You don't need to be an assembler programmer to be a systems programmer, but I don't see how you could not be a fully certified one without it. IMHO. If being certified was simple, then there would be no point to it.
Brian On Sat, 7 Feb 2026 23:58:18 +0000, Doug Fuerst <[email protected]> wrote: >Certifications are not worth the paper they get printed on. You don't >need to be an assembler programmer to be a sysprog. > >Doug Fuerst > > >------ Original Message ------ >From "Farley, Peter" <[email protected]> >To [email protected] >Date 2/7/2026 18:35:06 PM >Subject Re: Trade Union > >>+1 >> >>Ditto for application programmers IMHO, though the certification tests would >>be different. >> >>There was a time In my younger days that I was against trade unions in >>general and in particular against "professional" unions, but my views have >>changed dramatically since then. >> >>Life is a hard teacher. >> >>Peter >> >>>From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List <[email protected]> On Behalf Of >>>Brian Westerman >>>Sent: Saturday, February 7, 2026 4:54 PM >>>To: [email protected] >>>Subject: Re: Trade Union? >>> >>>This is just my 2 cents worth so hopefully no one will be outraged by my >>>comments, but >>>why would anyone be excluded from certification? I know electricians that >>>have been >>>doing electrical work that I would not trust to change a light bulb. But >>>the ones that have >>>been certified tend to be a completely different (and better) class. I have >>>known, and >>>still do, many "Systems Programmers" that have over 25 years of "experience" >>>that don't >>>have what I would consider basic systems programming skills. In a gathering >>>of systems >>>programmers, if you ask how many know assembler well enough to write an >>>exit, not >>>many hands will go up. If you ask how many have actually installed z/OS >>>with z/OSMF >>>or Serverpac, you would likely get the same result. You might ask if it is >>>fair to be >>>excluded just because you don't yet know assembler or have had the "chance" >>>to install >>>z/OS but if you want to have a certification, then you have to establish the >>>minimum >>>requirements and guarantee that everyone who obtains that certification >>>meets them. >>> >>>If you establish a standard that you could create a certification for, then >>>allowing those >>>that should easily be able to pass the certification out of even taking the >>>"test" is silly. >>>It would cheapen the meaning of being "certified". There should be >>>requirements to >>>maintain the certification as well. Just because you learned how to do >>>something 27 >>>years ago doesn't mean you can do it now, nor that you can do it well enough >>>to >>>demand a premium price to be paid to perform that work. >>> >>>Brian >>> >>>>On Fri, 6 Feb 2026 14:45:19 -0600, Steve Beaver <[email protected]> >>>>wrote: >>>> >>>>How many of the US Consultants would be open to creating at trade union >>>> >>>>With the specific proviso that everyone with over 25 years' experience >>>> >>>>Would be excluded from getting certified but could go get certifications >>>> >>>>Steve Beaver >>-- >> >>This message and any attachments are intended only for the use of the >>addressee and may contain information that is privileged and confidential. If >>the reader of the message is not the intended recipient or an authorized >>representative of the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any >>dissemination of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have >>received this communication in error, please notify us immediately by e-mail >>and delete the message and any attachments from your system. >> >> >>---------------------------------------------------------------------- >>For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, >>send email to [email protected] with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN > >---------------------------------------------------------------------- >For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, >send email to [email protected] with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [email protected] with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
