MAMEWorld Forums - The Loony Bin - Re: Ok, I'm asking for all you loonies for life advice

As for the job situation...

If you ever get the opportunity, get into "middleware".

Middleware is the software that goes in the middle between two systems and translates/converts data from one format to another so that they can exchange information. It's also referred to as Enterprise Application Integration (EAI).

Middleware positions generally pay quite a bit more than software developer positions. I think it's because middleware is more specialized so there's less competition. By comparison, there's thousands of Java programmers and the pay rates tend to be lower and they work a lot harder.

I currently work as a sub-contractor on a contract for the US Army. I work with two middleware products. One is called SeeBeyond, which was later purchased by Sun and re-christened JCAPS, though we still use the old version. The second is a product from SAP called "PI". It used to be called "XI". Other popular products on the market that we don't use are Oracle Fusion and Microsoft BizTalk.

The majority of the work involves writing "interfaces" that translate from a format called DLMS EDI X12 to SAP IDOC format and back. There's also quite a bit of work with a legacy format called MILS, which is a record based format that evolved from 80-character punch cards. There are other custom formats as well including custom fixed length formats and XML.

In addition to developing middleware interfaces, some of my other responsibilities include analysis, documentation, unit testing, peer code reviews, and supporting trading partner testing.

My job pays very well, but it can end at any time. There's ZERO job security. I can get a call on Thursday from my sub-contracting company where they tell me that Friday is my last day. So you have to be disciplined and squirrel away a good chunk of your paycheck for when the time comes. The security of my job also depends on Governmental budgets. If the defense budget doesn't get approved, there's always a chance that the program that employs me will be axed.

Recently, because of HIPAA, X12 EDI middleware has exploded. Companies are scrambling to implement solutions to meet the government requirements. So if you try to get your foot in the door somewhere and get HIPAA on your resume, it might open some doors for you later down the line.

My favorite job search engine at the moment is indeed. Do some keyword searches and see what kind of jobs you find. Get yourself a resume and post it on Monster, Careerbuilder, and DICE, to name just a few. Make a small change to each resume once a week and save it. This will bump you back up to the top of the employer search results.

As for life in general...

Try to live your life "lean". Debt is bad. Live frugal. Don't buy new cars, pass on the new iPhone, don't go to the movies unless it's a special occasion, don't eat out a lot, try to resist buying "stuff" that you don't really need. When you are in debt, you're basically stuck in your job unless you can find another (which tends to be hard) and employers can treat you like crap. With no debt and some money in the bank, you have freedom. Freedom is liberating. Even if you don't quit when your boss pisses you off, just knowing that you CAN, makes all the difference.

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