Do I Need a College Degree To Get a Programming Job?

Programmers have the skill set of being organized, creative, persistent, analytical, paying attention to detail, communicating effectively, thinking logically, and using deductive reasoning. If you have some of those skills then you are already on your way to becoming a computer programmer. Do you love solving problems or like to know how things work? You may already have the mind set of a computer programmer already and you didn’t know it.

Assuming that you have some of that mindset, let’s look at how you can translate that into a computer programming job. It’s really not that difficult because you can get hired in today’s programming job market without a college degree. This is because when it comes to programming, employers put more emphasis on your ability to write good quality code than your educational credentials. Many programmers have taken advantage of this to forgo college and focus on developing their programming skills to the best of their ability.

This is why the term practice makes perfect is true in software development careers. You see, you need lots of practice in order to write good quality code that employers are interested in paying for. When I started learning programming more than a decade ago, I didn’t go out immediately and invest money on development tools, instead I downloaded free compliers and IDE’s (Integrated Development Environment) and you can too! There are free editions of Visual Basic.Net, C#, C++ and SQL Server to get you going in your programming career. Next, put the effort into writing useful software or web applications. You will learn a lot about design, adding software features, taking requests from users, business analysis, project management, requirements analysis, coding and debugging that way.

Do You Have What Companies Are Searching For?

So, you have prepared a resume, sent it over to hiring managers and are now getting ready for your technical interviews. Have you thought about what those employers are looking for? It’s essential to your programming career to be able to answer that question. In the programming job market, employers want to see that you can apply your skills to real business problems. They are looking for competent software development skills and to see if you can write good maintainable code.

Learn a Top Paying Computer Programming Skill and Get a Tech Job Easily

In any job market, no matter what type of job you are trying to get, having knowledge and experience with a particular skill can get you a job relating to that skill. Programming is not any different, if you have working knowledge of programming and experience programming you can get a job programming. Knowledge of programming can be gained from many sources. College is the first source that comes to mind, but the alternatives are to learn programming on your own or from a subject matter expert. Now days, you can read up on just about anything on the internet and it’s free; but you should probably invest in many different programming books that go into more detail so you can advance your skill level. Programming experience doesn’t strictly have to be from a previous job you have had. You can gain experience working with software development tools or from hands on training.

How to Get a Computer Programming Job without a College Degree

What you need to emphasize when looking for a computer programming job is your software development knowledge, coding skills and any programming experience that is related to the job you are interviewing for. If you don’t have a college degree emphasize the other skills you have attained, like your ability to learn technology quickly, how you keep up with technology or solve real programming problems. In other words, you have to prove to prospective employers or hiring managers that you can do the job well if given the chance. Make sure your prospective employer sees the list of programming projects you have completed in a short time, web sites or software programs you have built and a list of books and future projects you are planning to work on. Show your prospective employer that you have a beautiful mind and make the case that you are an asset to any one who hires you! If it turns out that you are having trouble getting a programming job because of a lack of experience, you can build experience by working as a programmer trainee or participate in an internship or even consider volunteer work. Also, keep an eye out for various job postings of interest to you. Even if you are not qualified yet it will give you an up to date idea of the skills and abilities that companies are looking for in the programming job market.

To get more software developer training, join the free newsletter at http://www.feedblitz.com/f/?Sub=82790 and visit http://www.becomeacomputerprogrammer.com/ You will get useful information on how to jump start your programming career, achieve the level of competency needed for the software development job market, get your resume in tip-top shape, ace your programming job interviews and get hired