How to start programming career??
chris
I'm looking for advice on how to start a career in computer programming.
I recently graduated from St. Paul Tech with an AAS degree in computer
programming. I also have almost two years of desktop support experience
from a student postion which I lost after I graduated.
After four months of intense job hunting I have had no luck. The problem
seems to be that I have no experience. Even the few entry-level positions
I have seen require more experience than I have. The intern positions I
have seen want you to still be in school.
Would it help if I get certified by Sun or Microsoft? Any advice would be
very appreciated.
Thanks.
Chris Hansen
ch...@bitstream.net
Joe Drago
company. The risk factor is low, because if it doesn't work you can just tell
a future employer it was poor management, but it can still earn you around a
year of experience. Also, since it's a startup, they usually give you any
title you want, so you can be "Senior Programmer" or whatever.
But honestly, there usually is shitty management... just a suggestion.
chris wrote:
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Joe Drago
jidoN...@slip.net
{insert witty .sig quote here}
J Weissman
I was in your position just a few months ago because I was fresh out of
college with no experience The problem is that you are just out of your
league in a lot of job markets. According to me, entry-level means you
don't have experience yet so I don't understand some of the sites I've
checked out require 2 yrs on the job for a starting salary. What I did
finally was register with an inernet site called www.jobdirect.com that
someone on this NG mentioned. It's specifically for people like us, good
degrees but minimal experience. Good luck. -JW
In article <Pine.GSO.3.96.991024042104.20918B-
100...@marley.bitstream.net>, ch...@bitstream.net says...
wetboy
: Hello.
: I'm looking for advice on how to start a career in computer programming.
: I recently graduated from St. Paul Tech with an AAS degree in computer
: programming. I also have almost two years of desktop support experience
: from a student postion which I lost after I graduated.
: After four months of intense job hunting I have had no luck. The problem
: seems to be that I have no experience. Even the few entry-level positions
: I have seen require more experience than I have. The intern positions I
: have seen want you to still be in school.
: Would it help if I get certified by Sun or Microsoft? Any advice would be
: very appreciated.
Yes, a Microsoft or Sun certification would very definitely
help. But -- have you been getting a good number of
interviews? If not -- or maybe do it anyway -- go to a
professional resume writer and have them re-write your
resume. And don't go to just anyone -- there are lots
of terrible "professional" resume writers out there. Get
recommendations from friends, or maybe you can get a good
steer from the Internet. Another responder warned against
bad managers at startup companies. In my view this is not
so -- there are bad managers everywhere. The company I
currently work for is a startup, and my manager there is
the best manager I ever had. (I just hope the company
makes it.)
-- Wetboy
Chrystal
found that hiring a "Head Hunter" really helped. Also, it
could be that the companies are being overwhelmed by the
number of graduates in your area, It could help by
relocating, or waiting a couple more months. Certification
always helps. When i started almost three years ago, i got
lucky with a company willing to hire someone with NO
experience except what i learned in school. Also with Y2K
coming on, a lot of companies are holding of on new hires,
they need people with a lot of experience to quickly fix the
problems that they've been holding off on fixing. It's
really sad, once you have a job people start offering to
double your salary, or give you anything you want. It's
getting that first job that is the hardest. OH, also have
you tried job fairs? You can meet a lot of the people who
are hiring and talk to them, get a feel for why they aren't
looking at your resume. Is it truly because of the lack of
experience, or is it because they don't like the resume?
People are really fickle about those things.
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