Made redundant - how to make myself a viable candidate

rock_face

Hi,

I'm just been given my notice - our company has been closed down fully, and I'm now in the position that I need to get back into the job market.

I've been in my current job for 14+ years and have experience of the full software lifecycle in both technical and team lead roles. The software that I've been involved with has been part of life critical systems developed using Ada95 and proprietary languages.

I'm worried that although I've managed to pick up proprietary languages which have no online or little written guidance, employers will be unwilling to take me on when there will more than likely be abundance of applicants with the desired skills and would not require the same level of training and mentoring that I would.

What can I do in a short time frame in order to make myself more attractive to potential employers? Although I would propose that I have a good sense of methodology, I've got no practical experiences of the commercial languages and tools in use in many other companies.

I worked in a niche market and am worried about my re-employment chances. In terms of my aspirations I would like to get into something more maintstream that would facilitate job transfer more easily. My background is embedded software. I consider myself to be a hard and diligent worker (who doesn't!) and would expect to be able to get some decent references.

I'm writing up my CV currently. Are there any short term training activities that I could undertake to maximise my potential? I'm a bit out of the loop currently.

I was considering buying a Raspberry Pi and tinkering about with it - but I think I need something more structured and focused. I am aware of things such as Sun Certified Java programming courses etc.

Any suggestions?

L.Jenkins

What Technologies interest you the most? Web/Mobile/Enterprise Applications? Depending on what interests you, you could go down the route C#, .NET, ASP and Microsoft SQL Management Studio for lets say, Mobile or Web Applications.

Tom Dunne

rock_face wrote: »

I was considering buying a Raspberry Pi and tinkering about with it - but I think I need something more structured and focused. I am aware of things such as Sun Certified Java programming courses etc.

I honestly don't think Raspberry Pi would add anything to your CV, it's really a kids toy for learning programming and developing projects (I am one of those kids that gets to play with the Raspberry Pi every day ).

While I am not a programmer, I do think the likes of the Sun Certified Java programming certificates would be beneficial to your CV, but as Itzy says, it's also down to where you want to go.

If you want to stay in the embedded area, you would probably need C++ (and possibly assembly language). If you want to go web, Itzy has listed out what you should consider.

bpmurray

Tough position to be in - there aren't many companies who use Ada. However, you can presumably think in code and that's the part that employers want. Play with the Pi - learn linux and consider it to be part of IoT (Internet of Things), connecting it over MQTT to some hosting service (you can get a free month on Bluemix and after then it only costs if you go above the free limits).

Have you considered setting up on your own? The barrier to entry is now incredibly low - the software is free, so all you need is the platform. In fact I believe companies like IBM offer free PaaS and IaaS to new companies for a few years.

there will more than likely be abundance of applicants with the desired skills

ROFL. There's an enormous shortage of skilled people - with your experience you will probably get a job pretty quickly. Since you're into embedded stuff, talk to Intel and companies like that.

Skrynesaver

Not sure assembly is needed for embedded with modern compilers, Ada is used in aviation as well as medical and both are similarly demanding in terms of software quality (the quality of enterprise software will shock you ).

As Itzy suggests above the bast route forward depends on what area you want to work in... however Java is everywhere so worth considering.

rock_face

I would like to remain in embedded systems and preferably within an engineering environment - however, I'd consider anything within a more stable environment. Databases, IT admin don't really appeal to me, but that's only because I've not worked in that field before.

I've not found anything similar to the SCJP for C++ - would this be correct?

BTW - I am based in NI.


I assume that the 'Work & Jobs' subforum is the best place here to post some questions relating to me CV?

L.Jenkins

http://www.cppinstitute.org/ for C and C++ Certifications

Aswerty

Itzy wrote: »

http://www.cppinstitute.org/ for C and C++ Certifications

Do you have experience with them? It's the sort of web site (and company) that sets off my bull**** meter.

As to the OP. I think your main problem is just getting one of the main languages under your belt. So Java, C#, or C/C++. Most employers look for developers that use a specific language and if you don't have the experience in that language you're not going to get far.

CreepingDeath

rock_face wrote: »

The software that I've been involved with has been part of life critical systems developed using Ada95 and proprietary languages.

Any suggestions?

Does the company have any service contracts with customers?
Maybe you and a couple of other developers could offer to maintain the product for existing clients, for an annual service contract ?

Alternatively, if you're fairly rooted to Ada95, see if there are any developer forums, user groups and/or Ada groups on LinkedIn.com where you might be able to reach out to other users/companies who require Ada.

Or contact your companies competitors, and see if they want to take people.

rock_face

Aswerty wrote: »

Do you have experience with them? It's the sort of web site (and company) that sets off my bull**** meter.

As to the OP. I think your main problem is just getting one of the main languages under your belt. So Java, C#, or C/C++. Most employers look for developers that use a specific language and if you don't have the experience in that language you're not going to get far.

Will I experience ageism saying as I am approaching 40 with few commercial skills?

I'll be starting the CPA course hopefully and maybe try to squeeze in a bit of python training too.

I've looked into the CPP a bit more and I found the following recommendation, bearing in mind it is the only one I found and I know nothing about the integrity of the source - there was no mention of SCJP which surprised me.

I can't post the link as I'm a new user, but if you google "Best Computer Programming Certifications for 2015" it is the first non sponsored hit and it directs you towards tomsitpro.com.

Raging_Ninja

If you want to go into .Net then your best bet to show off is to do the Microsoft Certified Solutions Developer exams. It's hard though.

bpmurray

The vast majority of stuff uses Java or C# for backend and HTML/CSS/Javascript for front end. Since you have a history in the high availability market, perhaps C and even C++ might be useful too. However, only a very few use scripting languages like Python and Perl, so you would be much better served focusing on what's useful in the market.

L.Jenkins

Aswerty wrote: »

Do you have experience with them? It's the sort of web site (and company) that sets off my bull**** meter.

As to the OP. I think your main problem is just getting one of the main languages under your belt. So Java, C#, or C/C++. Most employers look for developers that use a specific language and if you don't have the experience in that language you're not going to get far.

No experience with them at all. I just did a quick search to see if anyone offered certifications for C/C++.