crashmoriarty

My career ambition at this point is pretty straightforward: I want to join an ambitious startup as a programmer. And I want to get to that point ASAP. My current job doesn't allow much time for programming, so I'm teaching myself Ruby at home.

My question is, what skills do startups most look for, and when will I know I'm ready to start applying?

I'm currently working as a mainframe operator, but my career aspirations lie in programming. I'm being granted an opportunity to learn more JCL, which is the language used to control jobs on z/OS mainframes.

I'm currently studying "z/OS JCL" by Gary DeWard Brown, and one of the first exercises has me programming a really simple job. However, none of the examples use straight JCL. Instead, they utilize (respectively) COBOL, PL/I, FORTRAN, and C/C++. I'm encouraged to use the language I'm most comfortable with, however, I have no practical experience with any of these languages.

This could be a defining moment for my early career. The code I choose to utilize will probably be the one I work with for the extent of my time with JCL. Therefore, I'd like to pick one that will make me a "better programmer" and more desirable to future employers. Please advise.