What next?

[Glen MacDonald]

I just passed the programmer 1.4 exam, but what's next? I'm a fairly elderly programmer and I haven't seen the IT job market this bad. In one of the other forums there is someone who refers to himself as a 'Sun Certified Road Sweeper' - evidently some folks view continuing along the certification path with a somewhat jaundiced eye. The only Java jobs I've seen require 3-10(!?) years experience, finding an entry level position with only certification (NO experience) seems out of the question. I've tons of experience in mainframe stuff, and a few years as a lead C programmer, but now that I've at least mastered the rudiments of OO programming it would be nice to make use of it. I'm unemployed and am not averse to switching to C#, if that is where the work is, or to carry on with the Java Developer's cert if there was some indication of light at the end of the tunnel. What is the average or usual amount of time for someone to get the Developer's cert who has no JAVA experience and only programmer 1.4? I'm looking for suggestions/advice/brainstorm.
Cheers,
Glen MacDonald

[Reza Sadeghi]

Glen,
I spent about 4 months off and on for Developer certification while I worked on .NET(C# and VC++) at work and I had no experience with java at all. Well I passed with 96%
I was great experience for me and this forum helped me a lot. Stick with this forum and keep it up.

Cheers
Reza

[Ruff Young]

Congratulation!

[Glen MacDonald]

Thanks for the reply, Reza.
So, what makes someone with a job using C#/C++ want to work in Java? (Do you like Java better, or do you think Java is the future, or are you just rounding out your education, etc.) I'm curious why your time is not being spent on C# certification (or do you have all that?)

[Reza Sadeghi]

Glen,
The reason I choose java certification is, because I didn't have real experience in java, I had worked with Microsoft Development tools like VC++ and VB and it doesn�t give me that much if I went for MCSD, and right now our project is totally in .NET environment and I have enough with C# trust me if you know java it takes a week to learn C#, so I thought it would be great if I spend my spare time learning java by going for java certification.
Good Luck
Reza Sadeghi
Object Modeler / Software Developer

[M Mahfuzur Rahman]

What do you think as the future? I have two ways in front of me(J2EE or .NET). Which way should i choose?

[Reza Sadeghi]

Rahman,
In my opinion both .NET and Java will share market in future. For small and medium size business .NET is the best choice although it�s very easy to learn .NET, I would say in Java path you will learn more in terms of software design skills.
Regards,
Reza

[Glen MacDonald]

Thanks again Reza.
I think I'll continue on with the Developer cert. Your comments have helped make up my mind.
I hear that Eclipse is gaining popularity as an open source IDE, so maybe I'll try to gain some familirity with it as I do the Developer project.
Cheers,
Glen

[Reza Sadeghi]

Good Luck Glen,

Reza

[M Mahfuzur Rahman]

Reza
Thanks for your valuable comments. I will take J2EE as my major career path and .NET as minor.