Re: Informix Job market (worth entering at the bottom?)

NoSpam writes: >I am just getting off to speed with Informix, but it seems my >employer may scrap the project (Foxpro to Informix) and that leaves >me wondering if I should continue putting the extra hours I am doing >trying to learn it. > >As I see it Informix continues to have low market penetration which >means that companies using Informix will be most likely the ones >where only Informix (Technically) will do. This translates to these >companies most likely seeking "experienced" DBAs. > >If the project gets scrapped I would have less than one year >experience in Informix. I am yet to see an add for "Junior" Informix >DBA. The other DBMS for seem to have "some" need at that level. > >I have no doubt there are Informix jobs (I see them every time I look >at the classifieds), it is just that they all are for 3+ years >experience. The way to get experience is to continue putting the extra hours in. You may be able to keep growing your Informix skills even if the company doesn't approve the project if they maintain a license. Just keep it on a computer somewhere and continue working with it. Informix does not have the market penetration that MicroSoft or Oracle does, but that's not a reason not to learn a little about it. Informix has target the market of "databases that matter to your business." If the performance of the database matters to you and is a differentiator for your business then you deserve the best. If you just need a small list manager then one of the MS products is a better fit. If you are simply looking toward a career of the broadest application then be a PC specialist. Even if you are a "large-system DBA", you'll find that as far as employers are concerned there is experiential equivalency between Oracle/Informix/Sybase. It is growing, too, and people these days are thinking that SQL-Server is a part of that commodity group. That is Informix's worst nightmare, one addressed by marketing. (But that's another story.) So the work you've invested into Informix will never be wasted as long as there are similar-seeming competitors around. You'll be spoiled when you go from an Informix environment to one of the competitors, and find yourself saying "Gee, I could do it on Informix" and the like. But that's part of the fun. A final observation: In the computer business, more than almost any other, the key is learning how to learn. Learning any single skill, while profitable in the short run, is a career dead-end. One of the reasons I rant so much about RTFM is that finding something in TFM is a skill in its own right. Once that skill is mastered, one can apply it to almost any field of study. Given the frenetic pace of change in the computer industry there is no more important skill than the ability to quickly master a new technology. Welcome to the business! ___________________________________________________________ Clem Akins (aka clem@informix.com) Informix Software, Inc (Standard disclaimers apply) International Technical Support Last seen: Listing to the sounds of Tokyo, 4:30am