Cherry job, still available in 3000 shop
December 14, 2006
Walter Murray once worked for HP in its MPE/iX languages lab, but several years ago he left HP in one of its downsizing, cost-cutting moves to join the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. The CDCR organization, which operates the prisons in the largest state in the US, is also one of the biggest users of HP 3000s. By Murray's account, there are 75 HP 3000s still doing production work at the CDCR.
Now the organization needs upper-level specialists in HP 3000 software. Murray reported to the 3000-L newsgroup that the 3000s use COBOL and TurboIMAGE — like more than 4 out of every 5 HP 3000 sites — but also employ VPlus, PowerHouse and Oracle.
The open positions at the CDCR pay as much as $78,000 to $81,000 a year. It's safe to say that few community members might have imagined a job paying 80 grand a year to open up for HP 3000 work at the end of 2006. The California prisons are not chained to their HP 3000s. But for a long time to come, the organization relies on these servers which HP expected to be switched off by now.
Murray is happy to help community members navigate the California civil service hiring process, which he called "a daunting task." He explained the details of the jobs, and how to apply:
CDCR is the largest user of HP-3000s among all the California state agencies. We operate a network of about 75 MPE/iX-based servers, which includes servers at each of the state’s 33 prisons. We use COBOL, TurboIMAGE, VPLUS, PowerHouse 4GL, and Oracle software. We will probably be homesteading for several years, as the replacement system is still in its early stages. Of course we use a wide variety of platforms, not just the 3000.
The Systems Software Specialist would typically work in such areas as database administration, information security, system administration, or networking--as opposed to application development and support.
If you are interested, the first step is to apply to take the exam that will get you on the civil service “eligible list.” Do not delay.
The filing date for both of these exams is December 21, 2006.
For details, go to www.spb.ca.gov and follow the links:
Seeking Employment with the State of California-->Exam Bulletins-->Exams by Title-->SYSTEMS SOFTWARE SPECIALIST II [or III] (TECHNICAL).It takes a while to figure out how to fill out the application, so don’t wait until the last day.
Give me a call or e-mail if I can help or provide any additional information:
[email protected]
[email protected]
Work: 916-358-1406
Cell: 916-801-9927