

Ask HN: career advice for mom? Has spent years using Fortran - Sabrosa

Hi HN,<p>My mom has doing freelance computer consulting for 10-20+ years, mainly with something called GL4, which she says is similar to Fortran. It's really specific and for very niche clients.<p>Long story short, her client list is starting to dry up. I recommended that she learn something more modern, as there seems to be a huge demand for experienced programmers.<p>Any suggestions on what language(s) to learn? Keep in mind that she isn't going to run off to SF and join a startup, and that remote or semi-remote work is much preferred.<p>Not really looking for a huge career change here, more like... spend 6 months learning X (which is easy for a person familiar with Fortran) and get a decent position with reasonable hours / freelance work.<p>Thanks a ton, it is much appreciated.
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cd34
How's her COBOL? I probably get 2-3 recruiter requests a month for long-term
consulting gigs. Most aren't remote positions but often do pay enough to make
it worthwhile if you can uproot your life for 3-6 months.

Alternatively, have her ask her current clients what their requirements are.
Much easier to continue consulting with them than to find new business with a
fresh language.

If she's doing 'Fortran', I would think Python may be close enough to pick up
easily. She could branch into C which I believe is the typical replacement
language for most Fortran installations.

