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What are other things programming can do to help you get a job
A student who wants to be a #programmer
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Nicole’s Answer
Hi Steven H. Thanks so much for this interesting question!
In my experience, being a programmer not only helped me get and keep jobs...this skill set has helped me to be a better thinker.
I am not sure what your exposure to programming has been so far. Many people who venture into this space feel a little overwhelmed at first because the initial learning curve can be a little steep. Writing a piece of code that doesn't work the first time you try to run it can either be a demotivator or a reason to try a little harder. Guess which path I vote for? :) When programmers opt for the "try a little harder" path, they almost always get to the part where their code will run. And then, typically, they get excited and want to do more. Their next focus may be things like "how can I write my code to change the color of something" or "how can I write my code to make the little thingie move faster or turn right/left"...anything to demonstrate a new pillar of learning. I suggest that it is in this space of discovery where programmers become better thinkers because when there is a bit of success, the general thoughts begin to include "what can I do next to make this better" or "what are the most important things I can write in my code to make this service or tool the best it can be". Being able to successfully answer these types of questions requires thought and understanding.
In career spaces, the programmer is generally interested in writing code that provides results. Results on how to improve a task and/or insights on how several pieces of a project are performing.
I do hope that you find success in the field of programming and I hope that you find my answer to your question helpful. Best of luck to you!
In my experience, being a programmer not only helped me get and keep jobs...this skill set has helped me to be a better thinker.
I am not sure what your exposure to programming has been so far. Many people who venture into this space feel a little overwhelmed at first because the initial learning curve can be a little steep. Writing a piece of code that doesn't work the first time you try to run it can either be a demotivator or a reason to try a little harder. Guess which path I vote for? :) When programmers opt for the "try a little harder" path, they almost always get to the part where their code will run. And then, typically, they get excited and want to do more. Their next focus may be things like "how can I write my code to change the color of something" or "how can I write my code to make the little thingie move faster or turn right/left"...anything to demonstrate a new pillar of learning. I suggest that it is in this space of discovery where programmers become better thinkers because when there is a bit of success, the general thoughts begin to include "what can I do next to make this better" or "what are the most important things I can write in my code to make this service or tool the best it can be". Being able to successfully answer these types of questions requires thought and understanding.
In career spaces, the programmer is generally interested in writing code that provides results. Results on how to improve a task and/or insights on how several pieces of a project are performing.
I do hope that you find success in the field of programming and I hope that you find my answer to your question helpful. Best of luck to you!
Updated
Nir’s Answer
So many different jobs aside from software engineer require some level of coding these days and that's only going to increase. Data scientist often write python scripts, researchers use R to put together research models, and although it might not strictly count as coding, advanced excel formulas are used by a plethora of data modeling works across many industries. This will only keep increasing as we become more dependent on automation in our daily lives, programming is a very useful tool even if you don't want to become a straight up programmer.
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Max’s Answer
Creating hobby projects for fun, or small contract projects for pay (like small business websites) is a fantastic way to get demonstrated experience that you can talk about later. You can also get badges and certifications on sites like freecodecamp.org, which you can add to your resume.
Any problem you can solve with code, results in useful code for someone else and is worth publishing. Anything you publish can be part of your resume.
Beyond software development, coding skill is valuable for many programmer-adjacent roles, in case you want to work for a tech company while doing something like QA, finance, account management or IT work. Being able to script a spreadsheet, construct a testing plan or work directly with a customer to solve code problems are examples of how programming knowledge can help you outside of a software engineer role.
Any problem you can solve with code, results in useful code for someone else and is worth publishing. Anything you publish can be part of your resume.
Beyond software development, coding skill is valuable for many programmer-adjacent roles, in case you want to work for a tech company while doing something like QA, finance, account management or IT work. Being able to script a spreadsheet, construct a testing plan or work directly with a customer to solve code problems are examples of how programming knowledge can help you outside of a software engineer role.
Updated
Ann Marie’s Answer
Hi Steven,
Great question 😊. Programming has helped me to be a logical thinker. The programming courses I had in college gave me the skills I needed to land my first job. With each job I had I was able to learn new skills that benefited me throughout my career. I was able to move up the ladder and earn more money. I think any technology courses that you can study are beneficial to you and can be carried over to other areas of a job. Learning applications like Microsoft Excel and Access are tools that you use often in business, too. I started out as a COBOL programmer in 1984 and fast forward to today, where I have developed done pretty cool applications in Access and coding in VBA. It's a win win situation! Go for it!😊
Great question 😊. Programming has helped me to be a logical thinker. The programming courses I had in college gave me the skills I needed to land my first job. With each job I had I was able to learn new skills that benefited me throughout my career. I was able to move up the ladder and earn more money. I think any technology courses that you can study are beneficial to you and can be carried over to other areas of a job. Learning applications like Microsoft Excel and Access are tools that you use often in business, too. I started out as a COBOL programmer in 1984 and fast forward to today, where I have developed done pretty cool applications in Access and coding in VBA. It's a win win situation! Go for it!😊