Just curious, but why is COBOL the first language that you think about for this?
I started coding when I was 8, I am 32 now, and in my government-issued employer list, I had zero employers.
My dad knows COBOL and MUMPS, and kept talking about how horrible they are... but maybe I can get a job if I try these.
With a portfolio like that, you might want to look at why you can't get a job. You sound capable enough on the technical front, so there must be something else that's preventing you from advancing your career.
Not sure if this helps, but could also lead into working close/near with mainframes and COBOL.
It's what value you can provide with those that counts.
One of my earlier companies started with a policy against hiring folks who just knew PHP, even though that was our main language. We wanted folks who knew SQL, some JS, maybe some C or something to prove they were well-rounded and could think about tech as a whole.
We dropped that policy when folks started coming in with _just_ Ruby on Rails under their belt. They were destroying our project-based interview and blasting out projects in weeks that typically took us months. And we found that we could easily teach them the SQL they needed when they needed it.
I'm not saying it's _just that easy_ but if a dev hits my interview process and shows they can understand my customer's needs and build out a solution to those needs quickly, I _very much_ want to give them a job.
Do you mind sharing where you live? That’s such an odd concept to me.