Career Advise
Need some advise , I am trying to get my foot into the door per say doing C/C++ programming . I currently do web design and PC support for a smaller company . My question to you would be how did you get into the industry doing C/C++ ? I have done work with Java & C# but nothing that would qualify me as experienced in either. I have a 4 year degree in MIS . Anyone in the Detroit , MI area need some free help ? Thank you all for any insight that you can provide.
Knowing someone inside is the easiest way. The way I broke in was by taking one of those screening tests. I did well enough on the test to convince them that I was good despite my weak resume at that time.
"You are stupid! You are stupid! Oh, and don't forget, you are STUPID!" - Dexter
A good way to prove your experience is to make some sample applications, and provide them with your application/resume.
Where I work, the majority of the population are college students. I've noticed that some of the best programmers learned on their own, and are studying something completely different. Or they're in their freshman year, or something. The guys who have 3 or 4 years of CS classes need my help on stuff all the time.
I think to a lesser extent, the same phenomenon can be found in most workplaces - and good employers probably recognize that your level of "certification" may not necesarily have a whole lot to do with how good you are. Don't get me wrong - it's important - but my point is that if you self-educate yourself, a good employer would certainly allow you to submit examples of your work and take THAT more into account when hiring you.
My interview here was just sitting down and working through some logical problems with pseudo-code, and then they gave me training materials to teach me the language (It was ActionScript/Flex - which is very similar to C# and Java, which I had done before).
So basically my advice is that first, you learn the best way for you. If that's more school, go for it. If you can teach yourself, there may be nothing wrong with that. Just make sure that once you feel qualified, prove your work in a practical way. Second, learn how to THINK. Once you can think like a programmer, learning another language isn't that hard. The only hard thing in C for you might be dealing directly with memory.
Best of luck!
Really the trick truly is getting your foot in the door to begin with. My first programming job was writing a POS system for a store. I only lucked into that job because of a friend of mine who sold a store owner some hardward for keeping his books and stuff. He asked my friend "Do you know how to make the store use barcodes and stuff?" And it got turned over to me. A week after the barcode scanner arrived I had the database end of the POS software completed. The next week was spent on fine-tuning the GUI and manual. Once you have your foot in the door, its significantly easlier.
I can say from experience that this is the case - that first job is the hardest to get. I got caught by the "to get a job you need 2 years' experience" problem. A catch-22 situation that's difficult to break through. But once you're through, it's usually OK.
One thing (what drew me to this thread) I noted in your topic is this:
The spelling 'advise' is a verb, and you meant the noun 'advice'. I know that might seem silly, but it's worth knowing the correct words to use as this could also affect your prospects - you may have to write clear documentation, or communicate with customers, or whatever.Need some advise ...
See here.
Heck, I've even had to challenge the Inland Revenue before today on ambiguous wording.
I think you can put a signature here.
