Career history

---

Purpose of blog

My primary purpose in setting up this blog is to provide detailed information about my career to date and possible options for the future, focusing on my employment and leaving other blogs, linked from here where appropriate, to describe my periods out of work. Over the years, I've preserved more historical information about my career than most people would ever bother to. Technological progress means that some of it may be only of nostalgic or curiosity value, but at least it shows what I'm capable of.

1969

I left Kingsdown High School as it was then, long before it became a technology college, after taking my exams in June 1969, already having been offered a job as a trainee computer programmer. Because of holiday commitments, I chose not to start until August, filling in the time before the holiday with a temporary job at a bakery.

The seventies and eighties

My career in computer programming, with COBOL as the dominant programming language, was relatively straightforward until I was made redundant from my fifth programming job in 1981. At that point I decided to go freelance. I liked the work and the pay but not all the travel (made worse by my reliance on public transport), the tax accounting and the living in hotels. In 1988, I secured what I hoped would be a job in which I could settle. Notwithstanding their recruitment of myself, the employer was going through a bad spell and I became redundant again after only six months, along with a lot of other people who had served the employer for a far longer period. I returned to the freelance market but all the stresses in my life, especially the travel and the life in hotels, caused me to decide to take a complete rest early in 1990. I had plenty of money and could afford a break.

Not much work

I thought I'd be able to pick up where I left off easily but when I started looking for work again, nobody was interested. A separate blog, The nineties job quest, provides a detailed description of this period, but suffice to say here that the pressures of Y2K upgrades caused serious shortages of COBOL programmers in the late nineties so suddenly my old skills aroused interest. I ended up taking a job that I wouldn't have chosen in normal circumstances, but at least it was a job in which I could utilise my old programming skills. It kept me employed for four and a half years before redundancy hit me for the third time.

The only new thing that I did during that time that would help me secure another job was work in a UNIX environment using the VI editor, but that of itself was of marginal benefit without being accompanied by other new skills. I therefore knew that finding a job would be difficult and so it has proved because I'm still looking. Another blog, The politics of unemployment, highlights the problems that I've encountered since my last redundancy in 2002. It explains how various government agencies have not proved helpful in my quest for a new job, and that's putting it politely.

The future

Although I'm willing to consider working anywhere in the world where English is the main language, I expect my next job to be in Britain or maybe Ireland, as anywhere else would require an employer to wait while I obtain a passport and maybe also a visa. For a decent IT job, I'd go anywhere, as I've always done in the past. I would be somewhat less keen on relocating for a modest job with limited prospects, though a modest job with good prospects might tempt me.

Of course, I may end up taking a modest job with limited prospects in, or within commuting distance by public transport of, Leicester. As I live near the railway station, that includes but is not limited to Nottingham and Derby. Nevertheless, the problem remains that I haven't done paid work outside the IT industry, except for that temporary bakery job. The next three pages explore my career so far, while the subsequent six pages examine a variety of career options, both suitable and unsuitable.

While some people accuse me of ruling things out too easily, I feel that I'm just being open and honest. If I'm not able to do a job to a commercially acceptable standard, it would be bad for all concerned for an employer to take a chance on me.

Next page

CV >>

---

CV

CURRICULUM VITAE

---

Introduction

I know that employers generally prefer to look at a concise CV printed in black and white, without any first-person references. When applying for jobs, I send them just such a CV that occupies two pages, but with web links in blue. I thought about forcing the web links to be black, but decided that blue would probably be acceptable, since it is a widely recognized convention and photocopies reasonably well. A separate blog contains pictures of my Certificates.

The CV embedded in this blog doesn't follow that convention, but it is mainly designed for screen display.

Please note that as this blog is publicly accessible to anybody who finds it, some information has been withheld to protect privacy. Such information (postal and email addresses, telephone numbers, my national insurance number, names of references) will be made available to any prospective employer who requires it, assuming that I feel that I am capable of performing the prospective job to an acceptable standard.

---

CURRICULUM VITAE

Profile: Currently unemployed but keen to start working again in any capacity that I am able to fulfil, whether this utilizes my old skills or not.

Key skills: MS Word, EXCEL, HTML, CSS, internet.

Achievements

At work	25 years commercial computer programming experience using COBOL etc., detailed on next page.
While training	I revised the WORDPERFECT course training guide
At home	Website as blogs including how I set up those blogs
On Amazon	My contributions on Amazon UK and Amazon USA
On radio	I was interviewed on BBC Radio Leicester about my Amazon activities
In the news	Five newspaper articles about Amazon and myself including two in The Times, one of them in February 2012. The other four articles appeared in November 2011. Those in the Daily Telegraph, the Guardian and the Leicester Mercury were full of lies and half-truths. The Times articles are only available online to subscribers. I have a print version of the 2012 article.
Part-time work	In the summer of 2004, I sold raffle tickets and programmes at Leicestershire County Cricket Club on match days.
At home	I practised Visual Basic extensively for several months.
Presentation	In 2011, I attended a workshop at the Which? head office in London, discussing internet feedback issues. While there, I gave a presentation using MS Powerpoint.

"Flexible New Deal" placements (4 weeks)

2010	Sweep floors, etc, while others assemble flat pack furniture

"New Deal" placements (13 weeks)

2007-8	Preparing waste for recycling
2004-5	Assembling flat pack furniture

Training courses

Selective list
2010-11	SAGE computerised accounts
2006	CLAIT database
2005-6	Web design using HTML and CSS
1997	Business Administration using EXCEL, WORDPERFECT, DBASE, LOTUS 1-2-3
1996	C programming achieved City and Guilds certificate
1988	Outplacement (following redundancy)
1978	ICL 2900 IDMS
1978	ICL 2900 VME SCL
1978	ICL 2900 COBOL for 1900 programmers
1975	ICL 1900 DRIVER
1972	ICL 1900 GEORGE 3
1971	ICL 1900 PLAN for COBOL programmers
1970	ICL 1900 COBOL direct access (disk) handling
1969	ICL 1900 COBOL for beginners

Old computer programming skills and experience

Main skills
COBOL, RM-PANELS, UNIX/AIX, VME, IDMS, SCL, DDS, FILETAB, DME, GEORGE 2, GEORGE 3, PLAN, DRIVER
Limited exposure
VISUAL BASIC, MVS, TSO, ISPF, DOS/VSE, VM/CMS, JCL, VSAM, DRS, TME-TP, VAX/VMS, DBMS, ADRAM, ITS, TPL
Programming and related tasks
Conversion to a different computer environment
Maintenance and enhancement
New development
Rewrite programs
System testing and parallel running
Security, restart and recovery
Preparation of specifications and test data
Error detection and correction
Performance improvements to batch run times, online response times and resource utilisation.
Keep documentation up to date
General office administration duties
Main application areas
Local authority, Life assurance, Financial, Manufacturing, Engineering.

Employment

Computer programming and related tasks including general office administration duties
06/98 - 12/02	XKO (formerly CP)	Narborough
12/89 - 02/90	Yellow Pages	Reading
11/88 - 11/89	Somerset County Council	Taunton
04/88 - 10/88	Crown Life	Woking
02/88 - 04/88	London Life	Bristol
06/87 - 12/87	ICL	Reading
07/86 - 12/86	Ford	Daventry
01/86 - 06/86	Black and Decker	Spennymoor
05/85 - 12/85	Rothmans	Aylesbury
06/84 - 03/85	Pirelli	Southampton
02/84 - 05/84	Woolworth	Rochdale
05/83 - 01/84	UK Provident Life	Salisbury
02/83 - 05/83	Listmart	Caernarfon,Bracknell Waterlooville,Newbury
06/82 - 12/82	Powell Duffryn	Basingstoke
02/82 - 06/82	ICL	Bristol
06/81 - 12/81	The AA	Basingstoke
06/80 - 05/81	Bath and Portland Group	Bath
08/77 - 06/80	ICL	Leeds
06/75 - 08/77	Gateshead Council	Gateshead
03/73 - 06/75	ACS	Feltham,Cricklewood Watford,Maidenhead
08/69 - 03/73	Plessey	Swindon
Bakery production line work
07/69 - 08/69	R and K Wise	Swindon

School examinations

The College of Preceptors exams came a year before the first round of GCE and CSE exams. They were primarily intended as a trial run for those more important exams.

When the important exams came round, my summer examinations papers were submitted to both the GCE and CSE examination boards for marking. Winter papers were only submitted to the GCE board. Hence I was deprived of a CSE grade 1 in General English, their equivalent of English Language. As it took me three attempts to pass Physics at GCE, I have two CSE grades for that subject. I also have two grades for English literature although I never came close to a GCE pass in that subject as you can see from my final CSE grade of 3. Grade 1 was considered equivalent to a GCE pass. Meanwhile, I only took technical drawing once; despite obtaining a pass in the College of Preceptors exam, it really wasn't something I excelled at.

Education

Kingsdown High School Stratton St. Margaret, Swindon
College of Preceptors	English Language Mathematics (passed with distinction) Technical drawing
CSE (with grades)	Mathematics Chemistry Geography Physics General English Technical drawing English literature	1 1 1 2, 1 2 3 4, 3
GCE 'O' Level	English Language Mathematics Chemistry Geography Physics
GCE Additional 'O' Level	Mathematics
Kingsdown School is now a technology college
Other schools
Chippenham	Sheldon School formerly Boys' High School
Chippenham	Ivy Lane Primary School
Chippenham	St Paul's Primary School
Marshfield	Church of England Primary School
Montrose	Southesk Primary School
Mablethorpe	Community Primary School and Nursery

Personal details

Name	Peter Durward Harris
Location	Leicester, England
E-mail	via Blogger profile page
Born	September 8, 1951
Transport	Rail, bus and taxi; I never took a driving test, although I did take lessons. However, as this page shows, I am willing to relocate for a quality job.
Interests	Horse racing, music, non-fiction books, football, chess, BBC radio 5 live
References	Two references from my XKO days can be supplied, plus one reference from the internet feedback research project.

Next page

CV IT achievements >>

CV IT achievements

---

Introduction

The home and training course achievements are listed first, since they are generally of more recent vintage, followed by the much larger set of achievements relating to what I did at work. Most of my training achievements are described in detail elsewhere, so links are provided here.

If you're not interested in this stuff, skip this page and the next one titled CV IT technical details, because it won't interest you either. Go to the page after that, which is titled Career options in offices.

At home and training

Workshops on internet feedback issues, 2011

A research group offered me the chance to attend two workshops discussing internet feedback issues, particularly in regard to reviewing and rating, in London. I was invited on the basis of my Amazon profile to attend and to give a presentation lasting 15 to 20 minutes. It was titled My experience as a top 10 Amazon reviewer. I was told that I could use slides if I wanted to but said that I wouldn't be using them. I told some of my friends and one of them offered to do me some slides anyway. These slides actually made things a lot easier as they helped me to focus on the issues. I'd only done one presentation in my life before, way back in 1974 or 1975.

The first workshop was mostly taken up with presentations including mine, which went down very well with the audience, but there was some discussion towards the end. The second workshop was all discussion. I later attended the conference in Oxford that marked the effective end of the project. In terms of future job prospects, doing that presentation was the important task. I created a very positive impression that day.

At home (2008 to present)

I bought a new computer in March 2008 and connected it to the internet. It uses Windows Vista. I still have my previous computer, which I bought in 1999 and which runs on Windows 98 SE. I don't use it much now, especially as it is not connected to the internet, but it includes MS Office, which my new PC doesn't, so I still use it occasionally, especially when I want to play around with EXCEL.

Leicester college and at home (2004 to present)

I learned the basics of web design at Leicester College and have since spent a lot of time developing my skills using HTML and CSS, as I explain in Blog setup. I plan to learn a lot of other web design skills in the future although this will be a slow process if I have to teach myself everything. There is no substitute for a commercial environment when it comes to learning quickly.

At home (1997 to 1998)

I practised Visual Basic extensively for several months.

Interquad, Birmingham (1997)

I attended a business administration course that gave me an introduction to contemporary word processing, spreadsheets and databases, themselves now somewhat out-dated. Towards the end of that course, I revised the WORDPERFECT course training guide.

Kalamazoo, Birmingham (1996)

I attended a C programming course.

At work

Comments

Except as otherwise indicated, these jobs involved a lot of programming, usually in COBOL but sometimes in FILETAB or other languages. Apart from the programming, I did plenty of testing, which covered everything from preparation or acquisition of test data through program testing to system testing and parallel running. I sometimes provided documentation where none existed or improved the existing documentation where it was not up to standard or out of date.

Contact with users varied. In some places, I never had any communication with users but in others I talked to them frequently. In these cases, I encouraged them to let me know what problems they had with the software I worked on. This sometimes surprised them as most computer people (especially programmers) prefer to keep such matters hidden. I prefer to know about any problems and, wherever possible, correct them and thereby keep the users content.

All these jobs involved basic administration tasks such as filing, photocopying, etc.

XKO, Narborough (1998 to 2002)

I helped maintain their package of about fifteen interlocking systems that covered order processing, sales ledger, sales analysis, stock control, warehousing and other systems that I recognized from earlier projects in manufacturing and engineering, although XKO's clients were mainly food or pharmaceutical businesses. The package was tailored to suit individual clients but was difficult to maintain because of the age and complexity of the code.

Yellow Pages, Reading (1989 to 1990)

I prepared one-off reports for clients as required, discussing their requirements, programming the code and presenting the final results.

Somerset county council, Taunton (1988 to 1989)

As a contractor, I converted their payroll system from ICL DME to ICL VME single handed, albeit I was provided with the test data by one of the council’s own staff. This job was originally intended to be shared between three or four people, but their services were not required on the payroll system, so they were diverted to converting other systems. Testing involved running the new versions of the programs and comparing the results with those produced by the old versions using the same data. The comparison wasn’t always straightforward even with good comparison software, since conversion occasionally involved changes that made direct comparison in that way difficult. In these cases, it was sometimes necessary to modify the results from the old programs to allow comparison to take place.

Although I spent most of my time converting the payroll system, I also converted several small systems (often just three or four programs each) in the same way. Some of these systems were for the local health authority, which used the county council computer facilities.

Crown Life, Woking (1988)
AA, Basingstoke (1981)

These projects involved performance improvements to poorly-performing systems. The new versions of the programs had to produce exactly the same end results as the old versions, but do so much more efficiently. While they sometimes involved a lot of programming, the nature of the changes required different methods of testing from conventional maintenance and development projects. I therefore did a considerable amount of parallel running, using special comparison software to identify any differences between old and new results. Occasionally, these comparisons exposed bugs in the old systems that had been corrected by improving the code. This was great, but made the task more complicated. Other projects apart from those at Crown Life and the AA, including my most recent one at XKO, also involved some work on performance improvements.

London Life, Bristol (1988)

I enhanced their quotations system to cater for LAUTRO, the then new regulatory authority.

ICL, Reading (1987)

I helped develop a system for British American insurance.

Ford, Daventry (1986)
Woolworth, Rochdale (1984)
Bath and Portland Group (1980 to 1981)

At these and other sites, I did a lot of maintenance. Most programmers dislike maintenance (as I did in the beginning), but it favours me because employers quickly find out where the talent lies. On a development project, it can be several months before a bad programmer is exposed and even longer before any damage is repaired.

Black and Decker, Spennymoor (1986)

I helped tailor the MSA manufacturing package to suit Black and Decker's own requirements.

Rothmans, Aylesbury (1985)

I helped develop their online sales analysis system.

Pirelli, Southampton (1984 to 1985)

I did some maintenance work on old ICL systems and also converted their Sports Club membership system from ICL to IBM.

UK Provident Life, Salisbury (1983 to 1984)

This was the biggest project I ever worked on, employing well over 100 contractors at its peak. It was a policy accounting system that was never fully implemented because the business was eventually taken over by Friends Provident, Dorking.

Listmart, Henley-on-Thames (1983)

I helped convert their unified housing benefits package from ZILOG to ICL, though my involvement was purely at the ICL end of the conversion. Although the headquarters were in Henley, all the work was done at other sites. I spent time at Caernarfon, Bracknell, Waterlooville and Newbury.

Powell Duffryn, Basingstoke (1982)

I helped convert their production control system to make it saleable by DEC to other customers. This involved replacing a series of in-house routines by DBMS code that performed the same functions in a different way. The bill of materials function was particularly interesting.

ICL, Bristol (1982)

I helped convert a health patient administration package from ICL 2900 to run on the smaller ICL ME29. This unusual conversion gave clients a choice. Some of them clearly did not wish to replace their ME29 with 2900 machines when they still had spare capacity on their existing computer.

ICL, Leeds (1977 to 1980)

I made an important contribution to the LAMIS project, both programming and on the operating system procedures. LAMIS (which stood for local authority management information system, not to be confused with the more recent but unrelated LAnd Management Information System) later evolved into PLANES (sorry, can't expand that acronym) and that system was still in use by several local authorities during the nineties and maybe beyond.

Gateshead metropolitan borough council (1975 to 1977)

I was the key programmer in the development of their social services system. Apart from programming, I was heavily involved in developing operating system procedures. I also developed a series of programs to cross check the integrity of the test data, which evolved and expanded considerably. From a quick fix designed to identify test data errors, these programs eventually became a useful auditing tool even after the system went live. As a result of these programs, live implementation was incredibly smooth and the system proved to be very reliable.

Capital Cities, Watford (1975)

Part of my time at ACS, London. I helped develop a union membership system for the National Association of Schoolmasters. (Note - the union later merged with the Union of Women Teachers to became NASUWT.) Capital Cities was an appropriately named software house, having offices in London and Edinburgh. At the time, it was rare for one software house to do work for another but I guess that this practice is likely to be commoner now.

Black and Decker, Maidenhead (1975)

Part of my time at ACS, London. I helped enhance their stock control system to incorporate bulk haulage between major depots.

Department of Employment, Watford (1974)

Part of my time at ACS, London. As well as developing programs, I developed complex operating system procedures including automatic restart, recovery and date change mechanisms for their employment survey systems.

Smiths Industries, Cricklewood (1973 to 1974)

Part of my time at ACS, London. I helped develop their stock control system. Power cuts caused by the miners' strike presented a challenge famously known as the three-day week, successfully overcome.

Ready Mixed Concrete, Feltham (1973)

Part of my time at ACS, London. I helped put the then new Value Added Tax into their system for invoicing self-employed drivers.

Plessey, Swindon (1969 to 1973)

The world of computing was very different then. I started my career using equipment that seems very primitive now, including punched cards, paper tape, enormous reel to reel magnetic tapes, barrel printers and very fragile exchangeable disc drives. The software was very different too. Computers did accounting with old-style sterling currency that used shillings and pence. Factory workers were paid in cash so the payroll included a coin analysis routine to work out how many of each coin and banknote should go in each pay packet. Oh yes, things were very different then, but they changed a lot even while mainframe computers remained dominant and I kept pace with all the changes.

As a consequence of working in such a primitive environment (though it didn't seem primitive at the time), I learned a lot about how computers do their work and the importance of testing thoroughly, giving me experience that younger programmers never had the opportunity to learn. This stood me in good stead later on.

Next page

CV IT technical details >>

CV IT technical details

---

Notes

My experience of personal computers includes several versions of Windows including 3.1, 95, 98, XP and Vista. For the time being, this page is limited to sites where I worked commercially. Where I specify miscellaneous, this indicates (in each case) more than one system, none of which I've kept records of, because I didn't do sufficient work on any of the individual systems to really get into them.

If you're not interested in this jargon, go to the next page, which is titled Career options in offices.

Employment technical details

XKO, Narborough (1998 to 2002)
Environment	IBM RS 6000, UNIX (AIX).
Languages	RM/COBOL-85, RM-PANELS.
Applications	Sales ledger, Sales analysis, Order processing, Stock control, Purchase ordering, Warehousing.
Yellow Pages, Reading (1989 to 1990)
Environment	ICL VME.
Languages	FILETAB.
Applications	Miscellaneous.
Somerset County Council, Taunton (1988 to 1989)
Environment	ICL VME.
Languages	COBOL, DDS, FILETAB, ADRAM.
Applications	Payroll, Pupil assessments, Vaccination and immunisation, Capital management, Family planning, Budget forecasting.
Crown Life, Woking (1988)
Environment	ICL GEORGE 3.
Languages	COBOL, PLAN, BEAUPEEP DRIVER.
Applications	Policy enquiries, New business.
London Life, Bristol (1988)
Environment	ICL DRS.
Languages	CIS COBOL.
Applications	Quotations.
ICL, Reading (1987)
Environment	ICL TME.
Languages	COBOL, IDMS, TME-TP, FILETAB.
Applications	British American Insurance.
Ford, Daventry (1986)
Environment	IBM DOS/VSE, OWL.
Languages	COBOL.
Applications	Spare parts stock control.
Black and Decker, Spennymoor (1986)
Environment	IBM MVS, TSO, ISPF, VSAM.
Languages	COBOL, MSA/DCI.
Applications	MSA manufacturing package.
Rothmans, Aylesbury (1985)
Environment	IBM VM/CMS, CMS, EXEC 2, DMS, VSAM.
Languages	COBOL, FILETAB.
Applications	Sales analysis.
Pirelli, Southampton (1984 to 1985)
Environment	ICL GEORGE 2+, VME, IBM DOS/VSE, VSAM, CMS, MULTILOG, CA-DRIVER, CA-DYNAM.
Languages	COBOL, PLAN, FILETAB, IDMS.
Applications	Sports club membership + miscellaneous.
Woolworth, Rochdale (1984)
Environment	ICL VME.
Languages	COBOL, FILETAB.
Applications	Miscellaneous.
UK Provident Life, Salisbury (1983 to 1984)
Environment	ICL VME.
Languages	COBOL, IDMS, DDS, ITS.
Applications	Policy accounting (phase 3).
Listmart, Henley-on-Thames (1983)
Environment	ICL GEORGE 2, GEORGE 3, TME.
Languages	COBOL, PLAN.
Applications	Unified housing benefits.
Clients	Arfon borough council (Caernarfon), Bracknell district council, Newbury district council.
Other computer used	Wadham Stringer Datawork (Waterlooville).
Powell Duffryn, Basingstoke (1982)
Environment	DEC VAX/VMS.
Languages	COBOL, DBMS.
Applications	Production control.
ICL, Bristol (1982)
Environment	ICL TME.
Languages	COBOL, IDMS.
Applications	Health patient administration.
Automobile Association, Basingstoke (1981)
Environment	ICL GEORGE 2+.
Languages	COBOL, FILETAB.
Applications	Marketing.
Bath and Portland Group, Bath (1980 to 1981)
Environment	ICL GEORGE 2.
Languages	COBOL, 7502 TPL.
Applications	Miscellaneous.
ICL, Leeds (1977 to 1980)
Environment	ICL GEORGE 3, VME.
Languages	COBOL, PLAN, IDMS, DDS, COMMS MANAGER.
Applications	LAMIS.
Gateshead Metropolitan Borough Council (1975 to 1977)
Environment	ICL GEORGE 2, GEORGE 3.
Languages	COBOL, PLAN, DRIVER.
Applications	Social services, Rates.
ACS, London (1973 to 1975)
Environment	ICL GEORGE 1, GEORGE 2, GEORGE 3.
Languages	COBOL.
Applications	Invoicing, Stock control, Employment survey, Stock control (bulk haulage), union membership.
Clients	Capital Cities (Watford) Black and Decker (Maidenhead) Department of Employment (Watford) Smiths Industries (Cricklewood) Ready Mixed Concrete (Feltham)
Plessey, Swindon (1969 to 1973)
Environment	ICL manual exec, GEORGE 2, GEORGE 3.
Languages	COBOL, PLAN, FILETAB.
Applications	Purchase ledger, Sales ledger, Order processing, Production control, Stock control, Decimalisation.

Next page

Career options in offices >>

Career options in offices

---

COBOL programming

I have extensive experience of programming on mainframes using COBOL and other languages. There are still COBOL jobs available, but not nearly as many as there once were and the vast majority of those advertised require other skills that I don't have, or only have limited exposure to, as you'll see if you compare my CV IT technical details with the requirements of the COBOL jobs advertised. I used to apply for some of these COBOL jobs, especially when I came across any that provided a good fit with my other skills, but it is a few years now since I did so.

I subscribe to one online website that sends me vacancies and thereby keeps me informed, just in case. I was amused to see one vacancy asking for a junior developer who had worked for three years in a similar role. Surely if somebody has spent three years at that level, they would want to drop the prefix junior? I didn't fit the other requirements anyway, but I wonder if that employer found what he or she wanted.

Occasionally, the relevant employers and agencies show some interest in me. While it is still possible that I could end up working on COBOL programs again in the future, I realised long ago that I could not rely on COBOL to save me. Despite having 25 years' experience, getting back into a COBOL environment will not be easy, as both The nineties job quest, which ended primarily because of the demand created by Y2K software changes, and my current spell out of work prove. With every year that passes, the COBOL base diminishes further, along with the pool of COBOL programmers. It now seems extremely unlikely that I'll ever use COBOL again, though I would do so if the opportunity arises.

Other computer programming

During The nineties job quest, I attended a C programming course and I later practised Visual Basic extensively for around eight months, at which point I started a job in Narborough. I learned what I needed to of these two languages quickly and, given the chance to learn either of them for a commercial environment, I'm sure that I could make a valuable contribution, notwithstanding that what I learned then is itself out of date to some extent. Nevertheless, in attempting to secure employment that would allow me to learn either of these languages for a commercial environment, I'd be competing against people with far more substantial knowledge and experience of using them. Not only that, but such people are likely to be substantially younger than me. Age shouldn't be a consideration but it is to the vast majority of employers.

Web design

During my current period of unemployment, I enrolled for a Java programming course but only one other person did likewise so the course was cancelled. I switched to a web design course in which I learned basic HTML and CSS. As it turned out, this may have been a blessing in disguise because it enabled me to build on the knowledge and set up a website that I later converted into the series of blogs that I now have, as I explain in detail in Blog setup.

Of course, HTML and CSS are only part of what commercial web design is about in the same way that COBOL was only one element in commercial computer programming in the old days. If you look up any job vacancy for web designers, you'll see that they ask for any number of other technical requirements. Sometimes they mention Java, but MySQL, PHP and any number of other requirements are likely to be listed even for junior and trainee vacancies. These are used to provide server-side programming. It's difficult for me to get involved in this, even if I learn the relevant languages, but it's not impossible.

At some point in the future after I'm pensioned off, I'll look at what programming facilities are available via Amazon, Blogger and Facebook. While all three websites can be very simple to use in their most basic form, they all have highly advanced features for those with the talent and enthusiasm to really get involved. If any of them provide facilities that I can use in a sensible and practical manner, I'll learn the relevant languages and apply the knowledge. If not, maybe I can find somewhere else to do so. I'll always be a programmer at heart, but it seems destined to become my hobby rather than a way to pay the bills.

Web usage

There are some jobs that simply involve surfing the net and collating information from it into a spreadsheet, database or whatever. These jobs seem like rather tedious clerical jobs, but I would do such a job if offered one. Some of these jobs offer the chance to work from home. In one such case, the employer was clearly suspicious of home-based workers, based on the job specification asking for applicants to justify wotrking from home. Applicants were also told that they would initially have to be self-employed with a view to becoming employees later, reinforcing the suspicions.

Website management

At the end of 2010, I received what appeared to be an offer for me to manage the website leicester.vi, which is one of a worldwide series of 68,000 similar city-themed video hosting websites. Sadly, I would have to bid for the franchise and I'm obviously not in a position to do so. Now, if they'd been intending to pay me either a salary or on a comission basis, I could have pursued the matter further, but I replied explaining that I was not in a position to make an offer. Looking more closely at the limited information, I would have been responsible for publicising the website so I'm not sure that I would have been the right person anyway, being a technician rather than a publicist, but I would have researched more if I thought there was a chance that I could secure the position. It would be an interesting job on a number of levels, as I would learn a lot more about the city in which I have made my home.

It appears that their interest was aroused by my Christmas blog, which at least confirms my theory that anything I post on the net has a chance of getting noticed by an employer, and who knows where it might lead? In this particular case, it led nowhere because of the bidding process, but I might be luckier another time. You may wonder why the Christmas blog impressed them. They didn't say, but looking at their requirements, I think the technical aspects of what I'd done using the revenue-generating Amazon widgets and links was what caught their attention, rather than the subject of the blog. I don't think that blog has ever made any money for me (though I have made a modest amount from a different blog), but I set it up partly to practise setting up web pages and partly to provide a focus for all my Christmas reviews. I realised when I'd set it up that of all the various blogs I've set up, it provided the best showcase among them. Others are slowly catching up.

Some months later, they came back with a new proposal. Obviously not satisfied with whatever bids they had received, they said that they had decided on a fixed price for each franchise. If I wanted to take over the franchise without buying it, I could do so knowing that if a bidder came along later, I would be replaced. As I looked at this and other details more closely, I realized that it isn't for me. As far as the job itself goes, I could do the technical side but that is just one aspect. However, the idea that somebody could just come along and take over is unappealing to say the least. In the absence of an outright franchise bid, I think they should have offered (say) a one-year contract, towards the end of which the franchise would again be offered publicly.

What are the alternatives to computer jobs?

I can't imagine that there is any other job (except a related activity such as web design) in which I could be as effective as I am at computer programming. It's still what I'm best at but I'll continue to look at other career possibilities. Despite the supposed IT skills shortage, I have to accept that getting the kind of job that I'd really like may be an impossible dream. One way or another, I'm not giving up completely on the idea of a return to computer programming or to a new career in web design. Perhaps I have no chance but if I can't do it for a living, I'll do it for a hobby after I'm pensioned off, in which case I need some other kind of paid job.

So what alternative career might I switch to? One former computer programmer has switched to the tourist industry, moving to Lanreath in Cornwall where he rents out holiday apartments, although he also does some part-time work as a computer trouble-shooter. We computer buffs can never let go. I won't be following his example, not least because I don't have the means to invest in property, but there are some other options for me.

Data entry

In the long-since-deleted BBC debate Should benefits be linked to community service?, some people pointed out that plenty of unemployed people could obviously type, so suggested that these people could get a job in data entry. Well, of course, it's not that simple. In a normal working environment, data entry clerks usually have to achieve a minimum typing speed and we have no way of knowing any individual's typing speed just by looking at what they've typed. Indeed, disabled people also use the internet. Depending on their condition, they may need some adaptation to enable them to post their thoughts on the internet or, in extreme cases, maybe somebody else types for them. If their disability doesn't affect their ability to type, it may affect them in other ways that discourage employers from offering them a job. There are also employers who practise ableism, but that's a separate issue. Well, I'm not disabled but I'm not a fast typist either.

Just because I can type doesn't mean that I can do it fast enough to be employed as a data entry clerk. If an employer offered me such a job knowing my likely limit of 30 words per minute, then I'd accept the offer. But would 30 words per minute be enough? I doubt it because most employers looking for data entry clerks ask for at least 40 (and sometimes 50 or 60) words per minute. There are jobs where accuracy is more important than speed, but even for these jobs speed might still be a deciding factor.

My typing speed would be sufficient where typing is only part of the job. When I worked as a computer programmer, I met plenty of other computer programmers who could type faster than I could, but I more than made up for that with my ability to do the actual programming. Nevertheless, it is clear that many of those programmers could get jobs as data entry clerks if there were no programming jobs available to them.

Data entry doesn't appear to be a likely option for me unless accuracy and maybe some other factors are taken into consideration, but I apply for some data entry jobs on the basis that I can at least perform the required task. So far, I have had no response that offers encouragement, but I'll continue to apply for data entry jobs.

Administration

Administration is an obvious alternative. Much of it involves some use of computers so that side of the work should come easily to me. One problem here is that I'm not familiar with the various packages such as spreadsheets and databases. Of course, I'm familiar with what they do in general terms and wrote or modified plenty of COBOL programs that carried out these functions in the old days. So I could pick up the details very quickly as I proved on the business administration course that I attended in 1997, when I had an introduction to contemporary word processing, spreadsheets and databases, themselves now somewhat out-dated. Towards the end of that course, I extensively revised the WORDPERFECT course training guide.

More recently, I almost got a part-time job using EXCEL spreadsheets after some hasty practice. Actually, it looked at first glance like a standard data entry job, but the employee would have to do some calculations that couldn't be done in EXCEL the way it was set up. Accuracy would be more important than speed, so my typing speed would have been good enough because of my mathematical ability and my past experience with computers. But I still didn't get the job and I still wouldn't expect to be offered a pure data entry job that doesn't involve other skills.

Unfortunately for me, we live in an age where employers normally insist on qualifications and would rather take somebody who already has the Certificates than somebody without them, regardless of experience in related matters. See Employer attitudes and Training options. Nevertheless, administration jobs of one kind or another make up the majority of my job applications these days.

Reception

Another problem in looking at alternative careers is that some office jobs require people with outgoing personalities. I did better than I expected when assigned to reception duties as part of that Business administration course but I don't think that reception duties would really suit me. Nevertheless, I know that there are plenty of office jobs that I could do. I really need qualifications but, as I explain in The politics of unemployment, my efforts to get them are hampered by government policies. Despite my reservations, I sometimes apply for jobs as a receptionist.

Amazon

Given the amount of time and energy that I've devoted to Amazon's websites, some people draw the logical conclusion that I should be able to find employment within Amazon. With my software skills being somewhat out of date, I would need re-training to actually get involved with the software itself. I would be happy to learn those new skills and may in any case do so once I'm pensioned off, but I'm not sure that Amazon would want to re-train me. Still, there may be some role that I could fulfil, drawing on my general software experience and my knowledge of Amazon's software from the perspective of both a customer and a reviewer. If Amazon were to approach me with an idea, I would certainly consider it seriously.

I sometimes look at Amazon's UK jobs page. I once found an Amazon vacancy (online content editor - music) that I considered worth applying for, to see what would happen. Some of my cyber-friends thought I'd be the ideal candidate. I wasn't so sure. As it transpired, Amazon sent me a standard rejection reply by e-mail a few days later. At least I can say that I applied for a job with Amazon.

Amazon's main base in Britain is Slough (near Windsor, also near Heathrow Airport). Their nearest (but much smaller) bases to Leicester are at Milton Keynes and Peterborough, which are not commutable by public transport. I would have to relocate if offered a job by Amazon, whatever the location, although that of itself is not a problem as Slough, Peterborough and Milton Keynes are all well catered for by public transport, as are Amazon's other British locations.

Job applications

Actually, most of the jobs that I apply for these days are clerical (administration, data entry, etc.) but I haven't generated much interest among employers of such people, though some recruitment agencies have shown a greater interest and one of them sat me down to a typing test, when I actually achieved 27 words per minute net of errors. If I'd known how it worked, I'd have done a little better than that, hence I feel comfortable quoting 30 words per minute as my typing speed. Nevertheless, most of the encouraging responses, and the only interview (with Agathos Systems in Nottingham) for a full-time job in my current period of unemployment that I've had so far, have resulted from applications for computer programming jobs rather than clerical or other types of jobs.

Next page

Career options in factories and warehouses >>

Career options in factories and warehouses

---

Schooldays

Before I ever thought about a career, it was clear that I was much better at academic subjects than practical subjects. I was absolutely useless in the gymnasium, on the sports field or on the cross country circuit. I remember one occasion when I took part in a 4-lap one-mile race. I was so slow that everybody lapped me. The person who finished second-last recorded a time that was closer to the winning time than it was to the time I took, which burned into my memory as eight minutes and five seconds.

I was equally useless at woodwork, metalwork and (on the only occasion that I attempted it) pottery. I managed to avoid woodwork and metalwork eventually by attending cookery lessons instead, with some limited success. I was also useless at playing the recorder, but I'm sure that I'd have been useless at playing any musical instrument. I did well in chemistry and physics but those subjects involved both academic and practical work. Nevertheless, it was obvious that factories and warehouses were unlikely to suit me and so it has proved.

Jam tarts

In what turned out to be my final few months at school, I secured a job as a trainee computer programmer with Plessey in Swindon and abandoned plans to take GCE "A" levels in mathematics and chemistry. However, because I finished my exams in June 1969 and planned a holiday in August, I agreed with the employer not to start work until after I had taken the holiday. This made sense on a number of levels but it left me with the problem of what to do before the holiday. I actually decided to take a temporary job and worked for four weeks in a bakery. The unfortunate employer was R and K Wise.

At the bakery, I was put on a production line. Jam tarts came out of the oven on trays. These trays were put on a conveyor belt during which time they cooled, at the end of which one person stood, removing the trays and putting them in position ready for their next journey. On another conveyor belt, these jam tarts were packed into boxes and topped with icing. I guess that the basic idea is similar to production lines the world over although it just happens that the products here were jam tarts. Unfortunately for me, conveyor belts are set to work at a certain speed. I was just about able to keep pace with the jam tarts coming out of the oven (and I could stop that belt if I had to) but on the second belt, I was a total embarrassment. Whichever part of the belt I was on, I was noticeably slower than the other workers so I had to keep switching positions to even things out. I learned there and then that factory production lines were not for me. Fortunately, it was only a temporary job and I had a better job lined up, one that (as it proved) I could do much better.

Furniture

I never expected to work in a factory again but I eventually did in 2004. It wasn't a production line so at least I was spared a repeat of my bakery embarrassment, but I was equally spectacularly unsuccessful, notwithstanding that I was presented with a certificate that reads otherwise. This factory job lasted three months and was part of the New Deal scheme, which I discuss in depth in The politics of unemployment, that is supposed to help unemployed people get back to work. Originally, I was keen to try out this scheme, to see if I could do a completely different career. I suggested I'd like to try light warehousing work. I didn't get it, instead being sent to a flat-pack furniture assembly factory.

I described the experience humorously in Assemble furniture from kits (badly). Well, I suppose that in some ways it was a worthwhile experience but it was mostly a waste of time. Insofar as I learned anything from the experience, four weeks would have been enough. It certainly didn't help in my quest for a proper job. A return to the same company, albeit at different premises, a few years later found me relegated to menial duties such as sweeping floors, though this was only for four weeks rather than thirteen. On the first occasion, I was also consoled by the fact that New Deal was optional for people of my age although I suspected that this might change one day. It did, but not before I'd tried out a forklift truck.

The forklift truck

At one of the Next Step meetings I had to discuss future career possibilities, somebody suggested forklift truck driving. I told him that I couldn't even drive a car, never having taken a driving test. He said that it wasn't necessary because you need a different type of licence. I was doubtful about the prospect but soon after that, I saw trials being offered by a forklift truck driver-training centre. This gave me the chance to try one out to see whether it was worth committing to a full training course. It occurred to me that, within the confines of a warehouse, at least I wouldn't have to worry about all the traffic that car drivers have to contend with. And if I did well, maybe I could start those car driving lessons again. So, despite serious misgivings, I went along to the trial.

The area where the trial took place was divided into two sections, one being a big empty space and the other being a tightly confined obstacle course. The big empty space was just to test basic steering. All I had to do was to steer the truck (classified as a counterbalance, though not necessarily one of the models in my link) in a straight-line forwards, then reverse back to where I started. I was absolutely useless (the truck preferred to take a curvaceous course) and declined to try the obstacle course, much to the assessor's relief.

I knew then that my original doubts had been confirmed. Maybe forklift truck drivers don't have to contend with other traffic but it became clear to me that warehouses are designed with absolutely minimum road space to squeeze as much shelf space in as possible, which saves a lot of money. Good for them but it definitely rules me out. With practice, I would have managed the basic steering but never the tight spaces. And any chance that I might resume car-driving lessons has gone forever. The story of those lessons that I took (a total of forty) during the mid-seventies in London, Watford (where I had a provisional booking in Berkhamsted for a driving test) and Newcastle is best forgotten and is in any case outside the scope of this blog. Actually, I've forgotten most of the details anyway.

Preparing waste for re-cycling

In 2007, New Deal became compulsory for all unemployed people under the female pensionable age (then fixed at sixty but now on a rising escalator). I eventually ended up at a waste-recycling centre. Actually, the work there could be described as light warehousing, which is what I'd originally suggested three years earlier prior to my furniture assembly ordeal. Nevertheless, I was equally incompetent. I could do the paper shredding and I could sweep the floor. Wow! But elsewhere, I was absolutely useless, just as I had been with the jam tarts, the furniture and the forklift truck.

Even the paper shredding had its downside. It was easy just feeding the paper through the shredder as I quickly got used to the problems with this and was able to sort out (and mostly avoid) any jams. The problem was that the shredded paper had to be shifted to a skip (unless it was to be used as bedding for the chimpanzees at Twycross Zoo, in which case all the staples had to be removed prior to shredding, which certainly slowed the process down) and that was the job of whoever was doing the shredding. Maybe in a bigger establishment, one person would be shredding paper full time and somebody else would carry the waste to the skip, but it's not a foregone conclusion. In any case, employers want their staff to be flexible, so that they can cover for absences by others. Also, can anybody imagine me (or anybody else) spending all their working years just standing at a paper shredder, feeding paper through? Only a placement agency working for a government desperate to force people off jobseeker's allowance (or the government itself) could think that way.

As I lack physical strength or any of the other skills that are so necessary in a factory or warehouse, any attempt to force me into such a job would appear doomed. Even where the basic tasks are within my capability (including all the processes in my part of the jam tart production line), I cannot do them fast enough to be an effective employee. It's one thing working for an organization that is paid by the government to put up with me for three months, when anything they get out of me at all is a bonus, but quite another thing to expect the same from an employer who would regard me as a liability.

Anything else?

But just supposing that there is some kind of manual work that I can do at a pace acceptable to an employer? Then we come back to the question of Employer attitudes. Several people have made it clear that if I, as a former computer programmer, were hired to work in such an environment, I would (to quote one of them) be taken apart. Others were more diplomatic but meant the same thing. Quite simply, I would be seen as a misfit even before I had a chance to prove anything. This didn't happen on New Deal because misfits are expected in such an environment, but let's not be fooled by that. Employers would be most unlikely to consider my application for a real manual job except in desperation, knowing the likely consequences.

I have occasionally applied for such jobs, including one as a kitchen assistant, and will no doubt continue to do so to keep the government agencies happy, but I've never had any response to such applications apart from outright rejections. Barring a very unlikely set of circumstances that I cannot foresee, my future lies elsewhere.

Next page

Career options in call centres and retail outlets >>

Career options in call centres and retail outlets

---

Call centres

People who work behind a counter or in a call centre are expected to have an outgoing personality and to be warm and friendly to complete strangers. They are expected to deal with complaints in a similar manner. I'm not an outgoing person although I'm certainly not a recluse either, contrary to what a banner newspaper headline once proclaimed.

I'm definitely not suited to call centre work. Of course I talk to people via telephones but I don't have the temperament to deal with endless complaints from faceless people sounding off about whatever, nor do I like the idea of getting through a minimum number of calls per hour. How can you deal with customers effectively if you are time limited? Everything I've heard about these places suggests that I wouldn't last long in one. And my experience of call centres at the other end of the telephone isn't great. I've sometimes been kept waiting for more than half an hour to get through to a call centre, so even if I was in a good mood when I dialled the number, I may not be by the time I get a response. I can't expect other customers to be different. No, I won't man the telephones in a call centre.

Retail outlets

Similarly, retail outlets would seem to be unsuitable for me as they also expect people with outgoing personalities. However, it occurred to me during The nineties job quest that the lack of an outgoing personality might not matter so much if the retail outlet specialised in a product about which I have plenty of knowledge and enthusiasm. So, as my favourite sport is horse racing and I also have a general interest in other spectator sports, I looked at what bookmakers had to offer. I'm good with numbers; mathematics was my best subject at school. I thought that might also help my chances.

A lot of customers are regulars with whom I'd hopefully be able to build a rapport based on common interests, which would hopefully help to defuse arguments about payouts. Of course, there are days, particularly when the Aintree Grand National is run, that attract a lot of people who know next to nothing about betting. I can be very understanding with such people and my skills in explaining Amazon's quirky software to others shows that I can explain things patiently to the uninitiated. Well, I tried for a job with a bookmaker in the nineties but although I passed all the written tests easily and I made clear my enthusiasm at my brief meeting with one of their representatives, I wasn't offered a full interview. I think they were filtering for an outgoing personality.

Of course, it's possible that I could try again. I was hampered in such efforts during the three and a third years that I didn't have a home internet connection. I could not look for bookmakers' jobs on the net because Leicester public library, internet cafés and the placement agency all block access to bookmakers' websites (because they are gambling sites). My only way of finding out about such jobs was through newspapers or if I saw a notice outside (or inside) one of their shops. Mostly, by the time I saw one of their jobs advertised in a newspaper, it was no longer fresh and therefore too late to attend one of their recruitment sessions. Other employers have different recruitment strategies that allow a slower response. Since restoring my home internet connection, I discovered a betting and gaming jobs website that bypasses the filters. I'm glad that the industry set up a separate website for job vacancies, but the average jobseeker isn't likely to come across this website.

At least I can now explore the possibility of a betting shop job again if I choose to, although if an outgoing personality is paramount, it would be a waste of my time and theirs to try. But let's be clear that such a career is not well paid and has limited prospects. It wouldn't be my first choice by any means, but it's certainly preferable to factory, warehouse or security work, or being unemployed.

Looking at other retail outlets, I don't see any obvious possibilities. Quite apart from the fact that CD retail outlets are a declining business as the demise of Zavvi illustrates, the music they sell is mostly aimed at a younger generation. Older people have been driven on to the internet (to websites like Amazon) to find what they want. These websites do not deal with customers face to face so their entire job structure is different. Amazon is a special case because of my contributions to their websites, as I discussed in Career options in offices.

Next page

Career options in security >>

---