Career resilience in the mainframe world sounds like jargon—until change hits. Reorgs, new technologies, leadership shifts, or surprise opportunities don’t reward the fastest scramblers. They reward the people who were already ready.
That’s the core idea Darren Surch, CEO of Interskill Learning and a longtime mainframe educator, shared in a conversation with Amanda Hendley, Managing Editor of Planet Mainframe. He reframed career resilience as an intentional practice built over time.
Career resiliency is your ability to manage your career so you’re in the best position to take advantage of new technologies, big opportunities, and changes in the industry.” — Darren Surch
Interview Transcript with Darren Surch
Topic: Career Resilience
Amanda Hendley:
Welcome everyone. My name is Amanda Hendley. Joining me today is Darren Surch. If you haven’t met him, you really should. Darren is the CEO of Interskill Learning, the world’s most delivered and most IBM-credentialed mainframe training. He’s a mainframe industry veteran and one of only two people with the lifetime IBM Champion designation for IBM Z.
Welcome, Darren. Thanks for joining me again.
Darren Surch:
Amanda, good day. We have some good conversations, don’t we? We meet at GSE UK, GSE Europe, SHARE conferences, and other podcasts and things. So yeah, terrific to chat with you, and congrats on everything that Planet Mainframe is doing as well.
Amanda Hendley:
Thank you. I’m looking forward to seeing you again in a couple of months for some upcoming events.
Right now at Planet Mainframe, we’re talking about this resiliency concept. I specifically wanted to reach out to you because I wanted to talk about this idea of career resiliency—taking a little bit of a spin on the technology topic. How does that apply to our careers? Give me your initial thoughts on how you would define career resiliency.
Darren Surch: It’s a terrific question. Being 30-odd years in the mainframe education space, this is right where we live.
Career resiliency is your ability to manage your career and stay right on top—stay the best person. So if things go wrong, you’re the best person in the industry, with technology, with your company—whatever it is—you’re in the best position to leap into something next.
But even when things are going really right, if you’re keeping up with lifelong learning and managing your career and your professional network, then you’re in the best position to take advantage of new technologies, big opportunities, changes in the industry, and exciting career opportunities.
You’re not looking at it saying, “Oh, now I better do some training so I can apply for this new position or run this new project.” You’re already in that position because you’ve been constantly preparing yourself.
It’s critical—for life, happiness, success, all of those things. But also for mainframe organizations. The big companies that run mainframes need personnel who are resilient, who can jump into change and embrace it.
We talk a lot about hardware and software, but mainframe skills—and career resiliency—are the bigger picture.
Amanda Hendley:
Do you think career resiliency is particularly different in the mainframe industry?
Darren Surch:
Career resiliency is important everywhere, but it’s becoming more important in the mainframe space.
Twenty, thirty, forty years ago, lifelong learning wasn’t as critical. If you had mainframe skills, they lasted a long time. If you look up the “half-life of skills,” years ago it might have been five, six, seven years. You could learn COBOL and keep programming for a decade without much change.
These days, with how fast things change, the half-life of IT skills is six to twelve months. You need to manage that—learn the right skills and commit to lifelong learning.
You also need to look ahead and ask, “What skills will be in demand two or five years from now?” Find one you’re passionate about and dive in.
The pace of change keeps accelerating.
Amanda Hendley:
I think people could be more specialized years ago. Now, with the pace of change and new technologies, people have to be much more multi-purpose.
Darren Surch:
Exactly. The mainframe is part of the hybrid cloud now. Programmers need to be polyglot. They need to understand containers, open source, all sorts of things.
If you’re happy sitting still, you can probably get by. But if you want to be successful and at the front of the queue when opportunities come up, you need to embrace the industry and your career.
Your professional network is incredibly important. Everyone should have mentors—technical mentors and career mentors.
LinkedIn has taken networking to a whole new level. Back in the day, networking meant going to SHARE conferences. SHARE actually predates the mainframe—it was organized before System/360 launched in 1964.
Today, social media lets you connect with mainframers all over the world. Discord groups, like Steven Pervel’s community, let people openly chat about mainframe topics globally.
Planet Mainframe itself has changed the playing field. Writing articles builds your brand and professional profile and connects you with others.
Amanda Hendley:
For someone early in their career who hasn’t seen the value of networking yet, what are some first steps?
Darren Surch:
Definitely have a LinkedIn profile. Be vocal. Don’t be afraid.
I grew up in the bush in Australia—the nearest town had a population of eleven. Everyone helped everyone. The mainframe community feels like that.
Senior mainframers want to help. Don’t be overawed. I used to think I’d make an idiot of myself, but that’s not how this community works.
Join LinkedIn groups, Discord, conferences when you can. Even just listening is fine. Eventually, a topic will click and you’ll speak up—and people will notice.
Amanda Hendley:
There are also people who build a personal brand around areas they’re passionate about. That seems to make career resiliency easier.
Darren Surch:
Absolutely. If you’re well-known and have a voice, opportunities come to you.
Follow people who have interesting things to say. Read articles. Reach out and say you enjoyed their post. They’ll respond. That’s how networks grow.
Training doesn’t have to mean sitting in a classroom. Training is reading articles, e-learning, mentoring, coaching—lots of things.
Amanda Hendley:
You’re an expert in education and certification. How has that evolved?
Darren Surch:
In the early days, training was classroom-based and on-the-job, almost like apprenticeships. Today, organizations use blended learning—classroom, conferences, mentoring, and e-learning.
IBM digital credentials were a game changer. IBM started digital badges eight years ago, and they changed behavior. Badges benchmark skills. They show what you know and at what level.
Professional certificates are role-focused and rigorous. They’re powerful signals of expertise.
Credentials encourage people to keep learning.
But this also requires a culture of learning. Organizations must provide training, reward learning, and promote people who build skills.
Amanda Hendley:
There’s that old fear of training employees and losing them.
Darren Surch:
If you think it’s expensive to train people and have them leave, you should see how expensive it is to not train people and have them stay.
Companies succeed based on the skills of their workforce. Mainframe professionals will leave organizations that don’t support them.
Amanda Hendley:
When you think about career resiliency, what skills should people focus on next?
Darren Surch:
AI is incredibly important. Learn how to use generative AI. Learn how to work with tools like ChatGPT.
Quantum computing is a slower burn, but it will be part of hybrid cloud for some companies. There aren’t many people with those skills yet.
Learn new languages like Python and Java. Stay curious. Pick up skills early so you’re at the front of the queue later.
Career resiliency is about looking forward and being positive. When something looks like it’s going to matter, start learning.
Amanda Hendley:
This has been really helpful.
Darren Surch:
We have a short time on this rock. Why not do something you’re passionate about? Career resilience doesn’t require a second job. It requires managing your career, having mentors, learning continuously, and guiding your own direction.
This industry runs the business world. Why not be one of the leaders in it?
Amanda Hendley:
Darren, thank you so much for joining me.
Darren Surch:
Always terrific to chat with you, Amanda. Thank you.
Career Resilience is about Momentum
One of the strongest threads in Surch’s perspective is that career resilience is more than protection against layoffs or industry shifts. It’s what determines who gets tapped when opportunity appears.
If you’re learning continuously, maintaining relationships, and watching where the industry is heading, you don’t need to stop everything and retool when change arrives. You’re already close enough to step in.
The big companies that run mainframes need personnel who are resilient, who can jump into change and embrace it. — Darren Surch
That distinction matters more now than it did even a decade ago.
The Half-Life of Skills is Shrinking
There’s a clear divide between how careers worked in the past and how they work now. Years ago, mainframe professionals could specialize deeply and rely on that expertise for extended periods. That stability is gone.
The “half-life of skills,” as Surch describes it, has shrunk dramatically. Skills that once stayed relevant for years now need refreshing far more often. That’s not unique to mainframes, but mainframers feel it sharply because the platform no longer stands alone.
Mainframes now live inside hybrid cloud environments. They intersect with open source. They connect to modern development practices. Artificial intelligence has entered the picture, whether people welcome it or not. As a result, mainframe professionals increasingly need range, not just siloed depth.
You don’t have to love or master every new technology. But you do have to understand what it does, where it fits, and how it affects your role.
Career Resilience Grows Through People
A resilient career doesn’t develop in isolation. While Surch’s specialty is online training, he’s quick to point out that long-term success depends on more than courses and credentials.
The mainframe community plays an outsized role here. It’s global, but unusually close-knit. Experienced professionals tend to help rather than gatekeep, because everyone understands the stakes: knowledge has to transfer if the platform is going to endure.
That dynamic reshapes how newcomers should think about networking. You don’t need to wait until you “deserve” a seat at the table. Participation itself builds credibility.
Listening counts. Asking thoughtful questions counts. Speaking up—once you feel grounded—counts even more. Over time, those actions build recognition as someone who is engaged, capable, and invested in the platform’s future.
You don’t need to wait until you “deserve” a seat at the table.
Your reputation and skills don’t arrive fully formed. You build them.
Learning is a Habit, Not a Milestone
Another key connection Surch made is that learning isn’t a moment – it’s a habit.
Career resilience depends on many forms of learning working together: formal training, mentoring, peer conversations, reading, and hands-on experimentation. Credentials don’t do the work for you. They simply make your work more visible when it matters.
Learning isn’t a moment. It’s a habit.
Waiting for the “perfect” course or ideal timing often means not learning at all. Perfect, in this case, really is the enemy of good.
Small, consistent actions add up:
- Following people who share thoughtful insights
- Reading industry posts over coffee
- Joining conversations in LinkedIn groups or community forums
- Listening to podcasts that track where the platform is heading
These habits build awareness. Awareness builds confidence. And confidence is what enables professionals to step forward with meaningful contributions when change arrives.
How Credentials Changed Skills Behavior
Surch also acknowledged a reality many professionals recognize: people delay formal training when the payoff feels abstract.
Historically, mainframe learning leaned heavily on classrooms and on-the-job instruction, similar to apprenticeships. Today, blended learning models dominate—mixing courses, conferences, mentoring, and self-paced options. Digital credentialing has changed how skills get recognized.
Programs such as IBM digital badges allow professionals to demonstrate what they know, at what level, and against a shared benchmark.
For Surch, badges matter because they translate effort into visible signals. They lower the barrier to continued learning and make progress tangible. A digital credential often carries more practical weight than a certificate hanging on a wall.
Organizations Can Reinforce Resilience
On the surface, career resilience looks like an individual responsibility. In reality, it doesn’t have to exist in a vacuum.
Surch argues that organizations play a significant role. Companies that provide training, reward learning, and promote based on skills, and not just tenure, reinforce resilience across their workforce. Companies that don’t eventually pay for it.
“If you think it’s expensive to train people and have them leave, you should see how expensive it is to not train people and have them stay.” — Darren Surch
When people feel underprepared, unsupported, or afraid to act, they disengage or leave. Neither outcome benefits organizations that rely on highly skilled mainframe talent.
Skills Widen Your Mainframe Career Options
Surch’s message on future skill-building is consistent: don’t wait for certainty.
Career resilience matters everywhere, but it’s becoming especially critical in the mainframe space. You don’t need to master everything, and he wouldn’t recommend anyone try. Rather, stay curious, adaptable, and aware of what’s coming.
If you start learning before everyone else needs the skill, opportunities will find you. Career resilience isn’t about doing more work. It’s about steering your work instead of letting it drift.
The mainframe runs the world’s most critical systems. The people who run it don’t have to leave their careers to chance.
Staying ready is a choice. Make it.
Find additional ideas to future-proof your mainframe career.
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