Re: employment with ada

["Marin David Condic" <mcondic.auntie.spam@acm.org>]

Realistically, most programming positions aren't going to involve Ada and
the programming language is only one aspect of the job. Most people are
going to get the best job satisfaction if they are working for a company
that gives them interesting work in a field they enjoy and located in an
area they like. So pick the part of the world you want to live in, find
companies there doing something you think is important and interesting and
don't worry too much about what language their major software products are
written in.

Consider also that you might find a position where the product you are
working on is in some other language. You probably won't be able to get
anyone to convert that product into an Ada product, but that doesn't mean
you can't use Ada on your job. Almost always, you can "invent" your own job
if you really want to. Your "real" work may involve maintaining some big C++
system, but inevitably, you will see a need for some sort of support tool or
add-on or process improvement aid. Get yourself the Gnat compiler and GtkAda
and whatever else you need and build that in your "spare time". (Put in some
free overtime, steal some hours when there is some slack time, etc.) When
you get the thing built you take it to your boss and say "Look what I did -
would others in the organization like to use it?" Soon you find yourself
with full time work maintaining some sideline project in Ada.

Another way to invent your own job is with a little entrepreneurial spirit.
Come up with an idea for a product that is either all software or has
software as a major component. Build a prototype using Ada. See if you can
get others interested in it. If it is useful and marketable, you might just
find yourself becoming the next Bill Gates.

The main point is that if you wait around for some big company to see the
sweet light of reason and switch to programming in Ada, you'll likely have a
long wait. You need to create things in Ada in order to have work in Ada.
Good luck with the job search!

MDC




tom <crebralfix@angelfire.com> wrote in message
news:626e8ae.0305011636.5e899da3@posting.google.com...
>
> my question is:  what strategies do you use to successfully obtain
> work where you can program in ada on a regular basis?  monster.com
> showed 35 jobs ( for senior engineers ) nationwide ( US ).  what
> advice do you have for someone that is new to the language and fairly
> junior as a programmer?
>


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Marin David Condic
I work for: http://www.belcan.com/
My project is: http://www.jsf.mil/

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