IDUG EMEA 2024

By the time that the IDUG 2024 EMEA Db2 Tech Conference will take place, I (a 23 year old) will have been submersed in the world of the mainframe for about a year and a half. My journey, that’s still very much in its early stages, started in September 2022 when I chose “Mainframe expert” as my area of specialization during my studies applied computer science at University of Applied Sciences HOGENT (Ghent, Belgium). During those studies, me and my fellow mainframe students got introduced to the world of the mainframe and what would prove to be our future employers. I’ve started working in July 2023 as an engineer in the Db2 mainframe team at Belfius, a Belgian bank and insurer, where I did my internship. Proving once and for all that learning on the job is the best method for developing skills that are actually useful for both yourself and your employer.
The presentation will be structured into three sections. The first segment will delve into strategies for addressing a company's deficit in mainframe skills. This will primarily involve an exploration of the approach recommended by HOGENT and its partnering companies. It's important to note that the current situation in Belgium may not directly apply to other countries, especially those lacking a university offering a mainframe program. Nevertheless, I firmly believe that accepting interns from other IT fields can yield comparable results. Furthermore, I intend to present the outcomes of the mainframe internship at Belfius and share the company's perspective on the experience. This will also include a candid discussion of the challenges encountered during the internship and our proposed solutions for future interns. Lastly, I will discuss the skills I developed during my inaugural year at Belfius as a member of the Db2 mainframe team. Since I entered this role without prior database administration experience, I essentially began from scratch. This section will offer insights into my year long journey and the on the-job training I received