100% sure if Blogs is the appropriate section but we'll put it here for lack of knowing the forums well (that's what I get for lurking most of the time)

Background info on me that you may or may not care about.
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So, I'm a Computer Science Master's Degree (grad '08) holding aspiring software developer. My Bachelor's (grad '04) was a double major in Mathematics and Computer Science in case you are wondering. Suffice it to say though, my education was shit. The two schools I got the respective degrees at are not known for being Computer Science schools, and given the chance to start all of this over from my Jr/Sr year in high school I'd be picking a much different education choice (be it the school itself or the program).

In any case, from 2005 - 2007, I was doing Technical Training for a software company, teaching folks how to use the company's proprietary software (read: not programming).

From 2008 - mid 2012, I did software development... however it was 80% COBOL & JCL, with very minimal Java/VB .NET.

Mid 2012 - March 2013, Back into technical training and no programming.

Currently sitting unemployed and looking for jobs in anything. Also, I may be moving to Phoenix next year around May, as my wife's job is offering transfers there and Phoenix is a much bigger tech/job hub than the area I am in now, which would be helpful.

The Question:
All of my professional experience is in COBOL/JCL, and my schooling sucked. I'm trying to find a job in software development now that uses a more modern day programming language. C#/.NET/Web Dev/etc... however my skills and knowledge are less than I feel a recent CS grad this year would have. I'm looking for only Entry Level/Jr. level jobs as I know that's where my skill set falls at the current time. So I need to beef up my resume and knowledge for when I go into those tech savvy interviews.

What professional certificates would you suggest looking into studying for and taking?
Do you have any suggestions on study materials, websites, etc... that would be good for studying?

I was looking at possibly studying for the MCSD, but don't know if the C# or HTML5/JavaScript/CSS3 track would be better. Also, I don't know if it would be better to just get the MCSD in one, and go for the Microsoft Specialist 'certificate' in the other.

Just looking to get more thoughts and opinions on the matter.

sob3k

United States7572 Posts

July 25 2013 06:00 GMT

This belongs in The Big Programming Thread.

Blisse

Canada3710 Posts

July 25 2013 06:51 GMT

Certificates are really useless in this day and age.

If you want to learn a language, go make something in that language, and host it somewhere people can use it, employers can see it, and where you can improve it. You can build up a portfolio with any web applications you've made, apply to any entry level job (with an excellent cover letter explaining your age), and get an interview.

The best part about this is that you've actually had significant development experience and most of all free time and motivation, so while it's not going to be any easier to learn the new language, you have a step up on near-graduating students. Just get coding.

However, if you can, look for more COBOL opportunities if you enjoy that area because that language is becoming very rare and any jobs that do need a COBOL programmer would be very interested in you. Then you can do you hobby-programming on the side.

Alsooo, go to that thread and you'll get way more responses :p

Catch]22

Sweden2683 Posts

July 25 2013 15:30 GMT

People who know COBOL are rare and valuable. I'd stick with it if I was you. Could probably get great pay/conditions/extra vacay etc...

HardlyNever

United States1258 Posts

July 25 2013 16:46 GMT

The web development languages are easy to learn (html/css javascript and php). Only javascript and php are even programming languages, and someone with your background should be able to learn them at a reasonable level pretty easily. They seem to be in pretty high demand still, because everyone and their brother wants something made for the web. That said, in my experience the web development jobs don't pay as well as some of the higher-end programming jobs. Also, sometimes employers will want experience with whatever random CMS they are on, and you may or may not have ever used it (if you have no web experience, then you wouldn't have used it).

I know next to nothing about COBOL, but it sounds like it is in demand in the right areas, so you might want to keep trying that for now. Learning new languages and then making things that you can show to employers can take a while.

spinesheath

Germany8679 Posts

July 25 2013 19:37 GMT

Am I right to assume that the vast majority of today's COBOL programming is for legacy code? If yes, then yeah, keep your COBOL fresh as you might net a good job in that area, but also learn a modern language or two. C# is fairly easy to pick up imo (although it has its fair share of quirks and complexities here and there, but that applies to any language).

CornMuscles

United States25 Posts

July 26 2013 17:43 GMT

Thanks all for the advice and ideas.

COBOL is not used much in the area I currently live in, if a job came up involving it I'd gladly go back. The issue is, COBOL programmings tend to never leave a company once they get a job, they tend to stay there until they retire. So openings are fairly rare.

Again, thanks all for the comments and suggestions.

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