Million doller question

[anthony]

I took digital electronics and assembler and Pascal programming in college in the late eighties.The closest I came to programming
for years after that was a drum machine.
In the last few years I think I,ve become pretty solid with vb.net,
C#,Vb script,javascript,Html Sql and Im now getting into xml web
services.
Im sure theres a lot of people on this board who could teach me a thing or two.My dilemna is How do I break into the programming field?
Theres a lot of competition from students.
Id like to do freelance or begin with a smaller sized company.
I just dont have the best strategy for getting into the programming work force,I wouldt feel comfortable working for a
huge company.Maybe I should do some volounteer work on web sites or try to sell some desktop software.Any ideas?

 

[Nerseus]

Do you care what kind of programming youll be doing? Do you like web, windows, html vs. a compiled language, etc.? Do what the college kids do and just apply anywhere that sounds interesting...

You may also want to check out temp agencies that specialize in computers (not necessarily Manpower USA for instance). In my area theres one called Tad, another called HL Yoh, and more. They usually have free resources to learn anything you want (classes on CD type of things) plus access to the computers if you dont have one. You always have the option of saying No when they offer you something - youre under no obligation. They tend to give you anything that comes along since they make no money if youre not working but you dont have to do data entry into Excel unless they talk you into it

Just some ideas. Check out the following threads for slightly similar information:

http://www.computerhelp.forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=69501

http://www.computerhelp.forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=69345

http://www.computerhelp.forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=69304

http://www.computerhelp.forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=69296

-nerseus

 

[anthony]

Thanks for the help Nerseus.The Temporary agency idea is good.
I just wonder about the benifits of being a freelance programmer.
Thats my dream.Im sure many programmers find they can be productive for say 16 hours at a time.
Its just working 9-5 what if you got in a little programming rut?
Lets say you forget to fill a dataset properly, and it ends up taking a long time to figure out,something stupid like that.
Somethingyou wouldnt normally mess up with.
The kind of feeling you get before playing baseball or something.
Surely pro programmers mess up like that even on rare occasions,or do they?
If I went into an office programming job,Id have to bring my
cd full of VB,C#,web,sql code for reference.I guess there wouldnt be any
harm in that.I hope not.

 

[Nerseus]

Nah, in fact, bigger companies probably have more time to study than smaller companies and especially freelancing (where you only get paid for work related to your job). But with freelancing youre hopefullying making a LOT more money so that you can take a month off every now and again to study, catch up, etc. Or at least thats the idea behind making more money.

Some smaller companies (my current one for instance) do provide "free time" but its also expected that you do some learning on your own. Most places will buy you basic studying items such as books or online resources. Bigger companies generally have bigger budgets so you may have a better chance of attending those $2000 MS sponsored training sessions. Then again, they may have a lot of employees and can only pick a few to go and come back to teach the rest.

The interview process really is more than just trying to GET a job, its to find out if that particular job is a good fit. At least, it should be

-nerseus