Climbing the z Ladder
Climbing the ladder of z
~ Dynamic document ~
Are you looking to enter the cutting edge world of z mainframe? My last article on job searching was well liked, so why have I felt the need to change?
I hope the quote below will explain, why I wanted to create a new article:-
“No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main…..”, from Devotions upon Emergent Occasions, a 1624 prose work by English poet John Donne.
In response to many questions about employment and the challenges in the Mainframe industry, I have written a short article to try share the advice and knowledge I have to all.
My hope when this article is shared / reposted, new readers with new ideas and advice will add contributions which I will update in this article, making use of the “Wisdom of the crowd”.
In the beginning…..
It is always easier to start with something and improve upon it, the classic “straw model” approach. I began with a drafted article I shared some ideas and tips, then I asked for suggestions, improvements or new ideas and I have not been disappointed.
For those of you looking to take your first step (to get your foot in the door as we would say in the UK), or those of you looking to climb the ladder to the top. I hope these tips will help, thank you to my friend Jessica Segovia for finding this picture which she took "climbing the z ladder".
Finding the right role
Finding your first role or making the first job move
Often readers of my newsletter will ask for my help in finding a (first) role in the mainframe industry or for help moving into the next (second) mainframe role. One suggestion I make is to look at (all) the jobs available and the requirements for the role you want.
1. Indeed.co.uk Uses a web crawler to find job listings and allows you to find all the roles advertised, using the platform you can search for geographic location and skills “mainframe” and a sub-set skill such as “developer”.
👉 My tip: Try a broad search first i.e. just “mainframe”, if you are too specific in your criteria you may exclude roles you can do or roles with a similar attributes required.
2. 👉 LinkedIn tip: Courtesy of Vijay Chandola (Mentor | Product Management | Career coaching) – he advises not to use LinkedIn search to find a role but rather to use Google search and then look through LinkedIn roles which you may not find through the LinkedIn platform.
You can read his advice and how to search using Google in his post here:
3. 👉 LinkedIn tip: Thank you to David Staudacher who has suggested a LinkedIn group with job posts - www.linkedin.com/groups/12307358
4. 👉 Job website tip: Thank you to Chris B for suggesting Jobserve.com
5. 👉 Search using LinkedIn LinkedIn.com/jobs set an automated alert on new jobs. Thank you to Vagner Bellacosa who wants me to remind you that there is a limit of 20 alerts per day.
Find similar roles: LinkedIn Career Explorer
A very quick instagram clip this time which shares a tip on how to search for a role and find similar roles that you may have missed.
A link to the video guide can be found here:
Hunt to Job Hunt Like a Hacker
Thank you to Yetkin Degirmenci who has shared the video created by Jason Blanchard (BanjoCrashland) in the video it gives a number of ways you can improve your job hunting.
The following is taken from Hason: 'Job Hunting or concerned about layoffs? This talk I recently gave at the Antisyphon Training Summit might be super helpful.'
Use AI to help you find a role
10 Great AI Tools to power your job search
Stop wasting time. Use AI to find your dream job faster!Stand out to recruiters and land more interviews.10 AI tools to power your job search
Andrew Bolis has shared 10 great AI based resources to help you in finding a Job including help from:-
Glassdoor ⇨ ZipRecruiter ⇨ Hired ⇨ Jobscan ⇨ TalentWorks ⇨ NAV ⇨ Adzuna ⇨ Rezi ⇨ Career Builder ⇨ Indeed
You can find the link to these resources with a short description of how to use them on Andrew's profile here:
Use Generative AI To Find Your Next Tech Job
About a third of all job listings were found to be for ghost jobs in a 2023 study conducted by StandOut CV, a U.K.-based resume consultant.
Jennifer Riggins is a tech journalist who contributes to a number of organisations with interesting and well researched articles. A recent article in thenewstack caught my attention.
In her article she covered a number of interesting topics (topic teasers below):-
- Game the algorithm - Tips on how to structure your CV so that recruitment AI engines read all of your skills
- Think outside of your current job title - A suggestion is to describe your skills and activity to a Gen AI engine and ask for the type of roles that require these skills, to find roles with similar job titles
- Describe what you have done - Remove certain skills such as Microsoft Word but add all the skills you do have that you are comfortable talking about
- Keep your resume updated
- Gen AI Job Application checklist
The article written by Jennifer is a great complimentary article in many ways to my article here offering a wealth of tips and advice.
If any of these topic areas look like an area you may wish to strengthen or check that you are doing it the best way possible, my suggestion is to jump over to the newstack and take a look at the full article, which can be read here:
Curriculum Vitae (C.V.)
The big challenge we all face is getting your CV in front of the employer, it is the first step to finding your next role. The question is once you have found the right role and you match the skills being asked for and finally how do you ensure your CV is seen by the employer.
👉 CV tip: Many companies employ a document scanner to match the skills on your CV to the post advertised.
One common pitfall is not using the correct product name for the software you have used. You need to ensure the software name you use matches the role description, if no product name is given in the job profile then my advice is to list the other names the software may by known by (in brackets) so your skills can match with skills that the document scanner will look for.
At Beta Systems like many software vendors we have changed the names of our products such as Beta 91 - (Check|z), Beta 92 - (Log|z) and at Broadcom I understand changed the name of Automic - (UC4).
If an employer fails to find the software name you used with their document scanner you may fail to have your CV seen.
👉 CV tip2: Is taken from a post by Emily Mucken Look up 3-5 LinkedIn profiles of past colleagues whose career trajectory is similar to or "better"/"stronger" than yours. Get inspired. See if their profiles have any verbiage you could tweak and borrow for your profile and resume.
👉 CV tip3: One are that is often overlooked or can cause problems for people is with adding soft skills, what are they, what do they look like and how do you find examples. Vijay Chandola has listed 7 key soft skills that employers are looking for.
1. Communication - the ability to exchange ideas and information accurately
2. Time management - the ability to work efficiently and effectively
3. Leadership - the ability to lead, influence, and guide others
4. Teamwork - the ability to work effectively in a team
5. Influence - the ability to motivate people without force
6. Analytical thinking - the ability to collect and process data related to a problem.
7. Flexibility - the ability to adjust to changes
If you would like to know how you can leverage these 7 soft skills and find examples that you can adapt or take inspiration from they can be found with a helpful carousel (swipe right on the image) here:
👉 CV tip4: "F"ocus your CV key content using the letter F
Once you have beaten the document scanner and your CV is now being seen by employers the next tip, is to focus the key content in an F shape as this is where most people's eyes are drawn when reviewing a CV. You can read more from Vijay Chandola on this concept here:
Keep track of your job applications
One tip when job searching is that it can often involve sending a number of CV's to companies and not all companies will respond straight away, many agencies do not respond at all.
Even if you have passed a first round interview there can be a time delay before a second interview or job offer. My tip is to create a very basic spreadsheet in Excel and keep a note of every job and also interview you apply for:-
❐ Company / Recruitment agency
❐ Post applied for
❐ Salary range posted
❐ Closing date
❐ Any other comments
It is not uncommon for a job interview process to last some time especially if you are looking to work in certain sectors such as banking, or other sensitive industries additional screening, verification and clearance before a formal job offer is made can take time.
Keeping a note of the jobs you have applied for really helps and will save you frantically searching old emails for the company / recruiter to see if it is still a role that is of interest.
Let Others Find You
Make use of LinkedIn - Let Recruiters find you
One of the reasons for joining LinkedIn is to connect with fellow colleagues and to be found by recruiters who are looking to fill a vacancy. The question is how can you increase your chances of being found by a recruiter.
The best way to be found by a recruiter is to be seen and be heard on the LinkedIn platform.
LinkedIn Guide to Creating has very kindly created a post to help you make your LinkedIn profile stand-out and be found by recruiters.
You can read the help from LinkedIn here:
Make use of Referrals
Vijay Chandola is a source of great advice on finding employment and another great tip is when you are looking for a mainframe role, is to make use of referrals.
Your LinkedIn connections with a common employer are your best bet to get referrals. But, most of the job seekers don’t leverage them to get job referrals
43% of the applications for lateral hiring are from job boards such as LinkedIn, Naukri.com, and Indeed.But, only 15% of the hiring happens via job boards.
On the other hand, only 7% of the applications are from referrals.But, a whopping 40% of the hiring happens via referrals.
Grow your skills to help you move up the employment ladder
Mentoring
Mentoring can often be overlooked and is a great free resource. I publish a bi-weekly (fortnightly) publication, Mainframerz newsletter in the newsletter I have shared many tips to help with job searching in the past, including mentoring in more depth.
To keep the flow of the article quite simple I will cover some high level points around mentoring and where to find more advice.
- Mentoring allows you to learn quickly by working with an experienced colleague who will help guide you on relevant information to help you learn more about a chosen topic.
- Acting as a mentor is a great way to reinforce your knowledge and can be a great stepping stone for those looking at management roles.
- Various websites cover the benefits of mentoring Chelsey Baker runs the National Mentoring Day which is a very useful resource. Lezlie Browder is an IBM mentor who has also spoken about the value of being a mentor/mentee relationship.
- One word of caution: When using a mentoring platform such as Pushfar.com try to ensure you both gain from mentoring, and that you do not work for free (concern passed to me by a student who was concerned about the benefits of media skills mentoring on the Pushfar platform).
- Thank you to Steven Mitsch One of the best resources for those with less than 10 years of experience is the IBM New to Z Community at ibm.biz/newtoibmz . There, you can request to paired up with a mentor, with whom you meet with every other month for a year. It also has a link to educational resources, such as a COBOL course, and fundamentals of different areas, I believe in IBM's cloud, ai, and automation, and I believe IMS and Assembler classes are available to everyone
Building up Skills
A common challenge is how do I get the skills needed if I do not have the experience they are looking for.
Already employed: If you already working in a mainframe role I suggest looking at the role description and trying to identify all of the skills you have that can be transferred or adapted to help you in the next role.
❐ Identify transferable skills - [see Links below for tips on this]
❐ Look for forums or user groups, helping others establishes your authority
❐ Consider an IBM Skills badge to make you stand out from the competition
New entrants: For those of you looking to start in the mainframe, it is probably a better idea to look for free training opportunities and student internships:-
❐ Advent of Code
❐ IBM z Explore
❐ IBM z Student
❐ Broadcom and other vendors run skills workshops
❐ GSE offers students the chance to attend for free
The theme of all of the suggestions above is whilst learning new skills you also have a chance to network and this helps you learn of opportunities and roles that may be available.
👉 New tip: Thank you again to Steven Mitsch Z Xplore is also a great resource. After earning your advanced badge, there is an extended section to which they give you 3270 ssh access to their training mainframe, usually via VS Code, or you can download a 3270 emulator if you like the green screen.
There's also Interskill Learning free training on zowe, the modern command line interface.
👉 Who to follow tip: You can follow posts from Rituraj Mahato who shares lots of great content about IBM courses that are available especially useful if you are a student / new entrant; you can also follow posts from GSE UK Region to stay up to date with the latest news and events taking place.
Interview Preparation:
Questions & Answers (DevOps) & Practice Tests
If you are lucky enough to be chosen to attend an interview you can greatly improve your chances of success at interview by finding out a little more about the hiring stage and interview process.
Will you be asked to sit an aptitude or personality tests for the role, if you will sit an aptitude test (these were very popular for Graduate programme candidates and mainframe applicants), you can improve your test score by practicing for the tests in advance to familiarise yourself with the type of questions you may be asked and help sharpen your focus.
Practice Tests: You can find lots of sources available on the interview to find these free tests, I can remember having to answer questions on Abstract reasoning & Verbar reasoning.
If you will undertake any of these tests I have included a link to the The Institute of Psychometric Coaching which is available here:
Interview Questions: If you have not been to many or any interviews before I suggest you try and practice in advance the type of questions you may be asked. If possible try and find a friend, teacher or somebody who knows you who can help you role play the questions that could be asked.
The questions are not intended to catch you out and a good interviewer will always try to make you at ease, the aim of asking interview questions is to understand how you are as a person and how you will react in possible real world situations you may find yourself in as an employee.
You will find many examples of sample interview questions I have chosen a link shared by Ann A. which has a 110 Questions: For Devops, which is available here:
A second useful resource from Ann A. is a great way to prepare yourself for your first interview or refresh yourself on the interview process. I recommend 101 GREAT ANSWERS TO THE TOUGHEST INTERVIEW QUESTIONS which is available here:
Interview Questions Prep
I have just seen a great post by Lottie Khan of Ernst & Young Global Consulting Services with a question that is often asked at Interviews by employers and seems to be the biggest cause of alarm 🚨Why did you apply for this job?🚨
Here we are assessing your MOTIVATION.
I would answer from 3 angles:
✅ Why would YOU want that JOB?
✅ Why would YOU want to work for that FIRM?
✅ Include what you could BRING TO THE TEAM.
If you visit Lottie's post on this topic there is a short video that also explains how to answer this question which I found really helpful hearing a recruiter explain what they are looking for when they ask the question, you can see her post here:
Top 10 Quick wins for interview
A second resource offering very similar advice is offered by Fizza Ali who has also shared the following top 10 tips (see below) as well as a link to how to overcome 70 tough interview questions.
1️⃣ 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵, 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵, 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵: Dive deep into the company's background, culture, values, and recent wins. Tailor your responses to showcase your alignment with their mission.
2️⃣ 𝗣𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗠𝗮𝗸𝗲𝘀 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁: Fine-tune your answers by practicing with a friend or in front of a mirror. This helps you articulate your thoughts clearly and confidently.
3️⃣ 𝗞𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗴𝘁𝗵𝘀: Identify your key strengths and unique selling points. Showcase how they bring value to the role and the organization.
4️⃣ 𝗕𝗲 𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗥-𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘆: Structure your answers using the STAR method for behavioral questions. Provide concise yet comprehensive responses showcasing your problem-solving skills.
5️⃣ 𝗤𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗔𝗿𝗲 𝗮 𝗧𝘄𝗼-𝗪𝗮𝘆 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗲𝘁: Prepare thoughtful questions about the company, team dynamics, and the role. Demonstrate your genuine interest and assess if it's the right fit for you.
6️⃣ 𝗗𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝘁: Align your attire with the company's culture. When you look confident, you'll feel confident and make a positive first impression.
7️⃣ 𝗕𝗼𝗱𝘆 𝗟𝗮𝗻𝗴𝘂𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗠𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀: Convey confidence and enthusiasm through positive body language – eye contact, a firm handshake, and sitting up straight.8️⃣ 𝗛𝗶𝗴𝗵𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗔𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀: Use specific examples to showcase your accomplishments and how you can contribute to the company's success.
9️⃣ 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝘆 𝗖𝗮𝗹𝗺 𝗨𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗣𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲: Take deep breaths, stay composed, and let your true personality shine through.
🔟 𝗦𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝗮 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗸-𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗡𝗼𝘁𝗲: After the interview, express gratitude and reiterate your interest in the role through a personalized thank-you note.
You can read the full post and which is available on the link here:
Questions to ask - At the end of the Interview
Something which I always do as a matter of course is to ask questions after the interview has ended not only does it show that you are interested and keen to learn more about the company, I also find it a good way to engage with the interviewer and increase my chances of a 2nd interview or hire.
The post by Andrew Lokenauth is a really great add-on to have in your interview toolbag.
Every job interview ends with Q&A but most people never ask questions at the end of interviews.
Here are 10 questions I used to get hired at JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs and Citi:
You can read the full post and the tips with the questions to ask after the interview has finished here:
On the Job learning
A very useful post from Chris Knowles shared to me by 🧙 Henri Kuiper discusses the value of learning by experience from on the job training.
The post talks about how you gain a lot of skills by working on on-call and I would echo this and add in addition covering holidays, overtime and working on other shifts or helping on project work working with other teams are all great ways of learning on the job:-
🔍 Skill Amplification
💡 Problem-Solving Playground
🏆 Showcase Your Talents
🚀 Career Acceleration
🔗 Build Lasting Connections
🔥 Don’t just navigate the mainframe; own it! Embrace on-call opportunities and let your career soar to new heights. 🚀
You can read the full post from Chris here:
Network & Learn more about opportunities to make your move from 1st to 2nd job
Cultivating a Network That Can Further Your Career
One of the main benefits of LinkedIn and many other social media platforms is the ability to network and connect with others. In fact it is now easier than ever ever before using these platforms to connect and internationally not just locally.
I have picked out some of the key benefits shared by LinkedIn Guide to Creating and underneath the list of selected benefits you will find a link to the full article in more detail.
1️⃣ How to Find Connections For some people finding connections is the hardest thing they can do, Linkedin has some tips here to help!
2️⃣ Building Connections Many people are able to send a connection request but then fall flat in nurturing a connection again you have lots of tips to help you and a video as well
3️⃣ How to Get Noticed What if you want people to reach out to you how can you improve this, LinkedIn offers some helpful hints
4️⃣ Seek Inspiration from Others LinkedIn has selected some featured posts that will help you to create posts so that others will find you and connect
5️⃣ What Makes These Posts So Good LinkedIn actually reviews the posts to show how and why they work so well
You can read the full post "Cultivating a Network That Can Further Your Career" here:
Newsletter Recommendations: Workforce Insights UK
One newsletter I will include here is the Workforce Insights UK, this newsletter has been suggested to me by LinkedIn News UK and I think for that reason alone is worthy of inclusion.
https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/workforce-insights-uk-7198332064138461187/
Mainframerz: Job channel on Slack
As part of a team of organiser of a Mainframerz Meetup event which is free, myself and others volunteers from different companies across the mainframe industry, our aim is to help grow the mainframe community.
I have identified the challenge of 'freeing' the Mainframe job market and removing the barriers and hurdles which affect our industry. I have become aware of this problem as many people have written to me about it.
To help we (Mainframerz) created a dedicated jobs channel on Slack, we allow any employer or agency to advertise a mainframe role for free, if you are looking for work or have a question about looking for a role you can post it in our Job slack channel.
Our slack channel ensures employers can find a dedicated skilled pool of mainframe talent with keen willing to learn more about the mainframe.
For employees looking for their next role we have a job channel available for free that employers can post their jobs for free to find you in.
Our Mainframerz Job channel on slack addresses the challenges of both the demand and supply issues affecting the mainframe industry, please make use of this free resource. You can always find access to this via the Mainframerz newsletter which has links to join at the bottom "Useful Links section".
Connect with me Andrew (Andy) McCandless and send me a message if you would like to join our Mainframerz Slack channel.
IBM Champions
What are IBM Champions and how can they help you:-
"IBM Champions are the best of the best: they demonstrate extraordinary expertise in and support for IBM offerings and communities."
IBM Champions are another great resource that is available to you for help and advice and they often go out of their way to help others. If you are struggling and don't know where else to turn then why not call an "IBM Champion".
You can find the IBM Champion Community here:
Finding the confidence to move roles
Imposter Syndrome
Imposter Syndrome is a challenge that many people face and at the Mainframerz Meetup Event these challenges were discussed by Dr. Melissa Sassi who gave a great talk on the problems of Imposter Syndrome.
Another take on Imposter Syndrome which I have seen which fits in nicely, is the post from Mohan which also considers Imposter Syndrome for those people who move country or work for a company who are based outside of their home country.
Mohan K. has published a great post on Imposter Syndome: Feel like a fraud - Do you ever get over the Imposter Syndrome?
'......they think it's all over but it's not now!!!'
What happens at the end if you are are unlucky enough to have been laid off, I have help for you here as well. In fact I have three pieces of advice for you from Don Carmichael who is a formerly with Sap & Oracle and is now a coach and trainer.
❐ I now look at 𝗹𝗮𝘆𝗼𝗳𝗳𝘀 𝗮𝘀 𝗮 ‘𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗽𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗴𝗲’ 𝗶𝗻 𝗮 𝗧𝗲𝗰𝗵 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗿; most of us will end up being laid off at least once.
❐ I’ve been in Tech for well over 35 years, and when I talk to other Tech veterans, they’ve almost always had a job ‘transition’ that’s actually been a layoff or a RIF (Reduction In Force); it’s just that they’ve hidden it in their LinkedIn profile. Maybe we should all be more open about how often layoffs happen.
❐ Being laid off hurts; it's completely natural to question yourself, but the fact is you still have the same desirable and valuable skill set you had before you were laid off; you are still the same person and other employers will see that.
👉 Tips: You can read the three tips [don't take it personally, stay aware & opportunity to grow] with advice on how to overcome layoffs from Don here:
Last words of advice to new job seekers
Apply for lots of Roles but avoid the "Firehose of applications"
My final piece of advice is that finding a new role can be a challenge and my advice is to think of it like a game of chance such as lottery "if you don't buy a ticket, you can't win the lottery".
Even if you follow all of the advice and tips that are offered in this article there is no getting away from the fact that finding a new role will be a combination of matching the skills required, luck and sheer hard work and perseverance.
Yes even with all the advice I have shared the best chance of finding a new role is to apply for roles.
An interesting final article has been written by CNBC on the "Firehose of applications" which suggests you need to do more than aimlessly apply for roles, you can read the article here:
A last word of Caution
It's very easy to get caught out and exploited when you are looking for a new role. Most people are keen to help you and will have good intentions but like everything there is a small minority who try and spoil it for others.
I am talking here about the blight that is "Fake Job Scams", I won't say too much other than advising you to take caution if you are applying to a job that is not posted directly by a company.
I suggest understanding what to look for in a Fake Job Scam is a sensible step whilst looking for a new role.
The article from Forbes has a number of simple steps and questions that you can ask yourself when you apply for a role from a source that you can not 100% trust {such as a personal Gmail account, LinkedIn account, etc}, you can read the article here:
In the words of Sergeant Phil Esterhaus's (Michael Conrad) morning. roll call catchphrase, from the 1980's police classic tv series, Hill Street Blues.
"Hey, let's be careful out there."
Links
🔗 Mainframerz Slack Channel (Link expires - 17th January 2024) here:
🔗 View Jobs (if you have already joined our slack channel above) here:
🔗 Mainframerz newsletter (check here for latest link to join the Mainframerz slack channel) here:
🔗 Transferable skills help (advice from LinkedIn Life) here:
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