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You say: > It is hard to get into it It's interesting how people's opinions will differ based on their experience... I started working as a programmer while s

You say: > It is hard to get into it It's interesting how people's opinions will differ based on their experience... I started working as a programmer while still studying something not relevant to CS. The reason I was hired was because of two things: (1) I loved to program and I was doing this for fun, I had a few little silly projects like coding a snake game that I was proud of at the time (I laugh at that code now); and (2) because I was honest about things I don't know and that I want to learn. Of course first job was paid peanuts (and I could afford this because I was single student living with other students). But it was not hard to get it..

jcun4128 5y ago
Yeah if you're starting as a blank slate. I remember on UpWork that's where I did my first few things, I had to apply to so many places because I had nothing... jobs on Indeed couldn't get in... Once you have something on your resume it's easier but jobs that say "BS in CS or some thing" I don't apply unless it says "experience in tech" that I'm looking into/have experience. But yeah I was trying to get hired since 2016 and it wasn't till 2018 I got a full time gig. In between this time I had to pick up a job like washing plates/factory because I had no money. I don't know if it's easier if you come from say a bootcamp or have a plan like the developer roadmap but yeah. That was my experience. Most of my background before this was some kind of labor work or the data entry. I almost got hired for a PHP role in 2016 but didn't get it because I didn't have a car. The test I took was written ha, like "how would you make a query for grouping music". This guy taught me a lot about PHP from PHPFreaks, would chat with him on Skype. Also as a side note, I did some PC tech work like removing viruses but I never had the interest to program. I had to take C++ as a course and I didn't really enjoy it at the time/same with Java, I was in Eng/Phys degree at the time. Most I used a computer for was like playing Runescape. I picked up web development because I read about high traffic websites that would make a lot of money from ads, that didn't happen but I learned how to make websites. At this point I was on my way out of college/was failing out. Also it wasn't till 2015 I figured out what GitHub was/how to put my code on there.
- ramtatatam 5y ago
  Shame on me, but when I was a kid I always wanted to write viruses :] Ah childhood, it should happen at least twice in a lifetime :) I do agree it probably was much easier for me because I did not have next rent that I had to pay, my living costs were very low and if it came to the worst I had people who would give me their couch for a few weeks.. Now with family and kids I think maybe my comment was too optimistic.
  - jcun4128 5y ago
    Yeah I'm not saying my experience is everyone's. You should read on the subreddit CSCareers ha people saying "I applied to hundreds of jobs got nothing". I do wish I knew about CS when I was going into school, I didn't really plan my school and yeah just failed out (this is a personal discipline problem). Thankfully even without a degree I can get work in this field... I know I would not see myself working on something (qualified) like Tesla autopilot or whatever (for one I'm not good at math). But there is a lot of random things you can do out there... for money or personal joy (what I'm after eventually). Anyway yeah time is the main thing, I feel lucky in this case not to have a family/have time. Viruses are cool, I don't know I never got the itch to do that kind of work like pen testing. It's pretty crazy the abstract ways to get you to load some executable say in a macros.

jcun4128 5y ago

Yeah if you're starting as a blank slate. I remember on UpWork that's where I did my first few things, I had to apply to so many places because I had nothing... jobs on Indeed couldn't get in... Once you have something on your resume it's easier but jobs that say "BS in CS or some thing" I don't apply unless it says "experience in tech" that I'm looking into/have experience. But yeah I was trying to get hired since 2016 and it wasn't till 2018 I got a full time gig. In between this time I had to pick up a job like washing plates/factory because I had no money. I don't know if it's easier if you come from say a bootcamp or have a plan like the developer roadmap but yeah. That was my experience. Most of my background before this was some kind of labor work or the data entry. I almost got hired for a PHP role in 2016 but didn't get it because I didn't have a car. The test I took was written ha, like "how would you make a query for grouping music". This guy taught me a lot about PHP from PHPFreaks, would chat with him on Skype. Also as a side note, I did some PC tech work like removing viruses but I never had the interest to program. I had to take C++ as a course and I didn't really enjoy it at the time/same with Java, I was in Eng/Phys degree at the time. Most I used a computer for was like playing Runescape. I picked up web development because I read about high traffic websites that would make a lot of money from ads, that didn't happen but I learned how to make websites. At this point I was on my way out of college/was failing out. Also it wasn't till 2015 I figured out what GitHub was/how to put my code on there.

ramtatatam 5y ago
Shame on me, but when I was a kid I always wanted to write viruses :] Ah childhood, it should happen at least twice in a lifetime :) I do agree it probably was much easier for me because I did not have next rent that I had to pay, my living costs were very low and if it came to the worst I had people who would give me their couch for a few weeks.. Now with family and kids I think maybe my comment was too optimistic.
- jcun4128 5y ago
  Yeah I'm not saying my experience is everyone's. You should read on the subreddit CSCareers ha people saying "I applied to hundreds of jobs got nothing". I do wish I knew about CS when I was going into school, I didn't really plan my school and yeah just failed out (this is a personal discipline problem). Thankfully even without a degree I can get work in this field... I know I would not see myself working on something (qualified) like Tesla autopilot or whatever (for one I'm not good at math). But there is a lot of random things you can do out there... for money or personal joy (what I'm after eventually). Anyway yeah time is the main thing, I feel lucky in this case not to have a family/have time. Viruses are cool, I don't know I never got the itch to do that kind of work like pen testing. It's pretty crazy the abstract ways to get you to load some executable say in a macros.