Retrainging thread - spinoff

[backtocolo]

Maybe you all can help me come up with some suggestions for dh. He is ex-military. Expired top-secret security clearance.

He used to be a programmer. Sadly he worked so much doing pre Y2K stuff he didn't keep up on the .net etc. He hasn't worked in the IT field for 10 or 11 yrs. Has a CCNA but no current experience. He also has ADD.

He has health issues. Congestive heart failure, diabetic, bad knee and hip.

Any ideas on what could be a job for someoen like him. He is not good with people.

Ideally he would love to go back to the days of sitting in a cubicle writing code all day.

[SJSFarm]

Well, he can teach himself the up to date stuff. The ADD will help tremendously for that. Then he can try to apply to a large company who is very concerned about security, or a police/911 department where is security clearance is important to them - I understand its expired, but he still had it and that's huge.

Otherwise, if there is something he's interested in, and since he's good at writing code, perhaps he con come up with a program on an issue that concerns him or he's interested in. Do some research on the net for things he is interested in and see where there is a hole in programs offered about that thing. Who knows he could write a program and sell it and make a million!

[joebill]

Originally Posted by SJSFarm

Well, he can teach himself the up to date stuff. The ADD will help tremendously for that. Then he can try to apply to a large company who is very concerned about security, or a police/911 department where is security clearance is important to them - I understand its expired, but he still had it and that's huge.

Otherwise, if there is something he's interested in, and since he's good at writing code, perhaps he con come up with a program on an issue that concerns him or he's interested in. Do some research on the net for things he is interested in and see where there is a hole in programs offered about that thing. Who knows he could write a program and sell it and make a million!

I second that!

This whole computer thing, for all practical purposes, is less than a generation old. Our culture is still just feeling our way around what can be done with it.

I have some old patent company literature from my grandfather's day when the airplane was new, and they were already soliciting patents on things like "a gun that could shoot from an airplane" and other stuff that seems so obvious today.

We are past that point in things computers can do, but there is far more innovation ahead of us than behind.

It's what he knows and likes, so he is miles ahead of the game already, and nobody but nobody will respect his work more or treat him better than himself.

Please, thank him on our behalf for his service......Joe

[backtocolo]

DH said thanks for the suggestions.

[fishhead]

What about writing apps for smart phones? There seems to be a lot of potential for selling those things.

[wogglebug]

Originally Posted by fishhead

What about writing apps for smart phones? There seems to be a lot of potential for selling those things.

I like this! Honestly, there isn't much in traditional computers or PC's any longer. Believe me, I was very good in that area, but there is very little that hasn't been outsourced, or employer's moved offshore. My employment opportunities shrank from design and coding, then management, down to in-house help-desk (which requires people skills), then telephone help-desk, then nothing. My brother was in IT management, VERY good at it, the big multi-nationals. Now he's just got a six-week contract after 18 months out of solid work, where he was grateful to get jobs running a coffee shop or a service station.

Apps for smart phones would be a chance for your man to get back to the leading edge, though, rather than trying to make a living in an area that moved away from us a decade or more ago. Use his time to learn coding for Linux, as well. Linux itself is free, about two years behind Windows and closing fast. It's all done by volunteers. Maybe he could do some of the volunteer work for a while to get back some experience, which could count when he's interviewing for jobs. However, he MUST NOT lose himself in it, or he won't be spending his time getting and doing paid work. However, there will always be a paid market for small specialist systems that run under Linux, and particularly all of Linux, Windows, and Apple. This does not mean browser, or Office and it's replacements. Even e-mail is being (been?) taken over by Yahoo, Google at al. What it does mean is dentists, farm supply stores, like that, interfacing with popular CPA accounting packages - small but with a moderate amount of money.

Go for fishhead's suggestion.

[snoozy]

How about computer forensics? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_forensics

[Buffy in Dallas]

My son does this among other computery things. Makes good money.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_recovery