switching programmnig languages and finding a job...

[smilies]

Hi - new to this forum but looks like I may get some good educated answers. I love to program. I used to do developement work in Oracle (PL/SQL, SQL*Plus, etc) and enjoyed it very much. I have also done some Informix programming as well. At the moment I have fallen out of the programming rhelm and at the moment presently QA. (not liking it too much) I have not really "programmed" in a year. I am going to take a college class in Java to learn the syntax and such. My question is - I would like to start to look for a new job in programming. Now I know that this will be a hard task at hand because of the economy and especially because I have been out of touch for a year. In your opinion - if I take this Java class, is it appropriate to include this knowledge on my resume or is that "false advertising"? I would like to get into other aspects of programming rather than just database programming. Are there companies out there that will take in an experienced programmer but not experienced in the language they are using? How do I apply for these jobs with out taking and entry level job and a pay cut?

Any advice is welcome and thanks in advance!

 

[varocho]

Be clear that you're learning Java, and that you haven't worked with it professionally. I strongly recommend learning 'server-side' Java, namely, servlets, Java Server Pages (JSP) and Enterprise Java Beans (EJB). mycgiserver.com provides free hosting for servlets and JSPs as well as EJBs, if I'm not mistaken. (And no, I don't work for them.) So you could set up a site on mycgiserver.com to show the depth of your Java programming skills and include the URL to your site on your resume. Prospective employers generally like to see that you know how to take initiative.

As for getting a job where you'd put this learning to good use, I'd focus on jobs that also require your Oracle and/or Informix programming experience. A lot of jobs require a number of different skills, but the reality is that few people have absolutely every skill with the amount of desired/required experience with that skill. So you've got to emphasize what skills you already have and that whatever you don't have you can pick up quickly, on your own time and on your own dime, if necessary.