[jmt_]

I would also assume companies/banks hiring COBOL programmers are more interested in candidates with years of experience with the language, since opportunities to build and grow with COBOL seem pretty slim outside of legacy maintenance. Granted, the old COBOL heavy hitters are becoming less common, but I would still think it would be difficult for someone that picked it up for a year or two to compete. Seems like it's just not worth the time and effort to break into this space.