Employers want to hire people who can solve problems. And right now, you're problem is that you need a degree. If you can't figure out a solution to that problem one way or another, who is going to believe that you have the tenacity and smarts to figure out out other problems (such as programming problems). Figure out something: take out loans in your own name, work during the day and get a degree at night, go for continuing education courses. If you want it enough you will be able to find a way. And having the degree will help to solve the problem of people not wanting to hire you for lack of a degree, which is going to be with you for your entire career if you don't get one.
Help a fledgling professional programmer makes some important career decisions.
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Re: Help a fledgling professional programmer makes some important career decisions.
#72Earlier quoted context omitted.
With all due respect, you're exhibiting signs of the Dunning-Kruger effect. Degrees matter, sure. But there's definitely a way you can demonstrate knowledge without having one. Here is a good read: http://steve-yegge.blogspot.com/2008/03/get-that-job-at-goog... Definitely get some F/OSS projects under your belt. It's a great way to show what you can do, and you can work on them completely on your own schedule. To sho…
I understand what you're saying about Dunning-Kruger, but I could sit here and tell you about the merits of Linux Kernel asm-level syscalls versus DOS interrupts. I know i386 and PPC asm. I have a passion for algorithms, in particular, I like in my spare time to create mini-benchmarks of sorting algorithms against various arbitrary datasets. I know my stuff. I just can't demonstrate the more advanced work I've done b…
It doesn't matter if you tell yourself you know your stuff. I don't think anyone ever says "I don't know anything." You need to prove it. Companies don't care what you tell them, you need to show them.
If all the intelligent work you do can't be shared... you need to do some intelligent work that you can share. Otherwise nobody will know you're good.
Get involved with open source projects. If you get yourself involved in a community that already exists, and you show you know your stuff, you will be showered with job offers. If you do your own thing and then whine on HN, you will be unemployed forever.
Re: Help a fledgling professional programmer makes some important career decisions.
#73I'll be honest, hopefully you'll appreciate it because you need honest advice. I read your post and I can already hear the self-pity string quartet playing and a big screen in the background playing images your hard, hard life. Task #1 is to stop whining, not just to other people, mainly to yourself. What do you mean you could not get any loans? What kind of whiny-ass thing is that? You could not get loans so you dro…
FWIW, college doesn't teach you anything important about programming or computer science. You can get plenty of jobs without a college degree. When people try to claim competence because they have a degree, the most common reaction is laughter. The code examples you see on TheDailyWTF are probably all written by people with degrees.
You need to actually show that you know how to program and are good at it. Nothing other than solid working code shows that. So write some code that other people use.
Re: Help a fledgling professional programmer makes some important career decisions.
#74You're doing everything right. (And your life is supposed to suck, given your situation.)
1) You picked software development, the right career choice for you.
2) You've programmed at home for years, which is also right.
3) You entered college. Very important and correct thing to do.
4) You left college. Very correct thing to do, given that you had to pay lots of money but could not secure a loan in time.
5) You've tried to get work in a field you enjoy and are comfortable with. Very correct thing to do.
6) You quit your work. Very good thing to do given you were not treated like an adult, and underpaid. Very important to recognize this.
7) You started another job, that pays you even less, but you were right to assert yourself and look for another job since the other had everything going against you.
You need to realize that it's not the lack of a degree that's hurting you, but your age. If you were five to ten years older, you would be taken more seriously, as well has have better references--degree or not.
In the mean time, you may as well finish a C.S. degree at the most affordable college you can find. You were right to investigate a community college, but I would recommend just attending a four year school because it might avoid transfer credit issues; however, since it's July, find and enroll in a community college program that:
1) grants an Associate of Science degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or Engineering;
2) has a charter with a four-year public school you might like, that has guaranteed admissions and full transfer of credits to a C.S. program at that college, allowing you to enter as a Junior.
The only thing you are doing wrong is whining (you were correct in this case, but I wouldn't do it from now on. I would also not walk around thinking you've got the best plan for you, ever, being a software developer and possibly working for a high-tech company in four years, either.) Just enjoy the experience. Also, try creating applications for others to use while you're in college.
There, you're all set! (The reason I don't recommend whining further is because sh*t happens to everyone. And especially it being two years ago, don't stress over it, and don't even bring it up... You started college, had financial aid screw ups, then continued college--a pretty normal occurrence.)
However, DON'T LOSE THE PASSION. I can sense a lot of "if I only had a chance" energy and that (in my opinion) is the best energy one can have towards making something great.
Re: Help a fledgling professional programmer makes some important career decisions.
#75Earlier quoted context omitted.
I've always thought that it's the loans that end up raising tuition. It's the same way the easy loans raised housing prices. Too much money chasing too few goods.
Hmm... I wonder how often these loans default and if the derivatives markets trade them...
I'm not sure about the derivatives market part, but remember that (in the US, at least) most student loans are administered by the federal government, and are 'guaranteed' by them. That means if you don't pay up, the government will fuck with you in all the various ways a government can (confiscation of tax refunds, wage garnishment, etc - and don't forget student loans are not covered by bankruptcy). That is why my loan interest is less than 2% over the fed funds rate - it's worth it to loan money at that rate, because there is effectively no way to avoid having to pay up, short of dying.
Re: Help a fledgling professional programmer makes some important career decisions.
#76Earlier quoted context omitted.
I've often wondered why it is that colleges have gotten away with raising tuition 7% to 10% per year for decades on end. This post is, indeed, very honest about the reason: Your college degree is a badge of social class that every other college grad will look for. If you don't have one, many college grads will assume that you are shiftless and lazy and whining and self-pitying and that you potentially have a series o…
I've always thought that it's the loans that end up raising tuition. It's the same way the easy loans raised housing prices. Too much money chasing too few goods.
Raising tuition by how much? Back in the 90s when I was an undergrad an unsubsizded stafford max was about $2600. Last time I checked (2005) the max was still around $2600 in 2005 dollars! They didn't even add on yearly for inflation. So whatever is driving costs, I seriously doubt government largesse.
Re: Help a fledgling professional programmer makes some important career decisions.
#77Get a part time day job doing something physical (window washing, carpet cleaning) that does not require too much thinkin'.
While doing that, start to build your programming client base while working late days and evenings. The two incomes combined will be modest (close to $1,600/mo), but you will be able to take some tax breaks for owning your own biz (write-offs include gas, computer, travel). Plus, this schedule will allow you to make mistakes while programming, dealing with clients, and more without you loosing your livelihood.
Commit to this for two years. At the end of 24 months, review your position. If your programming business and clientele are supporting your desired lifestyle, then move into full time programming. If not, then you may want to reconsider a life of 0s and 1s.
Re: Help a fledgling professional programmer makes some important career decisions.
#78get a degree dude. you'll start off making at least $50K minimum if you do computer science. Build your life financially then do your own thing.