I am a recent graduate with a diploma in programming (Community College hurray) and I am struggling to sell myself as a potential employee to companies seeking programmers. All job postings seem to require a “Bachelors’ degree in computer science or equivalent experience”.
Clearly I do not have a bachelor’s degree – or any experience for that matter. I am asking for anyone here with some experience to shed some light and please suggest some portfolio items that I can include when applying for jobs that will make employers more interested. I have the strongest experience with C# and less experience with C++. I have worked with Java, VB.NET, JavaScript, CSS, PHP, etc. but not enough to even consider myself confident in them. I have studied enough database knowledge to work my way around MSSQL/tSQL, creating and maintaining a database (Stored procedures, etc.).
I have a clear grasp on separating layers of applications (UI/Business/Data) and working with databases to retrieve information from them, populating the UI layer effectively and using stored procedures top manipulate/change the database.
Would it be smarter to build one “bigger” application that highlights different points of knowledge? (Data/Business/UI layer abstraction, working with databases, UI design, multithreading, etc) or would you recommend several smaller applications that illustrate these points? Any examples of your choice that would make a good portfolio item to work on?
Thank you for your time.
TL;DR don’t want to lose my college education troubleshooting smartphones, please recommend some portfolio pieces to show employers
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Anonymous2011-07-18 18:24
posting on /prog/
reding sicp
lunix
anonix
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Anonymous2011-07-18 18:26
>/prog/
>because /g/s basement isn't dark enough
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Anonymous2011-07-18 18:33
You don't have a sizable school project to put on your resume that you can talk about?
You really should go for your bachelor's degree and get an internship or two while you're at it.
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Anonymous2011-07-18 18:51
The issue with internship is that I need to support both my parents as well as pay off my current student debt. It looks like i'm going to need to contribute to an open source project or two - I don't feel confident in my school projects so perhaps re-doing those wouldn't be a bad idea either.
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Anonymous2011-07-18 19:04
If your school projects are of high enough complexity, it should be enough to show that you know what you're talking about and that you can learn.
Even with a few toy project, getting started without an internship to show for experience will be an uphill battle.
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Anonymous2011-07-18 19:17
Although internships aren't really ideal, they're really the only way to build up a nice resume well when you don't have any other previous experience, especially in such an over-saturated field like programming. Unfortunately, ``entry-level'' jobs still require experience.
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Anonymous2011-07-18 19:35
I don't have a degree of any kind, and I make pretty good money. The problem is, people are looking for experienced coders. Obviously, a junior position would be good, but failing that, apply for a job that allows you to program without actually being a programming job - you'll get the experience, and you'll start being able to talk well on a technical level.
Of course, you'll be teaching yourself, which is not a great way to learn, but as I say it can work.
· Substantial patches to the Linux kernel
· Custom 3D engine with real time heuristic ray tracing
· Toy language based on a nonsensical combination of obscure programming paradigms
· Automatic smartphone troubleshooting system
· RDBMS from scratch
DO NOT DO:
· *nix window manager
· Any random vanity feature patches to FLOSS projects
· Java programs targeted at regular users
>>8 Of course, you'll be teaching yourself, which is not a great way to learn,
speak for yourself. It's the only way I can learn.
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Anonymous2011-07-19 15:34
>>8 Of course, you'll be teaching yourself, which is not a great way to learn, but as I say it can work.
Most CS courses are horrible Java or Sepples-based piles of poo-poo. It is much better to do self-teaching using SICP and experimentation.
Make something simple, but make it complete. If you make a finished product then employers can see that you know how to manage a project and you can get the job done. If it has some nifty features in it then even better. This also isn't something like generic Breakout clone with flat, non-shaded blocks. Make the blocks look like they stand out. Make noises when the ball hits something. Have a few menus to go through everything. Just make it done.
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Anonymous2011-07-20 13:46
>>19 lol, owned, boner, sex, BIGSODA, woah whats going on,
I don't think NOEING is a word, but it breaks the monotonicity of the sequence. lol, sex, crap, FIND ALL THE RANDOM WORDS BABY~~~~, penis, lolm, o.o breaks the sequence again, but it's not a word. rape, sex, lolz, wowwow, lol, beeep is this the bathroom, snemt breaks the sequence. I have no idea of what it means. ROEL does too. lol, runt, rape, sex, rackem'up, beep, SMOKE, rape, beep, ay breaks the sequence, not a word? jade, lol, lol, FINDALLTHERANDOMWORDSBABY~~~~
You sure did a shitty job at hiding the words.
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Anonymous2011-07-20 14:10
>>21
Damn it, I thought it was some encoding and I was analysing it when I felt some organism entering my butthole.