WANTED: Unemployed IBM i Professionals

Published: August 15, 2011

by Jenny Thomas

We all know it's a tough job market out there, and job seekers need to stand out in the crowd to land a new position. Manta Technologies has a new idea to help a lucky few get that edge.

Manta is looking for approximately a dozen unemployed and underemployed IBM i professionals who would like to participate in the beta test of the next generation of Manta's training delivery software, EasyTutor 7.0.

"Lately I've been getting so many requests from people who have come to the conclusion that their skills aren't up to date, and that's why they aren't employed, but they can't afford the training," says Bill Hansen, president of Manta. "I have this need that's coming up and figured maybe we can help some people and ourselves."

That need is to test out a major enhancement introduced with EasyTutor 7.0, which will support all major browsers, not just Internet Explorer.

"We originally started out distributing courses on diskettes and CD in 1994. In 2000, we went online, but were really operational in only two browsers," explained Hansen. EasyTutor 7.0 will make it possible for anyone to complete the training, no matter what browser they use, but there is a matter of testing.

"For us to do it would take six months," said Hansen. "So I started thinking if I got a bunch of volunteers, and have each student use a different browser and a different browser release, we can be operational in a much faster period of time."

Hansen said the idea of helping out i professionals was inspired by some friends in the industry. "I have to give a shout out to the people at System i Developer. They did a similar thing with their conference. A few years back they let unemployed folks come for free if they worked as volunteers, and I thought that was a great idea. I wanted to find a way to continue that," he said.

If selected to participate, you will have the month of September to take any or all of the 109 courses and exams in Manta's IBM i Training Library. After completing a course, participants will fill out a form describing the experience and reporting any bugs or quirks that were encountered.

Participation is limited to unemployed (or underemployed) IBM i professionals, specifically programmers, operators, and system administrators. The selection and continued participation in the program will be at Manta's discretion. Interested parties who prefer Firefox, Chrome, Safari, or Opera are all encouraged to apply.

For more information, call Bill Hansen at 800-406-2682 or email him here.

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