How To Master Computer Programming

Many people who have taken an interest in tinkering with computer programming as a hobby or side project eventually end up pursuing it as a career full time. This applies even if the person‘s previous field of specialization is something that has nothing to do with computers, such as history or the theater. The reasons why a person diverges from his or her career path and dives into computer programming instead are as varied as they come. Mostly, however, these reasons have a lot to do with the benefits a computer programmer usually gets as part of his or her job.

Money is a big factor. Whether we admit it to ourselves or not, tech careers pay more than any other jobs out there in the market. Being a computer programmer is one of the more highly paid jobs to be had on the block right now. Contract programmers, or computer programmers who go freelance and work with companies on a per-project basis, for instance, get paid anywhere from $100 to $400 per hour. Computer programmers who are tied to a specific company as a full-time employee get paid less than contract programmers but the difference is not really that big.

Another factor that makes shifting to being a computer programmer so attractive is the flexibility it offers and the telecommuting possibilities available to the computer programmer. A contract programmer, for instance, has the choice of working on a project that he or she likes, and with a company that he or she likes. The work involved does not have to be confined to the office; it can be done at home, at the coffee shop, or anywhere that is convenient to the contract programmer. And if the work can be done outside the office, it can be done anytime the programmer pleases as long as the deadline is met. The same goes for most computer programmers fully employed by a specific company.

And yet another factor that makes being a computer programmer a great choice to start a career on or for shifting career paths is the fact that entry requirements are low and the training period involved can take as little as six months. A person looking into getting a job at computer programming can teach himself or herself the skills and the computer languages needed for the trade, or he or she can take a few short courses. A degree in computer technology or in computer science can provide an edge over the competition, but it is not really a requirement. The qualifications that most companies look for when hiring computer programmers are experience and mastery of one or so programming languages, and mastery of a programming language actually comes with experience.

Those of us who have been through the job hunting process know that there are many companies out there whose recruitment procedures have multiple layers, which are all meant to screen their possible candidates like a sieve. These layers are supposed to weed out the qualified from the unqualified, as well as to bring out the one most suited for the job among those who are qualified.

In the period that you are seeking a job in the tech industry, there will be times that a person from a company you submitted your resume to would call you up at home or on your mobile to ask you a few questions about the information you have put in your resume. This is a technical phone interview. It does not matter whether you are expecting this phone call or not, but it is important that you should take this phone call seriously. This is a part of the screening process of the company to which you applied for a job.

The technical phone interview can take you by surprise, but it is possible for you to breeze through it and get to the next stage of the process, which is the face-to-face interview. Here are pointers you need to bear in mind when doing a technical phone interview.

1. The person calling you would want to put a gauge on what computer programming language that you know and how well-versed you are in the software development process. As thus, you should be prepared to answer a number of basic technical questions about your chosen programming language. You do not have to recite your textbooks to your interviewer. If you know your subject matter and if you speak with confidence, you will be able to wing it.

2. Your interviewer would also ask you a few things about your resume, as if to verify some of the information you have put in there. Your interviewer may also ask you to elaborate on some points in your resume that he or she may have found interesting. So, it is important that you should be familiar with everything you wrote on your resume. Perhaps nothing is more embarrassing in a job interview than forgetting what you have put in there. Forgetting the contents of your own resume may also turn off your interviewer and score you negative points.

3. Because you are speaking over the phone, it is possible for the reception to be garbled. This is especially true when you are using a mobile phone or an Internet call client like Skype. Regardless of the case, you should speak clearly when talking with your interviewer. Do not mumble or eat your words, and get to the point of what you are trying to say. Doing this will not only prevent any difficulties with communicating with each other. It is also a show of your respect for your interviewer’s time, as you may not be the only applicant he or she has to call for the day. Also, smile during the phone interview. Your interviewer will not see you smile, but he or she will hear it in your voice.

Once you have submitted copies of your resume to the companies that you would like to work for, the next thing in store for you is to play the waiting game. That is, the next thing you should do is to wait for these companies to give you a call for an appointment for a job interview.

While the purpose of your resume is to introduce yourself to your prospective employers and to create a favorable first impression of yourself to these people whom you would like to work with, the job interview is the time you are supposed to nail what your resume has supposedly achieved for you. This is the one opportunity you have to convince your possible employers that they need not look at any other candidate for the job, and that the one they are looking for is sitting right across them. The job interview is your chance to shine with your future employers.

Many people get nervous with their job interview, and they have cause to be so. The job interview can be a tricky process, and although there are many sources on the Internet listing likely interview questions for a technical job interview, you would never really know what to expect. You should therefore prepare yourself for your job interview.

To up your chances of scoring high with your job interview, here are a few pointers you may want to keep in mind:

1. Look presentable. It is not just your knowledge and your competence that will be tested during your job interview. It is also how you present yourself. You will be selling yourself at your job interview, and packaging counts a lot. You would not buy a pack of noodles at the supermarket with lousy packaging, would you? There is no reason why your possible employers should, as well.

So, on the night before your job interview, make sure you get enough sleep so you would look fresh, rested and relaxed on your appointment. Wear a conservative business suit; make sure that your suit is clean and neatly pressed. If you are a woman, the job interview is not the time to wear your flashy clothes and jewelry. A few toned-down pieces of accessories would do, but do not overdo it.

2. Do your homework. Before you show up at your job interview, be certain that you are armed with as much information as you can get about the company you are doing this job interview with, as well as the requirements of the job and the technical aspects that make you qualified for it. Letting your interviewer/s know that you know what they are all about and what is to be expected of you should you be hired gives you confidence and eases the flow of the conversation during this appointment. It also signifies that you are really knowledgeable with the job, as well as competent and a self-starter.

3. Ask and be asked. During the job interview, you should expect yourself to be asked unusual questions. These questions may throw you off a little, but that is the purpose of these questions. They are supposed to test how you will behave when faced with unusual situations, which you definitely will encounter in the course of your career.

Designing the overall look of a website and balancing this look with the supposed function of the website is the responsibility of the website designer. It is the job of the web designer to create pages that make up the website, putting in the images and the text, incorporating features such as community chatting and forums, search engines, e-commerce applications, animations, applications that will allow visitors to interact with the website, and other such features and add-ins. While balancing the overall look and function of the website, the web designer is also supposed to make sure that the website will remain accessible to users regardless of the computer and browser they are using, as well as compatible with the technologies that support it. The performance of the website, whether it generates traffic and sales, depends on the quality of work the web designer put into it.

Typical Activities of the Web Designer

In order to accomplish a job, the web designer typically does the following tasks:

1. Take part in planning sessions with the website development team and the client to discuss the requirements for the website

2. Collect articles, images and other material for the website

3. Write up code that will generate the pages to be put up in the website

4. Test the performance of the website and participate in monitoring the said performance

5. Provide user support for the website

6. Update the website content on occasion

Industry Prospects for the Web Designer

In the nineties, during the dot.com boom, many people thought that the limits of the Internet have already been reached. But while the dot.com startups that had their heyday back then have mostly fizzed out, the Internet continues to grow by leaps and bounds. There are millions of websites on the Internet, and that figure is yet to grow a lot further. We are still on the tip of the iceberg that is the Internet; as long as the Internet continues to grow, there will always be work for the web designer.

The challenge for the web designer is to keep abreast of the development of technology surrounding the Internet, and to keep updating his or her knowledge on the different extensions that support HTML.

The average salary pegged for web designers in 2006 was $54,159, with average bonuses at $1,066.

The Necessary Skills

Web designers often have a background not in computer programming but in fine arts, graphic design and publishing. It is necessary for them to know how to work with software like Dreamweaver, Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, Paint Shop Pro and other such software. How to work with Flash, XHTLM and XML programming and other such applications are also a must. Web designers also need to be familiar with working with different kinds of operating systems, i.e. Windows, Macintosh and Unix. The ability to work within a team, as well as good communication skills when interacting with clients and the team, are also skills that the web designer must cultivate.

Finding the Job

A software tester is an IT person who is involved in checking the integrity and functionality of a software as it goes through the various stages of the software development cycle. In a nutshell, a software tester is someone who analyzes code in order to catch bugs.

Although a software tester is often a part of the team responsible for software quality assurance, it is not always his or her responsibility to assure the quality of the software, unless he or she is specifically tasked to do so. The job of a software tester is to ensure that the software will be running smoothly and efficiently.

Typical Activities of the Software Tester

A software tester usually does the following activities on the job:

1. Develop designs, tools or procedure for testing software and update them on a regular basis

2. Take part in product designing and reviews to check for possible problems in development

3. Create a schedule for testing software

4. Test the compatibility of software with programs, network environments, hardware or operating systems

5. Document and report bugs found during testing to the software developers

6. Create and maintain a catalogue of bugs and defects that were discovered during software testing

7. Monitor efforts in removing and correcting bugs in software

8. Monitor software performance

9. Look into problems reported by users of the software as referred to by the software’s technical support

Industry Prospects for the Software Tester

As our society becomes more and more dependent on technology and its uses, and as the end users of software become more and more demanding and discerning about how their gadgets and their software should work for them, the need for good, high-quality software becomes greater. Such software that answers to the growing needs of people nowadays, however, is also growing more and more complex. The need for software testers who can skillfully wade through pages of code to catch whatever bugs in them remains great.

How much does a software tester earn catching bugs in code? The average falls at around $73,412, with bonuses amounting to around $4,802 as of the fourth quarter of 2006.

The Necessary Skills

Because it is a software tester’s job to catch bugs in code, using bug-catching software that he or she probably designed, the software tester needs to be a master of one or two programming languages, just like any computer programmer. It is also necessary for a software tester to have a good grasp of the software development cycle, the different methods and tools of software testing and the current trends in the industry. An analytical mind and the knowledge of proper documentation, as well as the ability to communicate and to work with other people within the team, are also skills that a software tester needs to cultivate. Report writing and technical documentation, and working with word processors, spreadsheets and HTML documents are also needed.

Finding the Job

Typical Activities of the Software Project Manager

The usual tasks that a software project manager undertakes are:

1. Acts as liaison officer between the team and the company management for the project.

2. Drafts a working schedule for the planning, completion and implementation of the project, as well as the budget and materials needed

3. Writes reports and documentation concerning the project

4. Draws up a budget schedule and ensures that this schedule is met

5. Participates in the testing of the software and addresses quality issues

6. Participates in the training needed for end-users of the software

7. Keep abreast of industry trends

8. Provides technical support for the software developed when needed

Industry Prospects for the Software Project Manager

As consumers’ needs and demands for the software they are using become more and more complex, it is becoming necessary for the software project manager to be versatile. Not only should the software project manager know the technical side of the software project he or she is managing, but he or she should also have a good grasp of the business side of the deal. Being a software project manager is not an entry level position. Typically, the people who are called in to become software project managers come from software development. The more experienced a software project manager is, the more desirable he or she gets for the job. Project management certifications are also the norm now for software project managers.

In 2006, software project managers earned an average of $89,766 for the entire year, with bonuses amounting to around $7,222. Software project managers are highly compensated and very much in demand.

The Necessary Skills

Software project managers need to be a master of one or two programming languages, with an excellent grasp of how coding and the software development process works. In addition to the usual computer programming skills necessary, software project managers need have leadership, training and management skills. An analytical and critical mind is essential to the job, not to mention a wide experience in software development. The ability to work with people, to communicate with them in both verbal and written means, is a must. The knowledge of word processing and spreadsheet applications, basic Internet operations and documentation is also needed.

Finding the Job

The position of software project manager is not an entry level position. People get this job through promotion or through personal networking. There are, however, many headhunter websites that post company openings for this job.

Database developers or administrators are IT people who create or otherwise use software that are meant to sort out, store and manage information in such a way that these information can be easily retrieved and hard to lose, thereby adding to the productivity and efficiency measures of the company for which the database developer works for. The database that database developers form is supposed to work like a paperless filing system. The database developer is responsible for keeping this filing system accessible whenever it is needed and at the same time secure against unwanted access. The database developer is also tasked to update, back up and fine-tune the database on a regular basis. While most database developers work alone, in some companies, the database developer is made to work with a team of programmers in order to come up with a database system that is suited to the needs of the company he or she is working for.

Typical Activities of the Database Developer

The activities of the database developer often encompass the following:

1. Writing code for the database

2. Coming up with the necessary specifications for developing the code

3. Drafting the design of the database systems

4. Making sure that the database is reliable and running smoothly at all times

5. Performing administrative functions from time to time

6. Ascertaining that the integrity of the database is secure and cannot be breached

Industry Prospects for the Database Developer

Because many companies are now putting emphasis on databases rather than on paper-based filing systems, it is not unusual to find a database developer working in various field, be it in retail, in government, in schools, in financial institutions, in manufacturing – in virtually any place where the maintenance of a paperless database is seen as necessary. The work of a database developer is not very demanding, and while this work requires the database developer to sit at his or her desk for most of the week, many database developers are required to travel on the job every once in a while.

In 2006, the average salary for the database developer was pegged at $79,098 annually, with bonuses amounting to around $2,466.

The Necessary Skills

A database developer needs to know the following skills:

1. Mastery of a computer language

2. SQL programming

3. Oracle DBMS

4. Data modeling and warehousing

5. Database design and administration

6. Database performance tuning

7. Database security

A critical and analytical mind is a requirement for all database developers for them to be able to come up with an accurate and efficient database system. While database developers often work alone, it is not unusual for them to be placed within teams. Thus, the ability to work and coordinate within a team, as well as the capability of communicating easily both verbally and through written documentation is a must.

Finding the Job