How did you get a job as a professional programmer?

Can you get a programmer job without a college degree (and if your major is business and not computer science)? What language should you learn your first programming gig? And what job titles would you be going after on job search sites?

• If there's anything else you would suggest to an aspiring programmer please include it in your responses.

• Answer:

  I think the key is to realize that the big deal about a degree is the credential that gets you past the poor Human Resources looking for resumes to pass up to the hiring manger. Once you see that, you basically have three choices, as I see it. Replace the standard credential with something else.  Certifications have been mentioned.  A work history (contracting, for example) is also invaluable.  Other companies might be happy seeing StackOverflow and GitHub activity.  Contributing to Open Source projects has the advantage of showing how you work with groups, for example. Gimmicks have been known to work, including the biggest of them all:  Knowing someone at the company who can vouch for you. Find companies that don't have a (large) Human Resources department.  The folks at Human Resources use the degree as a proxy for "probably knows what they're doing."  If non-technical people aren't part of the equation, though, that filter goes away, because there are better ways to judge.  They can look at your Internet presence and experience for a few minutes and get a good sense of what you're about, because it's their world, too. As to what to learn, I find that's at least partly regional.  Your best bet is to look at all the listings in your area looking for only a couple of years of experience.  Whatever they're interested in, congratulations, that's now what interests you! If there are any real companies (rather than recruiters, but I guess try them, too), write explaining your situation and ask if you might set up what's now called an https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Informational_interview to get a sense of what you'll need (but don't ask it like that...).