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From Secretary to Software Developer: The Hard Way

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Re: From Secretary to Software Developer: The Hard Way

#11

Post by Omnius »

mi100hael wrote: post #2

Another good example of someone learning to program on their own because they wanted to and then leveraging that experience to get a job doing it professionally. The big secret to learning to program is that there is no big secret. It's basically a glorified trade job and everyone already has the tools in front of them.

Most trades can be taught to anyone i think programming requires a certain kind of mind set to begin with or but another way an already analytical thought process. It's why a lot of grads that jumped into the field to make tons of money have trouble with the actual work. I am not saying it requires a special snow flake but it does require abstract thinking and that can't be taught to everyone.

Re: From Secretary to Software Developer: The Hard Way

#12

Post by denisenepraunig »

jakobegger wrote: post #5

A bit of background: in Austria, many people do an "Apprenticeship" ("Lehre") instead of going to high school. You work at a company and visit a vocational school (about 20% of time). This is great for practical people -- less theory, more real world experience. But there is a major downside: If you didn't go to high school, you are not allowed to go to university without first completing preparatory courses that can…

Thank you jakobegger to add those additional information. May I should also mention that the study fee was only about EUR 360 per semester, so no student debt.

Re: From Secretary to Software Developer: The Hard Way

#13

Post by djaychela »

denisenepraunig wrote: post #10
hillz wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, there are also quite a few grammar errors. Makes it hard to read.

English is not my first language, sorry for the grammar mistakes, I tried my best :-) I asked a native speaker friend to help me to fix it ASAP. I will pay more attention to this in the feature! Thx!

I'm usually the first to pounce on such errors, but I actually liked the writing style, and the story - inspiring, particularly for those of us who are outside the usual career path. I think the message can be more important than the presentation. Well done, and thanks for the inspiration.

Re: From Secretary to Software Developer: The Hard Way

#14

Post by kiba »

Omnius wrote: post #11
mi100hael wrote: post #2

Another good example of someone learning to program on their own because they wanted to and then leveraging that experience to get a job doing it professionally. The big secret to learning to program is that there is no big secret. It's basically a glorified trade job and everyone already has the tools in front of them.

Most trades can be taught to anyone i think programming requires a certain kind of mind set to begin with or but another way an already analytical thought process. It's why a lot of grads that jumped into the field to make tons of money have trouble with the actual work. I am not saying it requires a special snow flake but it does require abstract thinking and that can't be taught to everyone.

The principle of programming is really trivial, so I am unsure that it can't be taught to everyone.

We are able to teach basic math to everyone, if badly at that. I doubt programming is such big of a jump.

Re: From Secretary to Software Developer: The Hard Way

#15

Post by rfrey »

Omnius wrote: post #11
mi100hael wrote: post #2

Another good example of someone learning to program on their own because they wanted to and then leveraging that experience to get a job doing it professionally. The big secret to learning to program is that there is no big secret. It's basically a glorified trade job and everyone already has the tools in front of them.

Most trades can be taught to anyone i think programming requires a certain kind of mind set to begin with or but another way an already analytical thought process. It's why a lot of grads that jumped into the field to make tons of money have trouble with the actual work. I am not saying it requires a special snow flake but it does require abstract thinking and that can't be taught to everyone.

"Most trades can be taught to anyone"

This makes me suspect you haven't had much exposure to trades. Getting good... really good... at welding, or cabinetry, or stairbuilding, takes at least as much dedication and skill as getting good at programming.

Re: From Secretary to Software Developer: The Hard Way

#16

Post by cyberferret »

Well done. Interesting that you couldn't get a job coding in Delphi after you won the competition. I remember back around the same time, here in Australia there used to be quite a few Delphi related jobs around. Perhaps it was different in Europe.

Did you consider writing a stand alone app in Delphi that you could package and sell?

Re: From Secretary to Software Developer: The Hard Way

#17

Post by kayla210 »

denisenepraunig wrote: post #10
hillz wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, there are also quite a few grammar errors. Makes it hard to read.

English is not my first language, sorry for the grammar mistakes, I tried my best :-) I asked a native speaker friend to help me to fix it ASAP. I will pay more attention to this in the feature! Thx!

I actually liked the way the story was told and the errors didn't bother me. I was able to get a sense of how excited you are about your new career! :)

Re: From Secretary to Software Developer: The Hard Way

#18

Post by nickpsecurity »

That was a great read. Held back by parent's preferences into a secretary position, starts experimenting for fun/laziness (many great works started that way), keeps improving, fight the fight in college, and now at SAP working with serious tech. Congratulations on making it to finish line, Denise!

So, you've worked from Excel to GUI's to databases to web stuff. You plan on trying a new paradigm of programming or what for the next level?

Note: Also cool you did karate on the side. I got my start in DOS apps (QBASIC), doing Windows apps in VB6 in mundane, forced position, and karate on the side. Built new things in between assignments, including learning heavyweight stuff, because I was bored with VB or too lazy for some tedious task. The similarities in where we started probably added to my enjoyment of it. Also, I learned a new way to do a frown in text. I'm sure some tech project or new JS framework on HN will give me a use for it in near future. ;)

Re: From Secretary to Software Developer: The Hard Way

#19

Post by nickpsecurity »

denisenepraunig wrote: post #10
hillz wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, there are also quite a few grammar errors. Makes it hard to read.

English is not my first language, sorry for the grammar mistakes, I tried my best :-) I asked a native speaker friend to help me to fix it ASAP. I will pay more attention to this in the feature! Thx!

People obsessed with grammar more than content show up to critique plenty of things here. Just ignore them. The presentation was better than many "how I got started or hired" stories just because you wrote it in a way that was fun to read.

Re: From Secretary to Software Developer: The Hard Way

#20

Post by eduren »

hillz wrote: post #4

It's kind of a bummer that she knew she wanted to work with computers the whole time but her parents thought it would be more responsible to be a secretary. Glad she got there.

Yeah, I don't understand parents trying to curb aspirations in favor of practicality. I can understand if she wanted to do something that was ambitious + risky, but it's just computers. There's been nothing risky about getting an education in computers for 25 years now.
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