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What is an entry level programming job?


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I have been programming since I was 11, taking it more seriously at about 14 (I'm 25 now). I can work with C#, WPF, php, xml, as well as mysql (I'm going to not list basics such as html, css, etc since the that's a given if you design web sites). I can do some asp.net but realistically I couldn't do it professionally if someone just said "well, design xyz systems" as I could with C# wpf/forms applications.

To sumerize why I am writing this post, my friend just got his 2 year degree and u helped him all through it no problem and was wondering what do you need to know to get an entry level programming job and work your way up?

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I have been programming since I was 11, taking it more seriously at about 14 (I'm 25 now). I can work with C#, WPF, php, xml, as well as mysql (I'm going to not list basics such as html, css, etc since the that's a given if you design web sites). I can do some asp.net but realistically I couldn't do it professionally if someone just said "well, design xyz systems" as I could with C# wpf/forms applications.

To sumerize why I am writing this post, my friend just got his 2 year degree and u helped him all through it no problem and was wondering what do you need to know to get an entry level programming job and work your way up?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entry-level_job

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Nice, but I was hoping someone could give me a real life example of their experience. I already used Wikipedia and monster.Com like sites.

 

Really depends on the job.  When I first stated out in IT, I was just doing software installs and hardware setups.  That is it.  Now I am doing server work, SCCM configurations, application deployments, routers and switch configurations....and lots more.

 

EDIT:  I also did a lot of unboxing, cleanup, and grunt work when I first started in IT.

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Ah, I didn't phrase my title right. That is what is causing the ambiguity of the reponses. I meant programming jobs. Sorry for the confusion.

Well that's a good story still. So it doesn't sound too brutal.

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Ah, I didn't phrase my title right. That is what is causing the ambiguity of the reponses. I meant programming jobs. Sorry for the confusion.

 

Well, I clicked on the quick link on the front page.  Didnt see what forum this was posted in so my fault.  :)

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Ah, I didn't phrase my title right. That is what is causing the ambiguity of the reponses. I meant programming jobs. Sorry for the confusion.

Well that's a good story still. So it doesn't sound too brutal.

I do internal development projects (coding, planning etc), bug fixes, studying, shadowing other developers, testing, etc.

 

I do a lot of what a regular developer does, I am just a lot slower at it.

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That first job is really hard to get, especially if you have a lot of skills but few paper qualifications. I would advise getting anything you can that's in the right general area. Once you're on-site you can create opportunities to show your skills and thus get the chance to move on to better things. see +techbeck's post.

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I started programming when I was 7 - I got my first programming job when I was doing my bachelor's degree. It sounds like you have enough technical skill and confidence to be a programmer. You do need to have a good ui too. Half of software development is effective interaction with others.

The only advice I would give you is apply. Apply everywhere. Be ready for rejection. Anyone with two brain cells to run together will know that paper qualifications aren't the be all and end all for this sort of role.

Just to put this into perspective, I applied to 50 companies (unsolicited, not in response to a job advertisement) - pretty much every company that I could find that did software development in a commutable range. I received a response from 10, of which 8 said sorry and 2 said we want to talk to you. Of the two I got offered 1 job and a 'thanks but no thanks' from the other.

If I can do it, you can too. Just be persistent.

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I have been programming since I was 11, taking it more seriously at about 14 (I'm 25 now). I can work with C#, WPF, php, xml, as well as mysql (I'm going to not list basics such as html, css, etc since the that's a given if you design web sites). I can do some asp.net but realistically I couldn't do it professionally if someone just said "well, design xyz systems" as I could with C# wpf/forms applications.

To sumerize why I am writing this post, my friend just got his 2 year degree and u helped him all through it no problem and was wondering what do you need to know to get an entry level programming job and work your way up?

I would be looking for someone that's interested in technology and has a drive to improve. It would be helpful if someone had a basic understanding of the technologies we're using, but that's not always realistic. It's entry level for a reason. I'd rather have a smart hard worker than someone that has a basic understanding of some technology, but very little drive.

 

I think some people get caught up in the language/framework qualifications. "Well, we're a Rails shop, but you only have PHP MVC experience. " The thing is, technology changes pretty quickly sometimes. I'd rather have someone that has a track record of being smart, and motivated. Framework and language skills can be developed. People rarely change, though.

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10 PRINT "I'M A NOOB"

20 GOTO 10

 

As a 23 year old COBOL programmer, that's not too far from the truth...

10000-ENTRY-LEVEL SECTION.
      DISPLAY "I'M A NOOB".

20000-UGH-COBOL SECTION.
      PERFORM 100000-ENTRY-LEVEL THRU 200000-UGH-COBOL.
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Thanks for the replies :) I love to learn new frameworks / technologies so I should fit in there. I used to use winforms, then when wpf came out with .net 3.0 I switched to learning that along with wcf, etc.

I'm currently learning how windows phone framework works since I already have a wpf/C# background, though my friends tease me for not learning java/android ;) I try not to overload myself. One thing at a time.

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On another note to avoid creating a whole new thread over it, does WPF/WCF have any kudos in the industry anymore outside of Microsoft? I hear that the WebAPI in ASP.NET MVC 4 has pretty much made WCF obsolete in many situations. I have a ton of knowledge in WCF, but haven't messed around with WebAPI/ASP.NET as much. That being said, from the little I have researched WebAPI it looks like a simplified version of WCF without having it do as much configuration to get going (though that's taken with a grain of salt since I have only messed with it for about a days worth of time).

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On another note to avoid creating a whole new thread over it, does WPF/WCF have any kudos in the industry anymore outside of Microsoft? I hear that the WebAPI in ASP.NET MVC 4 has pretty much made WCF obsolete in many situations. I have a ton of knowledge in WCF, but haven't messed around with WebAPI/ASP.NET as much. That being said, from the little I have researched WebAPI it looks like a simplified version of WCF without having it do as much configuration to get going (though that's taken with a grain of salt since I have only messed with it for about a days worth of time).

I wouldnt touch WPF.

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WPF is still the de facto standard for desktop application development, and yes it is used by many companies. It doesn't get much love from Microsoft inasmuch as they're not investing much into the desktop currently, but if you're doing desktop development then it's still probably the way to go.

 

As for WCF I have no clue.

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I'd say WebAPI w/OData is replacing WCF as time goes on, but WCF is still pretty prevalent.

 

We are an MS only shop and we use WebAPI and OData endpoints over WCF.

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mine was converting spaghetti code cobol into structured VB.NET. It was hell. I never did know what they programs actually were supposed to do.... honestly i don't think anyone knew what they were actually supposed to do. they were bank programs written in cobol 74


 

As a 23 year old COBOL programmer, that's not too far from the truth...

10000-ENTRY-LEVEL SECTION.
      DISPLAY "I'M A NOOB".

20000-UGH-COBOL SECTION.
      PERFORM 100000-ENTRY-LEVEL THRU 200000-UGH-COBOL.

you know in college i made it to my second week before i realized that my teacher was actually teaching. he was opening files and writing them..... it's something that you never see happening in C or Basic until half way through the average text book. i seriously thought he was goofing around and just showing off different feature more than anything else.

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Haha, speaking of spaghetti code, recently I looked back at my codes when I was younger.  And holy cow every other line was a goto statement.

 

See, my undergrad degree is in physics and my grad degree was in construction engineering.  Never had a day of formal training in programming.  I picked up everything myself.  So, back then, my favorite line of code was a goto statement.  It just seemed so convenient back then.  It wasn't until years later that I showed my sample code to a co-worker (for a short time, I worked as a programmer), and his head almost exploded.  I was like "what wrong?" 

 

Heck, my code nowadays still don't follow any of the rules that they teach you in school.  I don't comment at all.  For my sake, I put everything in blocks and all my methods and variables are named in plain language.

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WPF is still the de facto standard for desktop application development, and yes it is used by many companies. It doesn't get much love from Microsoft inasmuch as they're not investing much into the desktop currently, but if you're doing desktop development then it's still probably the way to go.

 

As for WCF I have no clue.

What's there to invest in, though?  The desktop has been around since before I was born.  I'm pretty sure what can be improved about the desktop has already been done.  Done to death.  Done to the end of the Earth. 

 

People often complain that currently MS doesn't give the desktop much love, but I see it differently.  All my desktop apps still work just as well in 8.1 as before.  Everything is still there.  What's new is the modern interface, which needs attention right now because it's new.  You don't try to heal the healthy.  You try to heal the sick. 

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What's there to invest in, though?  The desktop has been around since before I was born.  I'm pretty sure what can be improved about the desktop has already been done.  Done to death.  Done to the end of the Earth.

WPF has many areas that could be improved. There's no support for Direct3D 10+, the geometry rendering is extremely slow, performance in general could be much improved, there are outstanding bugs with various controls, etc.

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all my methods and variables are named in plain language.

 

Same. Self documentation.

 

When I come back to my code I almost never need to read my comments because my naming convention is quite natural-language-esque.

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