Leveraging Development Skills in Other Fields? 57
It Can't Be All Bad asks: "I've been working as a programmer for a few years now, and I really love the work. I'm trying to think ahead of possible ways to leverage my skills into more specific areas where programmers are welcome and can find work. Areas like bio and chemical informatics appear very interesting ,but for the most part they seem to be for chem/bio majors with masters degrees. My biggest problem is that I'm self taught with only about a years worth of college experience. At this point in my life (with a family, kids, and bills), going back to school just isn't an option anymore. I wanted to know if anyone has had any success utilizing their development skills in specific fields that don't require masters degrees, and what areas I could be overlooking. Like most people here, I just want to be a part of exciting projects with some sort of purpose behind them."
My Findings (Score:4, Insightful)
if you don't have the papers you must show your experience - best to start out small as they are the most likly to let you try - and if you can prove your self you can open doors..
but on the other hand i went back to the small company because i like the work better and the people are nice and not just out for a paycheck
Re:My Findings (Score:2)
I am almost afraid to ask, but what field is this again???
Re:My Findings (Score:1)
Re:My Findings (Score:2)
It has been a great ride. I am getting ready to return to school and leave IT, but I have no doubt they wo
Find where your prospective peers hang out (Score:3, Informative)
There are some college-level statistics courses available for free, too - I think MIT has one.
This method will work for any semi-advanced but not too esoteric field these days. Those internets, amazing things.
Look for a tie in. (Score:4, Interesting)
I did the exact opposite of your question (leveraged other skills to get into development), but I suppose the concepts are the same. I have a dregree in history from Penn State, but since I was wee ittle I've been tinkering with computers. Hell, I broke the computer so many times when I was little my Mom had to have her company's tech guy come out and lock it down so I couldn't screw it up again.
At this point - pretty much 15 years later (8-23) - I'm an experienced network admin and web developer regardless of whether or not I've had formal instruction in them (I took Intro to C++ at Penn State before getting forced out of the Computer Science program due to low grades - I went and got myself addicted to a MUD. But that's a differnet story. Heh.)
Anyhow. My specialization in history? The US Civil War. My job? I'm the one man IT department for these guys [civilwar.org].
Re:Look for a tie in. (Score:1)
In What Color Is Your Parachute? the author talks about identifying and marketing one's transferable skills. You seem to have done it perfectly. Congra
Sure... (Score:3)
Re:Reach out and educate someone. (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Reach out and educate someone. (Score:2)
It's not a matter of physical location, but of time and energy. Ten hours a week for education is a lot harder when you have little children who demand you play with them right now.
programming == problem solving (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:programming == problem solving (Score:1)
Find something that interests you (Score:4, Insightful)
Not to sound rude or anything but the best thing you can do is pick some area that you are actually interested in. You mentioned that you are interested because you can get work in those areas. You have a much higher chance of succeeding if you don't pick your career path based on potential jobs but truly on what you find fascinating. This will allow you to pick it up much quicker and if you express this interest in your work you will certainly do better work and be able to advance quicker. I am sure this might not be you, but there are way too many people that say they're interested in getting into Bioinformatics/Chemoinformatics/etc. I love the field and wouldn't want to work anywhere else, but it's dissappointed to see the applicants flooding with people who have no true interest, or experience for that matter, in any of the relevant fields.
Re:Find something that interests you (Score:2)
You can apply programming skills to lots of things (Score:4, Funny)
Re:You can apply programming skills to lots of thi (Score:2)
What a n00b. Using the idea of heterogenous multi-processing made me faster when working as a cashier because I used both hands and both feet to wave things past the bar code scanner.
Re:You can apply programming skills to lots of thi (Score:1)
I was once like you (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:I was once like you (Score:2)
Another thing to consider is that taking a professional and personal interest in something requires becoming a "domain expert" in that something, which requires experience and/or training and/or super-human dedication. Unless a company is willing to support this effort, a person can find themselves investing way too much personal energy for no guaranteed or even likely gain, especially if that energy leads down a very specialized path. If that specialization leads to a dead end, it results in burnout and
Re:I was once like you (Score:2)
That is one thing, but it's even worse: The people that can really pull something off are only the people that have already reached the top. If you want to get to the top, you'll have to get in the favor of the right people that are already there. Without it, you won't get anywhere, no matter how dedicated, smart you are, or how many bright ide
Going back to school (Score:2)
Personally, it seems to me (as a business owner) that when I hear things like this, it is the same as the person saying, "I want something bette
Re:Going back to school (Score:2)
Re:Going back to school (Score:5, Informative)
Newsflash: life is not fair. You can complain about how complicated it is and not step up to the plate, or you can stop complaining and do it. So, in the long run it is that simple: you either find a way to make it work, or you can stop wasting your time dreaming because it won't happen without your effort.
Make excuses or make an effort and find a way. One makes thing better. One does not.
Re:Going back to school (Score:1)
Re:Going back to school (Score:2)
None of that would have happened without his sacrifice.
But I can understand how, if you're into making excuses, you'd want to turn it arou
Re:Going back to school (Score:2)
Re:Going back to school (Score:1)
Re:Going back to school (Score:1)
Re:Going back to school (Score:2, Interesting)
Programming skills + subject competence(science, history, etc) = desirable person
Programming skills only = code monkey
People outside the IT department (managers, small business owners, potential consulting clients) are MUCH more likely to take you seriously with a degree in something. If you did get into something like cheminformatics and were able to learn some science as you go, that would be useful too. -
Re:Going back to school (Score:2)
I've found that on Slashdot there are a lot of people that claim to think logically yet get really emotional and respond with great passion and poor logic to a lot of posts. They seem completely unwilling or unable to listen to a point of view they don't want to hear.
When I posted that, I thought I'd get a ton of posts saying, "Oh, but it's so hard. You don't know how hard it is." I know what hard is. I went for years with no life and gaining over 100 lbs that I had to lose while starting my o
Re:Going back to school (Score:2)
Programming skills + subject competence(science, history, etc) + magic_piece_of_paper = desirable person
The truth is, for many subjects one can gain competence in them via home-based study, as long as one is willing to purchase the books, learn the subject, and buy the tools, parts, etc to actually practice the subject as a hobby. True, you can't do some things (medicine, dentistry, particle physics beyond a certain level, etc) - but most things are open if you are willing to apply the time,
Study at an online university? (Score:2)
Too bad no one told Bill Gates the above... (Score:1, Interesting)
Re:Autodidact. (Score:4, Insightful)
The point isn't for the programmer to go around and cure cancer. The idea is that while the medical and chemical engineers are great at what they do, they are not so great at computer science.
So you go into this field *to help them* do their work.
BTW to the OP I'd say look into the fields numerical analysis and informatics. The idea is that when you have to compute a *lot* of data knowing how to best use the processing power is important. It's also very important to know how to mitigate potential errors. And perhaps how to throw together a computation cluster or two.
Re:Autodidact. (Score:2)
Re:Autodidact. (Score:2)
I don't have a degree.
I designed and wrote a software system that saved a large financial instituion hundreds of millions of dollars.
I designed and wrote software to parse and find relations to different cellular results.
I wrote software to fire a laser in extremely percise time interval.
I get job offers very regularly.(real offers, not just fishing headhunters.)
Do not confuse lack of a degree as uneduated or untrained.
V
Re:Autodidact. (Score:1)
Did you invent the ATM? Other than that, I can't think of many applicaitons an individual could design and write that could save a financial instituion that kind of money.
Find something you can startf as hobby. (Score:2)
Get you degree anyway (Score:3, Interesting)
The harder, more difficult, more math intensive your degree the better. The sooner you can get it, the better.
Medical Imaging (Score:1)
My first degree is in electronic engineering, I then did a PhD in computer vision. I spent 6 years working in a medical school working on developing novel approaches to analysing MRI data (specifically neuro imaging). I now work for a large Pharmaceutical company working on medically imaging projects.
A lot of my work involves overseeing and developing imaging techniques and software as well as managing analysis projects internally and with numerous collaborators all over the
Security, System Programming and Financial (Score:1)
I work for a Stock Market with server side software. You can think otherwise, but the business rules for stock market are simple (if you stay away from Risk Software, where you will do lots of math). You will need to dea
Just give up now. (Score:2)
Re:Just give up now. (Score:2)
I mean, we all have to make sacrifices - but there are sacrifices, then there are Sacrifices.
I am in basically the same position as the poster, minus the kids (so I have a bit more leeway, I suppose). Given the changing conditions in the job market for software development, I consider myself lucky to have a job in the field. My skills and knowledge have helped, networking with friends, too, of course. Even
Re:Just give up now. (Score:2)
No.
Or go back to school part time. (My wife got here CPA certificate (which requires a bachelors degree) that way for example.)
Nope. Just someon
Re:Just give up now. (Score:2)
You sacrificed for your wife. So I guess your wife should just give up because she didn't sacrifice anything.
Re:Just give up now. (Score:2)
You might want to consider what the craziest job you would want, and go for it. No matter how outrages it seems to be.
Seriously. I know people who got great(to them) jobs by flying across the country and shmoozing. I know people who got jobs the weren't qualified for, and the company trained them.