Rick,
I turn 50 in less than two months. In 2011-12, right after companies laid off
the older I.T. managers/staff and kept the younger, less experienced people
(and cheaper) on board, interviews were tough for me because, in most cases,
the person interviewing me was about 25 years old and either saw me an old an
guy or a threat because I had been in the business longer than they’d been
alive.
One of the reasons I shifted gears from software development to databases in
mid-2010 after my government contract ran out was because of the massive
outsourcing that took place and the instability of software development jobs in
the U.S.
In the role I’ve had for the past 5 years, I’ve been a necessary evil because
the company I work for services mostly government-run water companies such as
San Francisco Public Water Commission and it is illegal to send live data
outside of the U.S. So, while my boss has tried many times to circumvent this
requirement by first cutting my hours way back in 2012 and hiring an
experienced student who after 11 months hadn’t been able to do any of the work
and most recently, trying to get someone in Bolivia to log into a computer at
my boss’ home in the U.S. then to log into our server from that computer in an
attempt to hide the fact that the server and the live data are accessible to
someone outside the U.S., I have been, at minimum, able to keep the job but
have had five different cuts in hours over 5 years. So, after having my hours
cut in half for the past four months, I finally decided to test the waters
again and was pleasantly surprised at the outcome.
This time, I found older managers who identified with me in technology and in
life and that led to every single one of my interviews being positive and
uplifting compared to the abuse I took from the brats in 2011-12.
I have an old friend who I met when I was a DJ in the radio industry in 1984
who got me into the computer business back then. He is convinced that we are
about to see a major stock market crash. So, we may yet see the youngsters
back in the interviews in a few years but for now, I’m not going to worry about
it and enjoy the new job.
Bill
From: Rick Thomas
Sent: Friday, April 03, 2015 3:43 AM
To: program-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [program-l] Re: SQL Integration Services and accesibility
Hi Billy Bob – grin.
I would jump on it but for the fact,
I am 67 or 68, memory leaks in the grey matter, havent held a job in about 30
years now, no recent education and, oh ya I am blind and sort of anti-social.
Other than that I would be perfect for an entry level position in big data – ya
that’s the ticket.
I think I am also perhaps the only bugger on Gods fair planet who could fail a
personality test if they gave me one, cant use a laptop or other portable
computer and hate working for most managers unless they know my shortcomings
and can be my buffer to the rest of the office politica.
One of my criteria would be to meet with the CEO of any company to see if I
like the direction he, she or other, is headed in and that might curl the
toenails of most HR interviewers out of the gate as well.
Besides, if he liked me I might not get fired for stranggling my low-level
manager the first time he, she or other, smiled at me with that fake nice guy
smile while telling me he didn’t like my work even though it was good but he
was just being a snot.
If he, she or it, just told me something was not good and either it wasn’t or
he,sheor whatever, was pissed that would be ok but most managers are not like
that and it irks me never knowing what they are thinking behind that slimy,
thin lipped grin they learn to wear.
Ya, I can see me in one of todays competitive interviews telling the HR clerk
exactly what I want, wanting to interview my potential manager and wanting to
meet with the top dog at the company before accepting the position – what do
you think Pappy, would I get the job with the fishes?
I think they might suggest I sleep with the fishes first – smile.
Anyway, if you ever need a good employee, so long as I don’t have to deal with
double talking low-level managers orexecutives, need a vb.net programmer and
don’t mind if I kick you in the ass if you fudg up as a manager I’m your man –
sort of unlikely though.
I like greenies but don’t like taking orders from people who don’t know they
don’t know and put my creds on the line through ignorance without consulting me
first and that is how it works in most places.
I have worked for 2 managers in my life I respected out of many and know just
how hard it is to be a good manager and sure don’t want that responsibility.
Ya, I am good at organizing, technicals and getting the job done with or
without a team in place but dealing with the office politics of management
changes, infighting for promotions and the popularity cliques is something I
dread and not in my wheelhouse.
Ya, I somehow doubt there is an entry level position for me in big data, little
data or even in Upper Management, sigh, for an old nasty like me.
That said, the real world situation says that things are available for those
blind folks willing and able to tackle the hurdles and I do believe it can be
done.
Good to hear you are working and making cash, mula, greenies and bucks all at
the same time Old Man.
Rick USA
From: program-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:program-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On
Behalf Of Bill Dennis (Redacted sender "billiam904@xxxxxxxxx" for DMARC)
Sent: Friday, April 3, 2015 12:33 AM
To: program-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [program-l] Re: SQL Integration Services and accesibility
Business Intelligence (BI) is a very good area to be in right now. 5 years ago
when I first began doing SSIS, not very many companies were hiring.
In 2012, I had several bad interviews, even a few where the employers were rude
and obnoxious to me (Florida Virtual School).
In the past month, I have had four very good interviews. I was candidate #2 at
Sea World and I didn’t get the job because I’m not currently in Big Data while
the other candidate was.
The companies I’ve interviewed with seem to be desperate for SSIS and SSRS
Developers.
I accepted a position last week with a company that is paying very well and
will allow me to do my work from home.
So, my advice is for you to work out the accessibility issues and learn this
technology as it is very promising.
Bill Dennis
From: Jeff Durham
Sent: Thursday, April 02, 2015 6:42 PM
To: program-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [program-l] SQL Integration Services and accesibility
Good afternoon,
I am attempting to start learning Microsoft SQL Server Integration Services
(SSIS) with the SQL Data Tools for Visual Studio 2013user interface. The
problem I have run into is with creating precedence constraints, which
determine which task will execute next depending on whether the previous task
ran successfully or returned an error, kind of like how a flow chart works. The
training materials I have come across show how to create precedence constraints
by dragging the green arrow pointing down from task A, say, to either Task B or
C or any other task which is to run depending on the status of Task A. Jaws
does not seem to recognize these arrows and I have not seen how this can be
accomplished with keyboard shortcuts. I know you can create paths between data
flow components by using the add path dialog box in the data flow designer, but
I have not seen such a dialog box for creating precedence constraints in the
control flow designer. Has anyone created SSIS packages using Visual Studio
2013, or know whether Jaws scripts have been developed for using the SSIS
designer? This is very different than the design surface for creating winforms
or webforms applications, so even if there are Jaws scripts for Visual studio
2013 that work in the webforms or winforms designers, they will not work in the
SSIS package designer.
This would really help.
Thank you,
Jeff
