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Telecom Guy needs advise on SQL and AS/400

mgmguy1mgmguy1 Member Posts: 485 ■■■■□□□□□□
in IT Jobs / Degrees
Hello,
I am looking for some advise,Tips,Suggestions on this issue I am having. By trade I am a Telecommunications help desk guy.
I have worked at two major Clec's and one small one. I am currently laid off but I am in the process of getting my Cisco CCENT.

The issue I am having is there are a-lot of help desk jobs being advertised but one of the main requirements is knowing SQL or AS400.
Now please bear in mind I am applying for Level one Help Desk stuff and I am not trying to bite off more then I can chew.

My question is this how to I get familiar with SQL or AS/400 ? I have a basement I am turning into a lab for my cisco CCENT studies that will have live equipment, So I if I need to buy something I will have the room for it.

Any advise is welcome!
"A lot of fellows nowadays have a B.A., M.D., or Ph.D. Unfortunately, they don't have a J.O.B."

Fats Domino
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    ChooseLifeChooseLife Member Posts: 941 ■■■■■■■□□□
    Huh? AS/400 for a helpdesk job? Seeing even one would be rare, let alone multiple - perhaps it is one employer posting multiple ads?

    There are few options for studying AS/400, your best bet it learn other, more available Unices (Solaris, Linux) and leveraging that knowledge.

    Studying SQL is much easier, just google it and you will plenty of resources, books, training material, exercises... heck, even complete free online courses these days...
    “You don’t become great by trying to be great. You become great by wanting to do something, and then doing it so hard that you become great in the process.” (c) xkcd #896

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    mgmguy1mgmguy1 Member Posts: 485 ■■■■□□□□□□
    Believe it or not there are few major companies in my area that still very much use the AS/400 . Heck my friend tried to get me a job at his work and the first question was do you know AS/400 ? As for SQL I am going to google now and see what is involved ?

    Thanks
    "A lot of fellows nowadays have a B.A., M.D., or Ph.D. Unfortunately, they don't have a J.O.B."

    Fats Domino
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    MutataMutata Member Posts: 176
    Surprisingly enough, the position I had right out of College dealt with AS/400 stuff. I wouldn't expect a Tier I position requiring in-depth knowledge. Most likely revolves around user passwords, or managing some jobs. Unfortunately aside from college experience there aren't too many educational options for AS400 - A few sites seem to offer shared system time or what have you.

    SQL is MUCH more manageable. Plenty of free versions / express versions out there. An absolute TON of materials. As Tier I, I would expect focusing on getting the data you need out of the database and general administration concepts versus really complex queries and SQL Development.

    Hope this helps a bit,
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    olaHaloolaHalo Member Posts: 748 ■■■■□□□□□□
    We use AS400 where I work too. The tier 1 and tier 2 guys only do password resets and service restarts.
    Its very simple to do those things and Im guessing thats all you will be doing with it too.

    Just let the employer know that you have little experience with it but are willing to learn. They cant expect HelpDesk guys to know AS400.
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