IT Certifications and Careers (Official Discussion Thread)

[kevm3]

i been reading this whole thread and props to everybody who contributing in this and doing their thing in IT

here's my situation, just looking for a little insight on what i can expect:

i got a bachelor's in it/computer science (completed last year), i'm going to be starting a front end web developer/ programmer analyst training as of august 4th (i tested and was awarded a paid scholarship for it). i did some testing for my aptitude and i scored in the upper 10 percentile for it. it's a pretty detailed and will run up into the middle of december. we are gonna be in training Monday through friday from 9 am to 4:30 pm.

the training also will include insurance fundamentals and general insurance for IT support- once it's completed, we test and complete a certification for an AINS 24 General Insurance for IT and Support Professionals exam. we will also be trained in a programming language- C#

After all the training we hopefully should get an opportunity to work a paid internship with a local company for 8 weeks, to prove if we are a fit for the company.

i understand all the work that's ahead of me but i'm just wondering with all the training, does it put me in a good place for the future and will companies still downplay me- once i'm done with the training. just wanna know the chances i have. either way i'm gon grind it out- we just did an interview and an exercise for web designing and i actually enjoyed it so i'm looking forward to it

thanks in advance for any advice or feedback

With programming, either you can do the job or you can't. You can't cleverly answer your way around questions and hide behind paperwork as you can in some other fields. When it comes down to it, either the stuff you make will work or it won't. For front end web development, you will have to learn HTML/CSS and Javascript. With programming, you HAVE to pursue things on your own time and practice, practice, practice. Also, if they are teaching you C#, you need to be very careful, because although Javascript has C-style syntax, Javascript behaves very differently, especially in how it deals with object orientation. C#, Java and C++ are class-based, while Javascript is prototype-based. So if you're going to be a web developer first and foremost, do not expect Javascript to behave like C# or Java. It will save you a lot of trouble later.

 

[Type Username Here]

With programming, either you can do the job or you can't. You can't cleverly answer your way around questions and hide behind paperwork as you can in some other fields. When it comes down to it, either the stuff you make will work or it won't.

I can't stress this enough, especially for the bigger companies. If you don't know your data structures and algorithms, just don't even try.

It not only has to work, it has to be the most optimal solution and you have to explain what makes it so. Of course, there are a lot of programming jobs that are essentially like data entry, code review or debugging and they might require less knowledge of the theoretical and mathematical side.

 

[↓R↑LYB]

Damn I need to go on a sabbatical. January 1, I'm quitting my job and taking like 6 months off. I'm stressed as fukk mayne

I be just wanting to stay, home, smoke weed, and drink all day. Is that so wrong

 

[ReggieFlare]

Brehs, I've been working on this pretty big software project recently. At the start, I was primarily coming up with my own methods for solving some problems the company is having, so I was pretty much doing my own thing and having them integrate the solutions.

Now, I'm working on a different part of the project which requires me to understand the inner workings of a large portion of their code, but I've been pretty much given zero direction on where I should actually begin on this shyt. I mean, there are literally thousands of lines of code that I have to look through. There is no documentation that I know of to help me out either. Any of you brehs been in this situation and have some advice to offer? This is an internship btw

 

[kevm3]

Do you have access to any of the people who wrote the original code?

 

[ReggieFlare]

Do you have access to any of the people who wrote the original code?

Unfortunately no. There is only one senior engineer here that I can ask questions, but even he seems to be lost sometimes and just tells me to try and figure it out.

 

[kevm3]

Unfortunately no. There is only one senior engineer here that I can ask questions, but even he seems to be lost sometimes and just tells me to try and figure it out.

What you should do is start reading over the code and doing the best you can to 'document it' yourself. It'll probably take you several iterations of going over the code and slowly figuring out what everything does. The first time through the code, try to get the big picture of what each section is doing. The second time, third time, etc. through, figure out what some of the finer details are doing. You won't initially understand everything your first pass through the code, but when you get the big picture, you will start understanding how those sections you didn't understand before work.

Start commenting in the code and comment as if YOU wrote the code. After you get a general understanding of how everyone works, you can start rewriting sections of the code to make everything much more organized, readable and documented.

Does it sound like a lot of work? It might be, but it's way better than developer after developer coming in and throwing around code everywhere that no one but the original developer understands how it works. This process will save YOU a lot of headache in the future as well, especially if you're going to be working with this code for a long time.

 

[ReggieFlare]

What you should do is start reading over the code and doing the best you can to 'document it' yourself. It'll probably take you several iterations of going over the code and slowly figuring out what everything does. The first time through the code, try to get the big picture of what each section is doing. The second time, third time, etc. through, figure out what some of the finer details are doing. You won't initially understand everything your first pass through the code, but when you get the big picture, you will start understanding how those sections you didn't understand before work.

Start commenting in the code and comment as if YOU wrote the code. After you get a general understanding of how everyone works, you can start rewriting sections of the code to make everything much more organized, readable and documented.

Does it sound like a lot of work? It might be, but it's way better than developer after developer coming in and throwing around code everywhere that no one but the original developer understands how it works. This process will save YOU a lot of headache in the future as well, especially if you're going to be working with this code for a long time.

I hear you. I already decided to do all that but I was looking for an easier way out

 

[kevm3]

I've been gaining a fairly solid understanding of Javascript over the months, but a few points still need sharpening. It's time for me to master the harder parts of the language, such as closures, currying, and prototypical inheritance. Functional programming is quite strange. After that, I can begin learning the DOM thoroughly, then JQuery/AJAX and finally start working on my own web apps...

 

[el_oh_el]

I've been gaining a fairly solid understanding of Javascript over the months, but a few points still need sharpening. It's time for me to master the harder parts of the language, such as closures, currying, and prototypical inheritance. Functional programming is quite strange. After that, I can begin learning the DOM thoroughly, then JQuery/AJAX and finally start working on my own web apps...

You ain't lied about functional programming. Been doing some things with LISP and scheme for the last couple weeks as part of class.
One thing I'll say is these classes are completely boring. I really need to start on some of my own projects

 

[Beegio]

You ain't lied about functional programming. Been doing some things with LISP and scheme for the last couple weeks as part of class.
One thing I'll say is these classes are completely boring. I really need to start on some of my own projects

Help me design this Website I'm working on then.

I have a wedding website somebody wants me to do, and I'll break you off 50/50 for your help.

@kevm3 I know you know your html and css, so if you're able to help, let me know.

 

[Ricky43]

I quit my job as a janitor and started interning in the IT department at a local hospital since October 2013 for 10.00 an hour, about 2 weeks ago I got offered and accepted the position of basically the same thing I was already doing but with benefits and Full Time pay 26.50 an hour. I want to finish school I only have my associates degree, and possibly get into a leadership position. We do a lot of projects and I have my hands in basically everything, but I know in a few months I will get tired/bored of this and need to do more. I'm interested in possibly being a project manager. Besides what I did at my house and for my friends, I had no prior business experience in IT just personal.

 

[King Sun]

I quit my job as a janitor and started interning in the IT department at a local hospital since October 2013 for 10.00 an hour, about 2 weeks ago I got offered and accepted the position of basically the same thing I was already doing but with benefits and Full Time pay 26.50 an hour. I want to finish school I only have my associates degree, and possibly get into a leadership position. We do a lot of projects and I have my hands in basically everything, but I know in a few months I will get tired/bored of this and need to do more. I'm interested in possibly being a project manager. Besides what I did at my house and for my friends, I had no prior business experience in IT just personal.

congrats breh.

 

[kevm3]

@kevm3 I know you know your html and css, so if you're able to help, let me know.

what do they want you to do for the website?

 

[Beegio]

what do they want you to do for the website?

PMing you the details