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Breaking-in to the
programming field

A complete set of tips for entry-level programmers and individuals who desire a career change.

November 1st 1996

Although programming is an excellent career field, it can sometimes be difficult for entry level programmers to break in to the field after college or tech school training. Still, programming may be one of the easiest fields for entry level applicants who are motivated. Recently, CNN announced a poll which declared programming jobs at the top for recent college graduates and the poll put recent computer science grads at an average starting salary of $35K. Salaries go much higher with experience - see our programmer salary surveys. Many large software firms including Microsoft even emphasize the hiring of recent graduates as a preference. The idea being that it's better to start someone off with a clean slate rather than making them 'un-learn' any conflicting skills or habits.

In light of all of this talk about college grads, an entry-level programming job is an obtainable goal for even those with as little as a single one semester class at a local tech college. The list below (right) describes some frequently found classes at local tech colleges that can help you to enter the programming field. Although we make no guarantees that these classes will lead to direct employment (an individual's motivation and attitude are always key), often only 1 or 2 of these classes taken at night is all that will be needed in order to break in to the programming field at the $30K salary range with no prior programming experience:

 

Tips for entry level programmers:

  • Your resume should be a 1 page (and 1 page only) 'skill based' resume and NOT an 'experienced based' resume. In other words, the biggest section of your resume should be entitled 'Skills' and this should contain bulleted points relating to specific programming projects which you have done. It should outline major tools that you have used. For example: - Wrote a vehicle maintenance program as a class project in Visual C++ and ODBC. By doing this, you are proving that, although you may not have actual work experience, you have successfully worked with the tools and technologies that are in demand.
  • Prove your skills with a project that you can hand out. If you are in a programming class such as Visual Basic, make a class project that can be handed out to employers on a diskette along with your resume. One great idea is to make a windows program that's small enough to fit on one disk and will present you to an employer - a 'resume presentation program'. This program could demonstrate first hand that you have written a program, possibly one that does database access and multimedia. In languages such as VB it's not hard to have the program pop up your picture and play a sound file with your voice greeting. Not hard to do but makes a big impact on employers who, after seeing such a program, can not argue that you know how to make impressive software.
  • Use the Internet. Dont simply focus on your local news paper or school placement office. The Internet has hundreds, maybe thousands, of career sites that can help you find a job. A great place to start is the Jobs For Programmers job site. Also, be sure to make your own resume web page. With a resume web page you can depart the normal resume format and link off to other pages like 'screen grabs of past programming projects'. Include your resume web page address on your paper resume too.
  • Break out of the norm. Everyone has a preconceived notion of what should be given an employer in order to land a job. This really is not the case. Break out of the average everyday resume format - use subtle color from an ink jet printer. Make up resume headings that best sell yourself - not necessarily "experience, education, objective, etc.". Make a short video of yourself sitting at a computer demonstrating some of the programs that you have written. Make 10 copies of the video and send them out only to the that jobs you really want to land.

Most Valuable Semester Classes

At the time of this writing, the following is a ranked listing of the best classes to take for obtaining immediate subsequent employment.

  1. Visual Basic - may be the most widely used language on earth right now. A safe bet for the future since Microsoft is moving VB into the Internet realm. An easy language to learn.
  2. Databases- find a one semester class in relational databases possibly focused on a popular dbms such as Oracle, Sybase, or even Microsoft Access. In today's world it is nearly impossible to find a programming job that does not involve databases in some way.
  3. C++ - A harder language to learn but very in demand and a good secure language for the future. Often higher paying than other language jobs due to the difficulty. A class in 'C Programming' is recommended prior to attempting this class since C++ is really just a reorganized version of C.
  4. Visual C++. A top development tool. not many classes out there specifically in VC++ yet but it's growing. Make sure you have a good understanding of C++ first.
  5. Java. Again, not many colleges have a Java class yet but it is to your advantage to have Java training on your resume. Java is basically C++ with the hard stuff taken out and it is a language most commonly used on the Internet. Look for Java and Microsoft's version of it (Visual J++) to be possibly the most in demand skill in the coming years. Still not as much in demand at this point as Visual Basic or C++ thus we list it as a lower priority.

Other classes that have some value but may not have a great deal of value in helping you get a high paying job are: Basic, Assembler, RPG, Fortran, and Pascal. These are good classes also, but will go no where near as far as the ones mentioned above in helping you break in to the field.

 

For specific career questions or comments about this article send us email at webmaster@jfpresources.com.

At your service,

Management, JFP Resources

 

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