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Does anyone knows a job board for people interested to work with COBOL? I have been interested in this language for quite some time, moved to a different count

Does anyone knows a job board for people interested to work with COBOL? I have been interested in this language for quite some time, moved to a different country just to try to find a job where I could learn more about it and build up a career, unfortunately the city that I chose doesn't seems to be have many offers. Most of the jobs require several years of experience doing low level programming, and although I work with system programming languages (C++, Go) I don't have relevant experience working with COBOL which seems to be killing my opportunities. It's like the chicken or the egg causality dilemma, I want a COBOL job but everyone requires someone with relevant experience, but how can I get experience if no one hires me to work with COBOL? LOL — I am willing to take a junior-intermediate position if necessary, if anyone has a suggestion (company names, job boards, etc). Thank you in advance. EDIT: I am in Vancouver, BC, Canada if anyone is interested.

blitzdev 9y ago
Which part of the world do you live ? been working with Cobol for a decade . Not that sexy , but hey , it pays the bills.
rpeden 9y ago
I think the best way to get into this area will be through networking. Perhaps work on finding a good conference or meetup group where you're likely to meet a Cobol developer. Now, as the exactly what sorts of events you're likely to meet a stereotypical Cobol developer at....I'm not sure. Perhaps look up your local shuffleboard and canasta clubs and go from there. :)
ape4 9y ago
https://www.indeed.ca/jobs?q=cobol&l=Vancouver%2C%20BC https://www.indeed.ca/jobs?q=cobol&l=Vancouver%2C%20BC
paulirwin 9y ago
Here in Jacksonville, FL the COBOL market is very much in demand. There are companies like transportation, financial, and insurance companies here that have mainframes using COBOL and hire COBOL developers. I believe I remember hearing that these companies have even funded a COBOL program at one of our local universities so they have more talent available, which means they are open to entry-level developers. I don't want to mention any of the company names on the chance that I might misrepresent them (and some of them are my customers), but you can easily find them by searching job boards like Indeed. I'm sure if you mentioned to a recruiter with national/international connections that you wanted a COBOL job you could find one, although you might have to move.
- flukus 9y ago
  What are these companies like culture wise? When I think COBOL I think of companies requiring a suit and tie in a Dilbert esq company, is that the case? This puts my off more than the language itself.
  - emj 9y ago
    The people I've met coding Cobol are all stuck in strict 8-17 jobs, with no flex time and weekend stints, with really rigid bosses who do not allow you to take family leave. The money seems ok though, but flextime and two hours less per day is worth a lot of money to me.
the_af 9y ago
> I have been interested in this language for quite some time Out of curiosity: do you mean you find the job prospects interesting, or the language itself? Because I'd understand if it's a money thing, but... I used to work with COBOL and I wouldn't wish the language on anyone.
- flavio81 9y ago
  > I used to work with COBOL and I wouldn't wish the language on anyone. There are worse things. I'd rather work on Cobol than in PHP4, or in a project where I have to deal with front-end stuff done using JS and back-end stuff that relies on the NPM package ecosystem.
  - the_af 9y ago
    Good point about NPM! I'd rather not work with either technology.
  - wglb 9y ago
    I vowed to never work in COBOL. Then, a consulting gig in RPG III convinced me otherwise.
- cicero 9y ago
  When I used to ride the train to work a few years ago, one of the happiest appearing people I met on the train was a young (30 something) COBOL programmer. He was examining a green-bar fan-fold printout of COBOL code that was part of the back-end of a gas station point-of-sale system. He told me that there had been an issue with a transaction the night before and he was going to try to solve it that day.
  - the_af 9y ago
    Sure, I spent my time figuring out COBOL code (thankfully, code printouts were already going out of fashion back in 1998, when I had that job. I can't for the life of me picture someone reading a printout today. Then again, I still occasionally see middle-aged people reading printed emails in the subway. Go figure) and of course solving problems is exhilarating! I'm just saying being forced to use COBOL sucks, because it's uninteresting and outdated technology, and mostly nobody would choose it of their own volition, so most COBOL use falls in the category of "being forced to use it". Interest in retrocomputing aside... and there's better retro stuff to be interested in, anyway!
rbanffy 9y ago
I'd love to give it a shot. I'm a retrocomputing enthusiast (don't get me wrong, COBOL crowd) and I'd love to get to know more about how mainframes, their care and feeding.
kpatrick 9y ago
Try Wawanesa insurance out of Regina.
cat199 9y ago
not ever been a mainframe guy, but also part of the thing is not so much cobol but understanding all of the various mainframe arcana for whichever system is used.. you might try to 'sneak in the back door' e.g. via java-on-mainframes and get systems experience on the big iron, then step slowly over to the cobol side of things..
exabrial 9y ago
DST System in Kansas City hires a lot of them
mindcrime 9y ago
Not a job board per se, but you might get some mileage out of poking around the /r/cobol sub-reddit. https://www.reddit.com/r/cobol/ https://www.reddit.com/r/cobol/
linkmotif 9y ago
> I don't have relevant experience working with COBOL which seems to be killing my opportunities. Amazing.
YouKnowBetter 9y ago
Put it on your LinkedIn and you will be contacted. This is the reason I removed every reference to it (not because of the language perse, more because of the culture of the companies & departments that will wanted to hire me). Expect to only be allowed to work 9 to 5, on prem, have the stricktest of duty segregations, sit at an old desk and lunch with 'the team' from 11:27 till 11:49 sharp. Where COBOL coding will not get you a date, it will pay rather decent.

blitzdev 9y ago

Which part of the world do you live ? been working with Cobol for a decade . Not that sexy , but hey , it pays the bills.

rpeden 9y ago

I think the best way to get into this area will be through networking. Perhaps work on finding a good conference or meetup group where you're likely to meet a Cobol developer. Now, as the exactly what sorts of events you're likely to meet a stereotypical Cobol developer at....I'm not sure. Perhaps look up your local shuffleboard and canasta clubs and go from there. :)

ape4 9y ago

https://www.indeed.ca/jobs?q=cobol&l=Vancouver%2C%20BC https://www.indeed.ca/jobs?q=cobol&l=Vancouver%2C%20BC

paulirwin 9y ago

Here in Jacksonville, FL the COBOL market is very much in demand. There are companies like transportation, financial, and insurance companies here that have mainframes using COBOL and hire COBOL developers. I believe I remember hearing that these companies have even funded a COBOL program at one of our local universities so they have more talent available, which means they are open to entry-level developers. I don't want to mention any of the company names on the chance that I might misrepresent them (and some of them are my customers), but you can easily find them by searching job boards like Indeed. I'm sure if you mentioned to a recruiter with national/international connections that you wanted a COBOL job you could find one, although you might have to move.

flukus 9y ago
What are these companies like culture wise? When I think COBOL I think of companies requiring a suit and tie in a Dilbert esq company, is that the case? This puts my off more than the language itself.
- emj 9y ago
  The people I've met coding Cobol are all stuck in strict 8-17 jobs, with no flex time and weekend stints, with really rigid bosses who do not allow you to take family leave. The money seems ok though, but flextime and two hours less per day is worth a lot of money to me.

the_af 9y ago

> I have been interested in this language for quite some time Out of curiosity: do you mean you find the job prospects interesting, or the language itself? Because I'd understand if it's a money thing, but... I used to work with COBOL and I wouldn't wish the language on anyone.

flavio81 9y ago
> I used to work with COBOL and I wouldn't wish the language on anyone. There are worse things. I'd rather work on Cobol than in PHP4, or in a project where I have to deal with front-end stuff done using JS and back-end stuff that relies on the NPM package ecosystem.
- the_af 9y ago
  Good point about NPM! I'd rather not work with either technology.
- wglb 9y ago
  I vowed to never work in COBOL. Then, a consulting gig in RPG III convinced me otherwise.
cicero 9y ago
When I used to ride the train to work a few years ago, one of the happiest appearing people I met on the train was a young (30 something) COBOL programmer. He was examining a green-bar fan-fold printout of COBOL code that was part of the back-end of a gas station point-of-sale system. He told me that there had been an issue with a transaction the night before and he was going to try to solve it that day.
- the_af 9y ago
  Sure, I spent my time figuring out COBOL code (thankfully, code printouts were already going out of fashion back in 1998, when I had that job. I can't for the life of me picture someone reading a printout today. Then again, I still occasionally see middle-aged people reading printed emails in the subway. Go figure) and of course solving problems is exhilarating! I'm just saying being forced to use COBOL sucks, because it's uninteresting and outdated technology, and mostly nobody would choose it of their own volition, so most COBOL use falls in the category of "being forced to use it". Interest in retrocomputing aside... and there's better retro stuff to be interested in, anyway!

rbanffy 9y ago

I'd love to give it a shot. I'm a retrocomputing enthusiast (don't get me wrong, COBOL crowd) and I'd love to get to know more about how mainframes, their care and feeding.

kpatrick 9y ago

Try Wawanesa insurance out of Regina.

cat199 9y ago

not ever been a mainframe guy, but also part of the thing is not so much cobol but understanding all of the various mainframe arcana for whichever system is used.. you might try to 'sneak in the back door' e.g. via java-on-mainframes and get systems experience on the big iron, then step slowly over to the cobol side of things..

exabrial 9y ago

DST System in Kansas City hires a lot of them

mindcrime 9y ago

Not a job board per se, but you might get some mileage out of poking around the /r/cobol sub-reddit. https://www.reddit.com/r/cobol/ https://www.reddit.com/r/cobol/

linkmotif 9y ago

> I don't have relevant experience working with COBOL which seems to be killing my opportunities. Amazing.

YouKnowBetter 9y ago

Put it on your LinkedIn and you will be contacted. This is the reason I removed every reference to it (not because of the language perse, more because of the culture of the companies & departments that will wanted to hire me). Expect to only be allowed to work 9 to 5, on prem, have the stricktest of duty segregations, sit at an old desk and lunch with 'the team' from 11:27 till 11:49 sharp. Where COBOL coding will not get you a date, it will pay rather decent.