bigD
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jan 29, 2002
- Posts
- 2,020
I don't have a professional job flying, so my programming gig is primary. I'm in the game industry myself, so my experience is in the consumer software market. So what I say below may not apply to what you specifically want to get into, but it is applicable to consumer software...
There are plenty of programming jobs out there, but with the economy the way it is now, companies are looking to hire a known quantity that can be productive for them right away. They don't to waste much time at all teaching a guy about writing code for their particular product. So typically a very employable person will have a resume chock full of experience that's aligned pretty much exactly with what they're doing. In most cases, a degree doesn't matter, as others have stated. They want you to be able to write code, and real life experience shows that you can - not a piece of paper from a university. About a year ago I interviewed a guy looking to work on a 3D engine for us. He was a hard core computer geek, as well as a high school drop-out. He showed us examples of some stuff he had written, and it was amazing. The guy had the right stuff, and we hired him. Turned out to be a good decision, and he's every bit as good a programmer as the guys (like myself) that have a formal education in computer science.
So at least in my area of work, you really want to decide what kind of programming you'd like to do, and then bust your asss to get marketable at it. Sit down and start writing anything and everything to build a portfolio of code that showcases your talent. At that point it'll be helpful to start getting involved in the industry and meeting people. Some of the best jobs are the ones you hear by word of mouth - not read about in a paper. So keep your eyes and ears open! It's pretty tough out there right now, but if you can demonstrate your talent, the jobs are available.
There are plenty of programming jobs out there, but with the economy the way it is now, companies are looking to hire a known quantity that can be productive for them right away. They don't to waste much time at all teaching a guy about writing code for their particular product. So typically a very employable person will have a resume chock full of experience that's aligned pretty much exactly with what they're doing. In most cases, a degree doesn't matter, as others have stated. They want you to be able to write code, and real life experience shows that you can - not a piece of paper from a university. About a year ago I interviewed a guy looking to work on a 3D engine for us. He was a hard core computer geek, as well as a high school drop-out. He showed us examples of some stuff he had written, and it was amazing. The guy had the right stuff, and we hired him. Turned out to be a good decision, and he's every bit as good a programmer as the guys (like myself) that have a formal education in computer science.
So at least in my area of work, you really want to decide what kind of programming you'd like to do, and then bust your asss to get marketable at it. Sit down and start writing anything and everything to build a portfolio of code that showcases your talent. At that point it'll be helpful to start getting involved in the industry and meeting people. Some of the best jobs are the ones you hear by word of mouth - not read about in a paper. So keep your eyes and ears open! It's pretty tough out there right now, but if you can demonstrate your talent, the jobs are available.