Three methods to gain programming experience

Three methods to gain programming experience

 

Author: Justin James
Translation: purpleendurer, version 1st

Justin James provides advice to readers who cannot find a job due to lack of experience. Let's take a look at these proposals for gaining programming experience-sometimes you don't even need to work in this field.

A techrepublic Member is in the predicament of chicken, eggs, and chickens. Too many entry-level IT programmers find themselves in this dilemma: companies do not like to hire inexperienced people, many enterprises are reluctant to carry out training. If so many companies do not open their doors to hire people with no experience, how can these people accumulate experience? Unfortunately, this situation is a major issue for many IT professionals.

 

During my long-term discussions with this Member, I proposed to him three methods to promote rapid career development, as shown below:

 

#1 working for free software (or proximity)

 

Although the business community may not be eager to hire people with little or no experience, the non-profit community is often willing (or at least willing) to accept volunteers with little or no experience. At the beginning of my career as a programmer, I volunteered at a home of adult disabled people in high school. I use an Excel spreadsheet to manage their financial work, manage their websites, and so on. Is this job attractive? Ah, no. I work in free afternoons and weekends. The only benefit is that there is a storage room in that place, which I can retrieve at any time. In addition to satisfying my feelings by doing something useful to society, it gives me the experience to write my resume and a letter of recommendation. Some nonprofit organizations may pay you a small sum of money.

 

There are a large number of open-source projects that require assistance. Alternatively, you can pick up an open-source project that is "shelved" and take over it. Open-source work is worth making in your resume.

 

If you cannot find a local charity or non-profit organization (group), you can also work for the family. Maybe a business relative needs some programmers to work. You can propose to do it for free, and I bet you will find that Uncle Jimmy or aunt Betty will be very happy to have you on the team.

 

#2. hardworking

 

If you want to make progress, you will have to work hard; no developer is able to get it for nothing. I think some developers are lucky. They may have been hired by relatives just after graduation, with a considerable income. In addition, some other developers managed to gain internships and other good opportunities. However, the only way to highlight yourself and gain work experience is to work and work. Stick to it for a period of time.

 

Your boss may not want you to spend a lot of time writing code but take care of the service desk. In this way, if you want to turn the service desk into software development experience, you will squeeze out the time. Via lunch break code? Yes. Work after work? Yes. Planning and Development at home? Yes.

 

I know, I understand ...... Working without charge and beyond expectation does not seem to have any pleasure. It may be worse. Let's see how doctors do this during their senior specialist internship (not to mention their salary )? Imagine this phase as your internship. You may get some experience through months or years, and your next job may not be easier (but not necessarily), but the reward will be more impressive.

 

There are some ways to gain experience and reward. The trick is to steal the "backdoors" of work ". For example, I am now engaged in network management and monitoring. Before that, I have been a professional programmer for some years. I know that I want to be a programmer. But in fact, most of my experience is Perl (almost dead at this point), and I have not programming for a few years, and I know that I need to add new experience before applying. So what should I do? I started to write apps to help my department in my free time, and sometimes I even write code during work hours-all of this is to get the experience and a letter of recommendation that can be written into my resume.

 

You may not get software development work, but you can get a job, such as a desktop technician or at the service desk. From there, you can begin to show your programming skills, and establish a good resume, leave or promote. In fact, working at a service desk or working as a desktop Technician (or "Computer operator") is the oldest way to get involved in this industry and accumulate experience.

 

#3 working at home

 

You may not find anyone who is willing to allow you to write code for free. Maybe you cannot adapt to non-programming work (just as you cannot get a pay-as-you-go worker ). Home is where you play a role. If all other methods fail (or supplement existing capabilities), you can do something at home. Find your favorite application and write your own version. Or, consider and compile the applications you have always wanted.

 

When you work at home, try to simulate software development in a professional environment as much as possible. Write a project plan, create a unit test, and build a project on a daily basis. I promise that you will become a better programmer and you will show some things to your employer. This is actually very important.

 

I have never presented my labor achievements and potential employers at work. Not only does this violate my employment contract, but it often interferes with the contract between my employer and the client. However, when I do something at home with my own time and money, I can show it to potential employers. For example, I want to find a job, do more web development, and reduce the workload of administrators, for this reason, I extracted the highlights from my resume, recommendation letter, and other materials and put them in the Flash presentation. I even encapsulated it into a good CD box and gave it an automatic boot device so that potential employers could simply put the CD on. This CD gave me a job in the middle of the. com bubble. This is a real game converter.

 

When someone has already had interviews with both parties, I can tell you that it is impressive to have a candidate come and talk about what they are doing. Have you received the payment, which will be considered at the same level in terms of remuneration and professional work? Sometimes. As far as I am concerned, "real work" for a trusted open-source application is the same as pay-as-you-go job, and the only thing that can be detrimental to you is that, the application is terrible, and you will show it during the interview. So, yes, this is another "unpaid job" suggestion, but it is often different from other entry-level developers who apply for the same job.

 

Http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/programming-and-development? P = 1593 & tag = NL. e055

Three ways to gain programming experience

Date: August 20th, 2009
Author: Justin James
Category: career advancement, programming
Tags: Job, developer, experience, programmer, programming, recruitment & selection, help desk, development tools, human resources, Workforce Management

Justin James offers advice to a reader who needs experience but can't find work because he has very little on-the-job experience. check out these recommendations for picking up programming experience-sometimes even without having a job in the field.

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A techrepublic member is trapped in the chicken/egg situation that far too has entry-level IT programmers find themselves in: businesses do not like to hire people without experience, and other businesses are not willing to train. if so many companies aren't open to hiring people without experience, how does someone get experience? Unfortunately, this scenario is a major issue for your IT pros.

 

In my long running, back-and-forth discussion with this Member, here are three ways I suggested that he kick his career into high gear.

 

#1: work for free (or close to it)

 

While the specified ate world may not always be eager to hire people with little or no experience, the non-profit world is often delighted (or at least willing) to take volunteers with little or no experience. I got my start as a programmer in high school by volunteering for a local home for developmentally disabled adults. I worked on Excel spreadsheets to manage their finances, I put together a Web s ITE for them, and so on. Was it glamorous? Heck, no. I was working for free on my afternoons and weekends. the only perk was that the place had a stocked pantry that I cocould hit whenever I wanted. aside from the emotional satisfaction of doing something positive for the Community, it gave me experience that I cocould put on a resume, and it gave me a reference. some non-profits will be able to pay you a small amount of money.

And there are plenty of open source projects that can use some help. Or, you cocould pick up an "abandoned" open source project and revive it. Open source work is a great resume builder.

If you can't find a local charity or non-profit, maybe you can work for family. perhaps a relative has a business that needs some programmer work. offer to do it for free, and I bet that you will find that Uncle Jimmy or aunt Betty wocould be delighted to have you on the team.

#2: work like a dog

 

If you want to get ahead, you're going to have to hustle; I haven't met any developers who were handed opportunities on a silver platter. I suppose a few developers got lucky, and maybe a relative hired them at a very nice salary right out of school. and a few other developers managed to get great internships that led to other good opportunities. but for the vast majority of the people currently in college or just out of college, the only way to differentiate yourself and get the experience is to work, work, work. period.

 

Purpleendurer Note: 1. To be handed something on a silver platter is something someone else puts on a silver disk and gives it to someone else. It really means that a person gets something very valuable, but it doesn't come from his own efforts.

 

Your boss probably won't let you spend huge amounts of time writing code instead of manning the Help Desk. so, if you want to turn that help desk job into experience developing software, you're going to have to make the time. code through lunch break? Check. Work after hours? Check. Plan and develop at home? Check.

 

I know, I know... Working for free and working more than what is expected of you doesn't sound like much fun. it cocould be worse, though. ever look into what doctors do during their residency (not to mention their pay )? Think of this period as your residency. you're going to bust your buns for a few months or years to get some experience, and your next job, though it may not be any easier (it won't be ), it will likely pay better.

There are ways to get experience and get paid; the trick is to sneak in through the "back door" of employee. for example, I had a job where I was doing network management and monitoring. it had been a few years since I had been a professional programmer, and I knew I wanted to get back to it. but between the fact that most of my experience was in Perl (which was fairly dead by that point), and th E years since I had been programming, I knew I needed to freshen my experience before I wocould be employable. So what did I do? I started writing applications to help my department in my free time; on occasion, I wocould even write code while not on the clock-all to get some experience under my belt and a reference.

Purpleendurer Note: under one's belt: 1. [American English] [Spoken English] in past experiences, in personal experiences (or in Memory, in possession); learn; remember; successful acquisition, (By effort or skill) to win:
2. In the belly; eat; absorb; put into the belly (refers to learning, knowledge, etc.)

Maybe you can't get a job as a developer, but you might be able to get a job as, say, a desktop technician or in the Help Desk. from there, you can start flexing your coding muscles and either build up a good resume and leave or get promoted. in fact, working at a help desk or as a desktop Technician (or a "Computer Operator") is one of the oldest ways of getting your feet wet in this industry.

Purpleendurer Note: 1. Jump in and get your feet wet: learn and gain experience in practice.

 

#3: work at home

Maybe you can't find anyone willing to let you code for free. perhaps there is no way that you are able to fit programming into your nonprogramming job (such as an hourly worker who can't get authorization for overtime ). that's where your home comes into play. if all else fails (or to supplement your existing efforts), do some work at home. find an application you really like and write your own version of it. or, think of an application you always wish you had and write it.

When you work at home, try to emulate software development in professional environments as much as possible. write a project plan, create unit tests, set up a nightly build, and so on. I guarantee that you will become a better programmer for it, and you'll have something to show perspective employers, which is actually quite important.

Purpleendurer Note: 1. Nightly build is a term for software development. It refers to daily build, that is, software compilation testing and packaging every night.

 

I have never worked somewhere where I cocould take my labor and show it to potential employers. not only wocould it violate my employee contract, but it wocould often violate my employer's contracts with their MERs. but when I do something at home on my own time and on my own dime, it becomes something I can show to potential employers. for example, I wanted to get a job doing more web development and less webmaster work, so I put together a flash presentation that had highlights from my resume, quotes from my references, and so on. I even packaged it in a nice CD case and gave it an Autorun launcher, so potential employers coshould just pop the CD in. the CD got me a job in the middle of the dot-com bust in an instant. it was a real game changer.

As someone who has been on both sides of the interview table comment times, I can tell you that it's impressive to have a candidate come in and talk about work they're doing on their own. does it get the same level of consideration as paid, professional work? Sometimes. from what I can tell, doing "real work" on a credible open source application is just as good as a paid job; the only time it can hurt you is if the application is awful, and you show it to the interviewer anyway. so, yes, this is another "work without pay" suggestion, but it's often the only differentiator between you and the two dozen other entry-level developers who apply for the job.