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What would be a good way to build experience before jumping into the computer engineering field.
I want to do something involving fixing/ building technology, but I don't know where to start.
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5 answers
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Akanksha’s Answer
You can start by practicing data structures and algorithms, and fix the bugs in your own code while building your logic.
Updated
Daniel’s Answer
Hello Leviticus,
It really depends on the knowledge you already have : if you have already learned about programming and computer science basics, I would recommend either building a project that motivates you (think of a problem you have in your life and try to solve it !) or maybe contributing to an open source project by fixing a small bug for example. The latter option would give you insight on the organisation of bigger IT projects.
However, if you're new t o computer science, I'd recommend taking a course with some practical exercices : pick a course where you can see that every few lessons end with a small project to build. That will give you a good experience of how such work feels quite fast !
It really depends on the knowledge you already have : if you have already learned about programming and computer science basics, I would recommend either building a project that motivates you (think of a problem you have in your life and try to solve it !) or maybe contributing to an open source project by fixing a small bug for example. The latter option would give you insight on the organisation of bigger IT projects.
However, if you're new t o computer science, I'd recommend taking a course with some practical exercices : pick a course where you can see that every few lessons end with a small project to build. That will give you a good experience of how such work feels quite fast !
Updated
Fred’s Answer
well...what do you want to do? Computers have long been a popular area for hobbyists. You can usually find a cheap PC tower and tinker with it - pull out pieces, put them back, replace with new ones. There are tons of online tutorials - a huge boon that people my age didn't have back in the day.
If you want to learn to code, it's even easier. Again, there are lots of places you can find tutorials on coding, and you can mess around at home. Pick some topic/problem that interests you, and work towards coding it. Don't pick anything TOO complicated (i.e. "I'm gonna write a Fortnight killer app!!!") for your first go, but something simple and useful.
You can also look into community colleges (not sure how old you are) to see if they offer a class that might help you figure out what you like.
If you want to learn to code, it's even easier. Again, there are lots of places you can find tutorials on coding, and you can mess around at home. Pick some topic/problem that interests you, and work towards coding it. Don't pick anything TOO complicated (i.e. "I'm gonna write a Fortnight killer app!!!") for your first go, but something simple and useful.
You can also look into community colleges (not sure how old you are) to see if they offer a class that might help you figure out what you like.
Thank you for sharing your perspective.
quinten
Updated
Marissa’s Answer
You could start in a few ways:
1) Do your research online - Look into various career paths & required skills
2) Set-up a LinkedIn account - Use this to network with professionals in the field & request informational interviews (exploratory conversations with them)
3) Take advantage of free training & other resources on this topic
4) Depending upon where you are in your education journey, apply for internships (even the non-paid ones are a great way to build experience)
1) Do your research online - Look into various career paths & required skills
2) Set-up a LinkedIn account - Use this to network with professionals in the field & request informational interviews (exploratory conversations with them)
3) Take advantage of free training & other resources on this topic
4) Depending upon where you are in your education journey, apply for internships (even the non-paid ones are a great way to build experience)
Updated
Sergio’s Answer
Learning to code/program is an absolute must if you want to go down the Computer Engineering route.
A good way to build experience is to start learning to code. It can be overwhelming in the beginning if you don't know what kind of coding you'd be interested in. If you like tinkering with physical pieces of a computer, I would look into embedded systems related projects. For example, Raspberry Pis and Arduinos can serve as great platforms for small Computer Engineering projects. If you like working with circuits, sensors, motors, etc. this would be a nice route.
If you think you would prefer pure software, you could start by looking into building apps (mobile, web apps, games, etc.) There's a lot of free sites that can help you build apps with no experience needed. Either of these routes would teach you programming and give you a really good head start for your degree.
I would suggest searching online for projects that interest you, then exploring the skills required for those projects, as opposed to looking into the broad scope of Computer Engineering related jobs.
See if there are hackathons in your area. These are events where individuals or groups of people spend multiple days creating projects from scratch. There might be some cool projects that interest you and help you figure out what experience you'd like to build.
A good way to build experience is to start learning to code. It can be overwhelming in the beginning if you don't know what kind of coding you'd be interested in. If you like tinkering with physical pieces of a computer, I would look into embedded systems related projects. For example, Raspberry Pis and Arduinos can serve as great platforms for small Computer Engineering projects. If you like working with circuits, sensors, motors, etc. this would be a nice route.
If you think you would prefer pure software, you could start by looking into building apps (mobile, web apps, games, etc.) There's a lot of free sites that can help you build apps with no experience needed. Either of these routes would teach you programming and give you a really good head start for your degree.
Sergio recommends the following next steps: