We at Team SWAMI are starting planning for our annual (I think it's the 4th) Mainframe Tour of Illinois, where we spend a week (looks like Sept. 15-19) touring the state talking to Universities that teach mainframe curriculums. We always want companies to join us to talk about what skills you are looking for, and talk with individual students after formal presentations about employment options. There is LOTS of interest in internships. We have historically had great support from the big players IBM, Broadcom, 21CS, BMC and LRS, but not as much from mainframe consumers. You know, the ones that keep talking about not being able to find any mainframe skills.
Right now the plan is to visit Eastern Illinois University that restarted their mainframe program 2 years ago and includes Assembler in the 2nd class, University of Illinois-Springfield that just restarted their mainframe program this past year, Illinois State University which has been teaching mainframe for decades, and of course Northern Illinois University taught by fellow IBM Champion @Geoffrey Decker, also known as Assembler U.
So, is your company one of those actually looking for mainframe skills, or just one that complains about not finding them but doesn't really try? Join us and see just how many students are interested.
You can respond here or reach out to me individually, and I'll share more details as things develop.
------------------------------
Gregory DeBo
Principal Consultant
Team SWAMI
Normal IL
------------------------------