Career advice for a programming job

[pmdkh]

I am looking for a little bit of career advice from people who are programmers, or are knowledgeable about programming jobs.

I am currently in the military, and will get out in about 2 years. I will finish my IT bachelor's degree early next year. I want to get a job as a computer programmer, and I am wondering what I should concentrate on to make myself marketable for a programming job after I get out of the military.

The programming languages that I worked with were ASP, Perl, PHP, and Java. I also did some web design, among other things. Right now I have the most experience working with Java. (My job in the military could somewhat be compared to an administrator's job, but not really.)

What I am wondering about is how many programming languages I should try to learn in depth before I apply for a job. Would I do better to try to concentrate on one or two? Or should I try to learn maybe five or so, but not that much in depth? From what I've heard about IT jobs, you need to be specialized in certain areas, rather than trying to be good all around.

I know that this question has a different answer for every person, but what languages should I concentrate on? If I go with two, for example, would it be good to do an object-oriented one (maybe Java, since I have the most experience with it and I like it), and C? Any thoughts that you have on the question would help me out a lot.

I know that certifications make you more marketable, but don't necessarily equate to being good at your job, but are there any certifications that would help get a programming job? For example, Would a Linux certification help me get a programming job?

Thanks for your help.

[jnorthr]

Working to gain linux certification would certainly show potential employers that you know your beans. I would use that as leverage to gain your first job in sys admin, and from that you can quite rightly justify a move to development. You need some street cred and a linux cert, might just be easier to obtain than java certs, though if you can get that, it all helps. There are so many different aspects to java above the 'programmer' stage, that you may find it more interesting later on, say for OO design. If you are REALLY going to be a developer then stick with prorgamming languages like Java and C, if you lean more to the web side of life then forget java and go for the scripting side of the field using PHP, python, HTML, javascripts.

It's a big open field out there - just make a decision as to your gut-feel for what you really want to do. Check with your careers advisor in your post to see if there are classes available to you that may further your career. I used to teach I.T. in Dept. of Army evening sessions and if budget cuts have not killed them all, there may be some available to you. Also look into the G.I. bill rights to further education opportunities once you walk - and good luck

[ryno519]

I'd stick with Java. There are a lot of Java jobs out there, in fact I worked for a brewery which did all of their coding in Java for 6 months. You will definately need to know SQL (language for querying databases, if you were unaware) so I'd read up on that rather extensively. You could get a good job working with Java. I'd consider getting certified if I were you.

You should also learn Visual Basic/C# with the .NET libraries. You should know how to program in those languages. They're very popular in the industry, especially if you're writing in house applications.

And of course, you should learn C, C++, Python, etc for contributing to opensource applications after you get off work.

[aks44]

As a side note, don't forget that programming (ie. writing code) is just a very small portion of the development job. Of course, programmation is the first step, but learning design / architecture as well as being aware of security issues are way more important IMHO. But again, knowing (mastering?) the programming stuff is mandatory to be able to do proper design, so you gotta start with the beginning.

Granted, it's a life's work, but just don't aim too low.


Concerning the Linux stuff, from what I see around me, most development jobs concern either Windows, or cross-platform stuff like Java. Like others already said, Java would be a safe bet.

Now, we're getting short on competent C++ programmers, in a few years it will be terrible and the salaries will probably go very high (industry needs C and C++ for reliable AND performant applications). But I'm just advocating my own church here...

[skeeterbug]

I am looking for a little bit of career advice from people who are programmers, or are knowledgeable about programming jobs.

I am currently in the military, and will get out in about 2 years. I will finish my IT bachelor's degree early next year. I want to get a job as a computer programmer, and I am wondering what I should concentrate on to make myself marketable for a programming job after I get out of the military.

The programming languages that I worked with were ASP, Perl, PHP, and Java. I also did some web design, among other things. Right now I have the most experience working with Java. (My job in the military could somewhat be compared to an administrator's job, but not really.)

What I am wondering about is how many programming languages I should try to learn in depth before I apply for a job. Would I do better to try to concentrate on one or two? Or should I try to learn maybe five or so, but not that much in depth? From what I've heard about IT jobs, you need to be specialized in certain areas, rather than trying to be good all around.

I know that this question has a different answer for every person, but what languages should I concentrate on? If I go with two, for example, would it be good to do an object-oriented one (maybe Java, since I have the most experience with it and I like it), and C? Any thoughts that you have on the question would help me out a lot.

I know that certifications make you more marketable, but don't necessarily equate to being good at your job, but are there any certifications that would help get a programming job? For example, Would a Linux certification help me get a programming job?

Thanks for your help.

If you really love to program, it will come across in the interview. I had side projects, so I printed the code, did a project description, where I wanted to go with it, etc. I filed this all in a binder, did a logo for it, and brought it with me to my interview as a code sample. This was how I obtained my first job, before I had any real experience.

[mjwood0]

This really depends what you want to do as a programmer.

If you're thinking about doing anything with embedded systems (for things from cell phones to aircraft controls) you're better off getting a Computer Science degree and learning assembly and ANSI C.

If you're thinking about desktop programming, it's pretty wide open. C++, Java and other OO languages are the way to go.

Want to work with the web? Java, Ruby, PHP, etc..

Databases / busness? SQL and Visual Basic / Access Database management.

Personally, I think a degree in IT is great, but not for programming. You'll probably be able to do really well if you get a linux cert with an IT degree looking for jobs in System Administration and the like. But for programming, nothing compares to the Computer Science / Computer Engineering degree (with a focus in programming).

Just my $0.02.

BTW -- I'm an embedded systems programmer by day.

[mjwood0]

Now, we're getting short on competent C++ programmers, in a few years it will be terrible and the salaries will probably go very high (industry needs C and C++ for reliable AND performant applications). But I'm just advocating my own church here...

I agree 100%. There are very few competent embedded programmers anymore when it comes to C, Ada and Jovial. Great market to get into if you want stability. Then again, breaking in can be a bear.

For these jobs, don't overlook the necessity of some good architecture background (memory management, cache theory and the like). It's more relevant than many realize.

[ryno519]

As a side note, don't forget that programming (ie. writing code) is just a very small portion of the development job. Of course, programmation is the first step, but learning design / architecture as well as being aware of security issues are way more important IMHO. But again, knowing (mastering?) the programming stuff is mandatory to be able to do proper design, so you gotta start with the beginning.

Granted, it's a life's work, but just don't aim too low.


Concerning the Linux stuff, from what I see around me, most development jobs concern either Windows, or cross-platform stuff like Java. Like others already said, Java would be a safe bet.

Now, we're getting short on competent C++ programmers, in a few years it will be terrible and the salaries will probably go very high (industry needs C and C++ for reliable AND performant applications). But I'm just advocating my own church here...

To summarize, learn UML.

[mjwood0]

To summarize, learn UML.

Never used UML. Not even sure what it is...

[cwaldbieser]

A big laundry list of computer languages is not going to be as impressive as any relevant experience you can demonstrate in the field.

If you are going for more of an entry level position, your potential employers will probably expect that you will require some time ramping up. They may expect that you know the basics of working with particular tool sets.

If you are going for a more experienced postion (because you feel you past experience in the military qualifies you for it), your employers may want a demonstration of some expertise with particular tools and your approach to different situations.

Demonstrating that you are versatile with respect to changing technical needs will be much more useful than knowing the syntax of many languages.