Is a computer career a good start?

How to Start a Career in Computer Programming

• Answer:

  Computer programmer, software developer, and applications programmer are all interchangable terms for the same thing - a person who writes computer software. Almost every industry needs some form of software which means that programmers are almost always in demand. This article will outline the basic steps needed to start a career in computer programming. Difficulty: Challenging Instructions Make sure that that programming is something that you'd enjoy doing and that you have an aptitude for it. One nice thing about computer programming is that it's something you can teach yourself at home. There are an endless number of books and online tutorials for every programming language for you to explore. Invest some time in learning at least one programming language on your own. You should be excited and fascinated as you learn about it. In order to be successful in the field of software development you really need to enjoy what you're doing. Take some computer programming classes and ideally get a college degree. Prospective employers will need to see some sort of proof that you've learned to program. Just saying "I taught myself" isn't going to get you very far. At a bare minimum you're going to need a handful of completed courses. Realistically, you will most likely need a degree. Some companies actually require that applicants have college degree. Get an internship. Internships are the ideal way to gain real world experience. They have a low barrier to entry because the companies offering them are specifically looking for current college students or recent graduates. Companies will often offer full time positions to interns after they graduate. The most common ways to find interships are through career services at colleges or at career fairs. Look into contributing to an open source project. "Open source" is a term for software that gets developed by people donating their time to work on it. Open source projects are usually run by a small group of people who accept (or reject) code changes from contributors and incorporate them into the project. Well known examples of open source software are Linux, Firefox, and Open Office. Open source experience isn't as valuable as on the job experience but it does show employers that you have a passion for software development which is important. Once you've completed some combination of the above steps, put together your resume and start applying for entry level jobs. There are plenty of online job boards for software development positions, check the resources section for links.