Thread: Need serious career advice from the elders here

I started my career as a Software Engineer as a backup administrator of IBM mainframes, for Alcatel. More specifically, the IBM ES9000, operating its 1/2'' open reel tapes. My shift would start at 6 pm and end at 3 am. I would do Saturdays and only day off was Sunday. Probably couldn't be worse. So I'd say, like a good Spartan, you are on to a good start.

Don't fear your early contracts. Grab hold of the opportunities as they arrive. I'd stick around during the day, for instance, and offer my help to the Cobol development team and help handling the VAX/VMS administration (involving batch programming) until someone noticed me. But it was not until my 3rd job that I actually managed to sit comfortably as a software developer, and only much later, 3 years later, as a software engineer.

Today's job market is a whole lot more competitive. In my time software developers alone, more so software engineers, were seen as wizards. So I'd say you have to earn your stripes in ways that I didn't. Especially if you are interested in operating in and around the big business. So, in addition:

• Do not end your studies, go well past your degree.
• Refuse any of the dogmatic views that have established themselves around software development. Open your horizons, have a need to learn a little of everything and specialize in a few areas. See the benefits of everything and learn the disadvantages as well. Be neutral and objective. Be a professional, not an annoying fighter.
• Everything you do, do well. Try to be the best. That includes your present job. As my father would say, even if you want to be a thief, at least be an excellent thief.
• Do not marry to soon. Do not have kids too soon. Establish your career first. Today's market demands are going to take a bit of your soul away. Might as well not be that bit were your companion or children sit.
• Keep developing pet projects of your own. Even if you don't go through with them. You'll keep your skills in check, while applying any new knowledge you gather. But don't fear wasting too much time without programming. It's like riding a bicycle. You can no longer forget all about it. You'll just read the manual again and relearn what you've forgotten. It's even easier the second time.

Nobody is going to define you by what you did your first 6 months out of school... Don't worry about it.

The people I know who have broken out of testing into development all shared a few things in common:

* They never looked at testing as a "second best" job. While they were doing it, they were passionate about it. You want to complain about testing? Welcome to testing for the rest of your life.
* They spent the majority of their time inventing new ways of testing things, not banging out more tests. People who bang out code are seen as monkeys. Your job is to characterize, quantify, and provoke failure. Act like a scientist.
* They interacted directly with the developers of the code they were testing and never gave them any peace. Devs will be grumpy about what you are doing and that's ok. It means you're doing your job right.

Today's market demands are going to take a bit of your soul away. Might as well not be that bit were your companion or children sit.

O_o

I love this comment.

Soma

Originally Posted by phantomotap

O_o

I love this comment.

Soma

No market demands will ever take my love for this comment! *Shakes fist at market demands*