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IMO you need to decide whether you want to leverage your existing MechEng diploma and experience and go into something like CAD or if you want to be a "generic"

by lgieron 10y ago

IMO you need to decide whether you want to leverage your existing MechEng diploma and experience and go into something like CAD or if you want to be a "generic" software eng. The first route would probably make more sense (there aren't that many people like you I guess), but it would require you to move (the market for such skills is small) - maybe even to another continent. If, on the other hand, you want to be a "generic" SE (that can work anywhere in the world and maybe has a shot at remote work), you need to pick a specialty and prove employers that you can deliver within it. That's worth more (although less fun) than cute CS projects you've listed. Just select area/technology/stack you like and start learning about it and eventually build something non-entirely-trivial with it. If you want to see what's hot, take a look at monthly "Who's hiring" threads posted here - they give a good overview of what tech is currently in demand and/or trending up.

mightymustard 10y ago
In your opinion, what makes a non-trivial project? Can you give me some examples? I'm having some difficulties drawing a line between trivial and non-trivial projects. Although it's not that difficult to find things there are above my current skill level.
- lgieron 10y ago
  The role of this project is primarily to showcase your skill in the techniques required for the job. If you can show that you're familiar with technologies required, you're using the right technology for the right problem, can structure code cleanly, have a readable commit history, it will be more than enough for an internship IMO (as these are the requirements for a regular job basically). As for the project size, (all other things equal) the bigger the better obviously (since software complexity/difficulty raises non-linearly with problem size), but that's not the most important concern - you can for example produce two separate projects instead of a singular big one if you think it will allow you to learn and showcase more.

by lgieron 10y ago

mightymustard 10y ago

In your opinion, what makes a non-trivial project? Can you give me some examples? I'm having some difficulties drawing a line between trivial and non-trivial projects. Although it's not that difficult to find things there are above my current skill level.

lgieron 10y ago
The role of this project is primarily to showcase your skill in the techniques required for the job. If you can show that you're familiar with technologies required, you're using the right technology for the right problem, can structure code cleanly, have a readable commit history, it will be more than enough for an internship IMO (as these are the requirements for a regular job basically). As for the project size, (all other things equal) the bigger the better obviously (since software complexity/difficulty raises non-linearly with problem size), but that's not the most important concern - you can for example produce two separate projects instead of a singular big one if you think it will allow you to learn and showcase more.