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Thread: Thoughts on a programming career
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LSW
Advanced Member USA Joined: Nov 27, 2003 Post Count: 6287 Status: Offline |
As I have moved into and around this area here is what I have learned from it. Learning Many languages: I have on my resume, Python, Perl, Java, C#, C/C++, PHP, SQL, ColdFusion & XML. The fact is, and I am a bit more detailed in the resum'e, some I learned and some I just worked with. But when I learned the further languages I always thought back to my first, Python, and said "Oh, OK that is the same..." So if you know one language all further languages are easier to learn. On the other hand, in interviews it sometimes helps, but other times it comes to the front that I may have learned or worked with many languages... I don't know any of them really well. So a background in many languages can hurt you if you specialize in none of them as often as it helps, it all comes down to the interviewer's opinion. But each successive language does make learning new ones easier. Designer or Programmer?: Often we are both, but in the crunch, usually programmers make more money than designers. So you are better off learning to program than just do web sites with HTML. What language to learn?: Well what do you want? Lots of job possibilities? - Then stick with the well known languages. ASP, PHP, C#. But keep in mind, even thought he number of possible jobs is large... so are the number of candidates you are up against. Lots of money? - Then I must say go for the off the wall things like COBOL. It may be an old language, but many banks and finacial based institutions still use it. The number of COBOL people has so diminished that they are in demand and the pay fits the demand & and the number of people you are against is small so odds improve you will get it. However this is not a something you can open the jobs page and find every day. They are few and far between. You will also likely have to travel to the job. I know In the Arab Emmerates the demand his high, so it can really pay off, but you will likely have top leave home to do it. Same with some frameworks/technologies like PowerBuilder. There are not many specialists out there and it is considered a dying breed. But the state of Alaska gave up finding anyone and had to train people themselves and the people that use it are again large financial institutions... people who can afford to pay well and give benefits. Latest and greatest? - This is a traditional problem. Go with the latest and greatest technology and you may be one of those who get a well paying job as one of the first and you can laugh as the pay goes down as numbers of developers outweighs demand. Or... you may hook your boat to a sinking ship. I like Python and I was told it was the next great thing... back in 2000. 8 years later few job descriptions call for Python and although a few well known businesses have used it... generally speaking their is not much of a demand for it. Ruby on Rails is another example.... looking good and it can get you a job... but it is yet to be seen if it will carry the day or not. Safety? - This is big with me. I was unemployed in Germany for so long that I need the safety net for my family. I could make lots of money with a company on the private market, but let something crash like the DotCom Crash that left many developers unemployed or the current market crash that could leave you unemployed. On the other hand if you are willing to make less money but a gurenteed job... Government Employment may be what you want. But it is likely not the latest greatest thing. State of Alaska has allot of ColdFusion, COBOL and other outdated technologies. I am moving to a Java shop so have to learn that again. But it is not the latest greates Java with framworks like EJB 3/Hibernate/JPA. No it is old school Java a few years behind the times. Governments are slow to embrace new technologies and they often have different groups pushing their pets so a standard today may fail and need rewriting in a few years. Alaksa has Java and C#/.NET as standards... today. 2 years ago it was ColdFusion and Java. Are you looking to go Corporate or lower down? - Some will argue this but I think if you want Corporate America you will want to learn C# and ASP.NET, SQL or Oracle etc. If your sights are not so high then you may be in a bunch of employers who use more Linux servers and languages Like PHP or Java. It sort of depends on where you want to work. if it is a business Hup like Detroit or smaller hubs like Grand rapids with fewer well known agencies. Do I need school?: For web design I would say no, allot of ivory league schools teach garbage. Not up to date at all. But it depends on what level you want to play on. I did an Interview with a well known Advertising Agency in Detroit with big commercial and government sites under contract. My 7 years in European design and specialization in accessibility... the headhunter thought I had it. The Human Resources person thought I had it... and in the end the IT guy turned me down "because I had no university training, they could not be sure I could handle the pressure." I am former Infantry and a former Bodyguard... I can handle pressure, why any less than a 25 year old with a degree but no experiences in life? So yes degrees help. But programming for Applications? As above it helps, my future with the state is somewhat blocked, I have to do so many years in my current grade to be promoted. If I had a degree I could start at a higher grade... But for me it is concepts. If you teach yourself Java, fine and dandy. But their are other things like program Management and concepts as B-trees and use cases and test cases and UML... things I never learned and so time and time again cannot really intelligently discuss things in meetings as I never learned the level of project management and project development that most of my team speak so easily about. This is stuff that you learn with degrees like Bachelors and Masters that many you work with may deal with. It can be a killer when you start out until you have on the job experience with it. I may come up with more later... time to pick up the missus now. ---------------------------------------- Gu.aal kwsh� yak'�i it�akw ijeet wugood�k LSW-WebDesign.com |
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