April 2022 - Demystifying COBOL

Generations in COBOL Programming

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“Each generation imagines itself to be more intelligent than the one that went before it, and wiser than the one that comes after it” is a famous quote by George Orwell.

Generations in the Overall Workplace

It’s probably safe to say that the general workplace of today encompasses people ages 18 to 70. This range includes 4 of the recognized generations: Baby Boomers, Generation X, Millennials and Generation Z. In the articles, Main Characteristics Per Generation and Hiring Tips for a Multigenerational Workforce: From Baby Boomers to Gen Z, the work traits of each group are documented. Not surprisingly, there are distinct differences between the attitudes and behaviours of each generation.

Age of COBOL Programmers

According to Zippia, an online platform that matches job seekers to career opportunities, in their website segment titled, COBOL Programmer Demographic Statistics in the US, the average age of a COBOL Programmer is 46 years old. That’s a wide potential age range for this group. If it’s a strict average, these programmers could range in age from 26 to 66. There will, of course, be those outliers that will be younger or older. As a result, COBOL Programmers fall into the 4 generations found in the workplace today.

Generations in a COBOL Development Team

Due to the differences observed between the generations of workers, there is a diversity in the way people on a development team approach their work. COBOL development teams specifically illustrate this variety, since they are comprised of a range of the 4 generations, senior to junior members.

Baby Boomers (born 1946-1965)

Firstly, Baby Boomers are the older colleagues of a COBOL team. At this writing, they are aged 58 to 76. These are the workers that are very experienced but ready to retire. They live to work and are competitive, process-oriented, loyal to the job, enjoy working in the team, and are self-motivated. They want to know that they have made a difference after their years of hard work and devotion to their job.

Generation X (born 1965 to 1980)

This group are ages 42 to 57 and are part of the older team members but not quite as senior as the Baby Boomers. They may even be waiting for people in that group of COBOL Programmers to retire, so they can take over their role. They work to live, are independent, adapt to change (particularly changes in technology), value education and are eager to learn. This is the group who are focused on achieving results in an efficient way

Millennials (born 1981 to 1996)

These are the members of a COBOL Programming team that are 27 to 43 years old and are mid level, not senior but not junior either. This generation is interested in work-life balance, prefer detailed instructions and favor solutions involving technology. Millennials want to make an impact and share everything. They are achievement oriented.

Generation Z (born 1997 to 2020)

These are the newest generation of COBOL Programmers. They are 7 to 26 years old. Clearly, the work-related age range in this discussion would be those 18 to 26 who are working in a COBOL Programming team. This is the first generation to grow up with the Internet. They are open to technology and are accepting of others. Generation Z are very entrepreneurial, and self directed. They are fresh out of school and ready to bring their newly acquired knowledge to the workplace.

With all the COBOL Modernization and Digital Transformation projects going on today, once the Baby Boomers, and maybe even the Generation Xers, have retired, it will be interesting to see how the Millennials and Generation Z are able to convert COBOL into something more technologically advanced and progressive.

Which generational group do you fall into? Do the traits from the articles fit you? Maybe you overlap into two groups.

Building a Personal Brand as a COBOL Programmer

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What is a Brand?

We all have the potential to have an individual Brand. It is your personal qualities or characteristics that set you apart from others. It is something you are proud of that adds remarkable, measurable, distinguished, and distinctive value. Maybe you have longevity and/or expertise in a certain field of work. Maybe you are skilled in, and/or are passionate about, a hobby, such as cooking, gardening, or writing. As a specific topic-related example, if you were a COBOL Programmer and had a long career developing an expertise in CICS, as an Online Programmer, or JCL, as a Batch Programmer. That may, in fact, be your Brand. This blog, and the Demystifying COBOL Brand, has evolved from the fact that I have worked with COBOL and associated technologies for almost 30 years.

Define Your Brand

“You can’t build a reputation on what you are going to do” is a perceptive quote about Branding, by Henry Ford. Some successful examples of Personal Branding, based on character, are Martha Stewart, Oprah Winfrey, Richard Branson, and Elon Musk. Their Personal Brand is their personality and how they present themselves to the world.

Jacob Cass, in Building a Personal Brand, talks about 3 steps involved in creating a foundation, or online reputation:

1. 1. Define your Brand.
  2. Create your Website
  3. Utilize your Networks

The first stage, Define your Brand, encompasses four elements: Goals, Audience, Unique Selling Point (USP), and Visual Identity.

Goals and Audience

With reference to my Demystifying COBOL Brand, my main Goal was to discuss COBOL in a non-technical way from the perspective of a long-term COBOL Programmer. Technical references can be found easily online, but this Brand focuses on the less measurable items in COBOL Programming. My Audience was intended to include experienced COBOL Programmers, aspiring COBOL Programmers, or anyone with an interest in Programming.

What Is my Unique Selling Point (USP)?

In terms of my USP, several qualities, when combined, set me apart from others and give me a uniqueness. These characteristics are important factors in my online reputation. One of these abilities is the fact that I am analytical and can work through situations logically. Another trait I have is that I am persistent: when I want to do something, I will try to find a way to make it happen. A third feature that contributes to my USP is that I am a life-long learner. These 3 factors combined provide me with a Unique Selling Point.

What is my Visual Identity?

Of my unique characteristics, continuous learning is the one that makes me stand out the most and contributes to my Visual Identity. It has enabled me to be recognized during my career, as well as personally. I am very proud of the fact that one of my best traits is that I am constantly upgrading my skills and knowledge. As well as conventional learning, such as taking courses, I learn informally from those people and events around me. For example, as part of my day-to-day life, I study the behavior of the people in my organization. I like to reflect on the types of workers, how interactions happen, the impact of the new on the old, women in the workplace, just to name a few. I feel that these types of people-oriented observations have led me to develop my Demystifying COBOL Brand.

Going forward, as the world continues to get smaller and smaller, personal branding will become even more important than it is right now. How unique you are may eventually become your value. Do you agree? Disagree? Why?

COBOL Blogging

Original photo, Edited by the Author to add text

Several readers have sent me comments asking me how to blog. I’m sure there are as many ways to blog as there are bloggers, but I do have a specific method that I follow and wanted to share that here. It’s not really anything unexpected.

Platform

First of all, the host I chose for my demystifyingCOBOL domain is SiteGround, which provides WordPress as my site manager. I maintain my blog through the WordPress dashboard. It’s not free: I pay a yearly fee to keep and manage my domain. I wouldn’t say it’s cheap either, but it is secure, and the WordPress interface is very user friendly and efficient. It beats web page development from the early 1990’s, when you had to add all your HTML tags yourself, and it sometimes took an hour to load your changes back up to the server. You can really see the difference when you “lived the dream”. With WordPress, I just basically add my post content and hit “publish”.

Ideas

I get my inspirations for each blog post from a variety of sources. Sometimes it’s something that I remember from my many years experience as a COBOL Programmer, or it might be something new to me that I came across in my related readings. For example, I enjoy reading about COBOL history, as well as modern innovations such as Digital Transformation. I’m also intrigued by women in technology and would love to write more in that area.

Template

In terms of format, I try to keep the length to around 500 words. Also, as a rule, I include the following in each of my blogs:

An appropriate title that is descriptive of the topic discussed. The title should try to catch the reader’s attention with key words.
At least 3 paragraphs of text. Add headings to break up the blocks of writing.
Links to supporting articles or facts presented as hyperlinks. Don’t add the whole link in the text. Put a shorter description instead.
Multimedia such as images or videos, if appropriate.

The Ending

The last sentence or two in a blog may be the most important, because it’s what the reader is left with and should be strong. It should call the reader to action, to somehow ask them to relate the blog content to their own experience.

The following are some examples of types of endings, specifically applicable to this COBOL blog, but they can be used in other contexts as well.

Ask a question such as “what would you do differently if you were an aspiring COBOL blogger?”
Suggest a challenge like the following: “try to come up with your own COBOL related blog topic and see where it takes you.”
Ask the reader to help by sharing this blog post in a COBOL related forum that they belong to.
Offer help with any COBOL-related questions that the audience may have or ask what content they would like to see in future blogs.

The most important thing about blogging is to pick a topic that you enjoy writing about. The rest should fall together naturally.