Sorry, its like riding a bike. If you can't get it back really quickly,
then maybe you never really knew it.
I managed for 14 or 15 years, then went back to being technical as a
consultant. Took me maybe a week to be functional.
I just think all of this is silly. And I am glad that in a few years I
won't have to listen to this nonsense anymore.
Doug Fuerst
------ Original Message ------
From "Steve Thompson" <[email protected]>
To [email protected]
Date 2/8/2026 20:56:13 PM
Subject Re: Trade Union
Brian:
You have made a point that I agree with and am guilty of. I can write ALC for
exits, SVCs, etc. But I haven't installed z/OS since 1.6. I haven't had the
need to do an IOCDS (or whatever it is called today) for over 10 years. But I
have written SMP/E because of being a developer. And as a result have done
APARs and PTFs, and have written the install doc.
I would love to get into some kind of class to get my z/OS install skills back
up.
And I think I had said earlier that we need to do re-cert after some period,
because our skills get rusty, like mine are.
Regards,
Steve Thompson
On 2/7/2026 4:53 PM, Brian Westerman wrote:
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
<mailto:[email protected]> [email protected]
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