Month: May 2014

Categories
General Tips

Follow these tips to get your first job as a software developer

During my last two years of studies, I interviewed with many different companies. Most of them required some experience in a programming language: Java, .Net, Php, etc. I had many friends that had part-time jobs working as web developers. For them, it was easier to secure a full-time job after graduation. For me on the other hand, the lack of experience hurt my chances to start my IT career right after graduation.

To help you get your first job as a software developer, I recommend you follow these tips:

  • Gain experience

The sooner you start your professional career, the better chances you have securing your first job as a software developer. Working part-time and going to school at the same, it’s no easy task. I highly recommend finding a part-time job during summer or find an interesting open-source project where you can apply your knowledge. Employers want students that not only have the academic projects on their resume but also can list real life projects on their resume.

  • Keep investing in your education

Information Technology is a fascinating field. It is always changing. With this in mind, you have to keep investing in your education. If you learned .Net or Java during college and you feel that having learned those programming languages is enough, you are wrong. Pick up a new programming language. Right now, Javascript skills are in high demand. Perhaps you want to learn Ruby on Rails, or Python. What about mobile development? Android and IOS developers are also in high demand. I encourage you to buy books or subscribe to online courses to help you learn new languages.

  • Embrace change

The only constant is change. Embrace it. Many years ago, Android and IOS did not existed. However, every year we saw that phones were becoming smaller in size and powerful. Some said that phones are mini-computers. Software developers need to be ready to change. The technology that is popular today may not be popular tomorrow. Software developers need to have an open mind to technology change.

I hope these tips will help you find your first job as a software developer.

Categories
.Net ASP.NET Beginners

How I learned .Net

I graduated from Southern Methodist University in 2001 with a bachelors degree in Management Information Systems. During my studies, I took classes in HTML, Javascript, Visual Basic 6 and Java. I interviewed with different companies but was unable to secure a full-time job in IT. So I decided to help my parents with their small furniture store in Dallas, TX.

While working at the furniture store, I learned so much about running a business. I learned about marketing, sales, accounting, managing people, and of course about IT. However, my desire was to work as a software developer. So I decided to learn .Net framework and specifically asp.net.

At the beginning I read many articles online about this new framework created by microsoft. .Net framework was the buzz word and I knew I had to learn it to secure a job as a software developer.

It was time to take action and start writing code. The online articles helped me a lot to understand the basics but I needed a mentor, a guide to write my first .net application. To accomplish that task, I bought this book:

Beginning ASP.NET 1.1 with Visual C# .NET 2003 by Wrox.

With the help of this book, I was able to setup my development environment and create my first asp.net site for the furniture store.

I highly recommend the books by Wrox specially the beginning series because they walk you step by step in learning a new programming language or framework.

I hope this article inspires other developers to start learning and creating projects.