You are an ex programmer.
Lets say you're out of job for sometime now.
Lets say you have good background and experience.
You have certifications in software on which you have already worked (mainly oracle related front end/ back end).
Lets say you are not making any headway based on those skills.
You also can spend upto $5000 CDN to upgrade / add new skills.
Time is not a factor.

Which one area would you look into?

The person is open to changes, but within the software realm.

(you know who this is )

Hints, tips, advice, comments welcome.

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I once made a mistake, but I was wrong about it.

Assuming you know the location you want to work in:

1. Picking up the careers section in the local newspaper, to see what are hot jobs there, is a good idea
2. As you know, you want to stay in software realm, narrow down, which field needs qualified persons, which gives you an idea of what course to do.

Personally, I will go for teaching job for sometime, as that gives me sufficient time to earn as well as learn. Once I am also done with the desired certification, I wud hv achieved more than, what i wud hv while just attending the course.

Regards.

PS: I will use the money to become members of the relevant societies, to participate in their regular meetings as volunteer or executive, and to network with people in the field already via these societies.

Some of the things I would consider doing are (you maybe aware of these anyway):

(1) Getting some vendor certifications - if Java, I would go for the Sun's Architect Certification (I've wanted to do this for a while). If Microsoft, I would go for MCSD (mine is outdated) with all those .Net certifications. Oracle - I would get/upgrade to the latest DBA certifications.

Certifications do seem to have a good value - just that some are hot, and some are not.

(2) I would also look at some short-term courses in Universities - Graduate Certificates (not sure what is available in Canada, but am aware of some in NJ, for instance).

(3) Think outside the box; Change the line of work - not completely, but transitioning to something else, for instance, information security seems to be one fast growing area and CISSP is increasingly growing in demand. CISA is one other alternative (they conduct exams once every year, I think).

I have been pondering over these ideas for some time myself.

BTW, something I found in thestar today:

IT workers' new reality: Multitasking

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1111359009552&call_pageid=968350072197&col=969048863851&DPL=IvsNDS%2f7ChAX&tacodalogin=yes


Good luck! We all need it! I just landed in Canada a week back myself, and am hoping something positive will click..!

Its a hunch but I have a feeling .NET is a future technology .

Manasvi.

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Orginally posted by Manasvi
Its a hunch but I have a feeling .NET is a future technology .

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"Mah deah, there is much more money to be made in the destruction of civilization than in building it up."

-- Rhett Butler in "Gone with the Wind"

Hi Friends

Please share your experiencies about Testing Tools in Canada. It seems from workpolis.com website there are lots of advertisements for Quality Assurance Analyst(QA)/Testers.

What are the skills the employers looking. Is it just Automated tools like Mercury tools or some thing else required.

Thanks to you all for sharing your valuable advise.

GKM.

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Hints, tips, advice, comments welcome.

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