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Education

Leveraging Development Skills in Other Fields? 57

Posted by Cliff from the all-those-years-of-training-aren't-wasted dept.
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."
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Leveraging Development Skills in Other Fields? More

Leveraging Development Skills in Other Fields?

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  • My Findings (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Amouth ( 879122 ) on Thursday May 11, 2006 @10:56PM (#15314859)
    I have found it well worth while to find jobs at small companies that are related to the field you are intrested in.. sure there isn't a huge ladder to climb up but you get a few years in the field and if your company is any good you get a good reputation.. then you can move up and to a larger company that is what you want.

    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 .. they want to see it get bigger.
    • ...they want to see it get bigger....

      I am almost afraid to ask, but what field is this again???

      • ok.. so that was a bad way of ending that post.. it was to have an implied refrence to the company......... crap that isn't ending any beter.. YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN..... :)
    • I agree. This is what I have been doing the past few years. The company I got in with after being laid off has grown from about 40 people to 120 in 4 years. IT started out as 3 of us doing programming and support and has grown to about 6 programers and 5 admins in 2 locations, many of whom I hired in. I have learned much about the problem domain, even having to explain it new hires in other departments!

      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)

    by Blorgo ( 19032 ) on Thursday May 11, 2006 @10:58PM (#15314871) Homepage
    Assuming it's informatics you want... Find out where the people who you want to be like hang out - Informatics blogs, IT Toolbox groups for informatics apps, etc. Just absorb for a while. Then get the to know the tools they use - there is uaually a way to get an evaluation copy or at least a white paper. Ask polite questions when you don't understand, and get to know the more kindly regulars. You CAN work in informatics without a subject matter degree, but it's harder - you need to be able to buddy-up with a scientist and do the computer things he does not want to, without becoming 'just the computer guy' (who is expected to do all the low-level computer stuff).

    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)

    by Southpaw018 ( 793465 ) * on Thursday May 11, 2006 @11:00PM (#15314882) Journal
    Look for a tie in. It's easier to squeeze it in the nonprofit sector.
    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].
    • Among my folder full of favorite cartoon strips: an edition of On the Fast Track, by Bill Holbrook from about 20 years ago. One of the characters says, "One good thing about computers is they provide an employment opportunity for history majors." I used white-out (remember that stuff?) to substitute "Spanish" for "history", but the sentiment is the same.

      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)

    by __aaclcg7560 ( 824291 ) on Thursday May 11, 2006 @11:01PM (#15314886)
    I'm using six years of video game testing experience on a help desk for a large corporation. Instead of dealing with clueless producers as to why the game shouldn't ship with fatal bugs, I'm dealing with clueless customers who can't find the ON/OFF switch. The hard part is not die laughing while the user is on the phone.

  • programming == problem solving (Score:2, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Although I mostly studied programming in my college Comp Sci major, most of what I actually learned (other than syntax) was problem solving. Self-taught or not, if you have what it takes to be a good programmer, you probably have what it takes to be good at other jobs which are about finding the solutions to problems. OK, maybe not social work or politics, but anything combining analytics with creativity... so if anyone asks about your academic credentials, point out what your real qualification is.

  • Find something that interests you (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 11, 2006 @11:06PM (#15314912)
    Find something that interest you, not where you think there are jobs...

    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.
    • I second this; find a field you are interested in. Also check out the local community/two year colleges, as well as ones in your state (many offer distance learning options). The community college I am attending offers distance learning, and the cost of an entire class with books is cheaper than a single credit hour at the university I used to attend. Your credits will probably transfer (giving you a leg up on a degree), and they will most likely actually apply towards something, without as many "underwater

  • You can apply programming skills to lots of things (Score:4, Funny)

    by menace3society ( 768451 ) on Thursday May 11, 2006 @11:28PM (#15314997)
    but do you really want to? The perspective on problem-solving gained through computer programming is useful for virtually any task repeated more than a couple of times. I worked in an industrial-strength kitchen popping things in and out of the oven, and knowledge of things like modularity, latency, pipelining, and resource locking made me an incredibly efficient baker. Using the idea of symmetric multi-processing made me faster when working as a cashier because I used both hands to wave things past the bar code scanner. Knowing how sorting algorithms made me really good at a desk job moving papers around based on index numbers.

  • I was once like you (Score:4, Insightful)

    by QuantumG ( 50515 ) <qg@biodome.org> on Thursday May 11, 2006 @11:36PM (#15315038) Homepage Journal
    Then I discovered that if I had absolutely no interest in what I was programming I didn't get depressed when management sabotaged it. So now I work for a megacorp and just code what they tell me to code. I get my "working on something interesting/important" fix by working on open source software in my spare time.


    • 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
      • when the reality is that only a person who is deeply in love with a particular field can pull off whatever super-cool thing is being pitched by teachers and parents

        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

  • As one of three kids, I remember as a young kid, seeing my Father have to go off on his own some nights to study and other nights he would not be home or have to leave right after dinner for classes. Don't make excuses. If you don't want to go to school, don't. If you want to go, go. Just don't make up excuses or let excuses get in the way of bettering yourself.

    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
    • "a family, kids, and bills" Do you know what this means? Because your daddy went to night school doesn't mean it's possible for this guy to get a masters degree at the same time as he takes care of his responsibilities. Life is more complicated than 'Just do it.'

      • Re:Going back to school (Score:5, Informative)

        by TheWanderingHermit ( 513872 ) on Friday May 12, 2006 @03:31AM (#15315871)
        It is more complicated and it isn't. I didn't go into all the details of what my family went through, but it included no money when the car needed repairs, the same dinner for many nights because there wasn't money to pay for more and other problems. Life is complicated, but you've got a choice: you either make your life better or you don't. Nobody will do it for you. I have yet to hear someone successful say, "I wanted to take classes and learn more or get more qualifications, but I just could not afford it, or just didn't have the time, or just couldn't do it." Yet I often hear comments like this from people looking for jobs that can't do the work well or say they want to be in management in a few years, but don't know how to get there and think somehow they'll work it out.

        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.
        • Amen brother. I've had this same conversation with a fair number of my peers. There are a significant number of folks that give the "I'd really like to do...x", and then never do. Either you do want it and you'll find a way (maybe not the ideal or envisioned way mind you), or you won't. Quite simple in the end.
        • Huh. I guess I agree with you, when put that way...I was reacting against the seemingly simplistic aproach to the question in your OP.
      • Life is more complicated than 'Just do it.' Actually it isn't. The simplicity of life is actually what makes things so damn complicated from time to time.
      • im glad someone said that...

    • Re:Going back to school (Score:2, Interesting)

      by berbo ( 671598 )
      As painful as it may sound to the original question-asker, I have to agree.

      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. -

      • Thank you.

        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
      • Actually, it's:

        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,

  • A degree can help to increase your chances of doing something you really want to do. Given your circumstances, perhaps an online university such as this one [phoenix.edu] could be just what you need.
  • There is a lot of areas where you don't need anything but your PC, net, arxiv.org and may be some not very expensive equipment. If you like bioinformatics you may want to check genetic algorithms - there was not much progress in that area lately, and that mean opportunities for a newbie. If you like chemestry check "artificial chemestry" and cellular automata it using. If you want work with you hand as well as do programming you may dabble into small-scale robotics, image recognition (and the subfield of fa

  • Get you degree anyway (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Zarf ( 5735 ) on Friday May 12, 2006 @08:22AM (#15316485) Journal
    even if you don't feel like you need it, go ahead and get your degree. It will pay off in the long run. Find a way to do it, go to night school, live off of your wife's salary, borrow, take part time contracts, go to overload classes. Get your degree.

    The harder, more difficult, more math intensive your degree the better. The sooner you can get it, the better.
  • Not sure this helps but heck...

    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
  • IMHO, System Programming, Information Security and Financial Systems are good areas to work, because you can focus in software. In Bio or Chem. you'll need to learn stuff not related to computers or CS stuff. It's good if you like to study different things, but I prefer to focus in software.

    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
  • "At this point in my life (with a family, kids, and bills), going back to school just isn't an option anymore."
    The just give up now. Getting ahead requires sacrifices - and it appears you aren't willing to make any, you want something for nothing. Ain't happening.
    • Are you suggesting his only job option then is to do some kind of "blue collar" or "manual labor" job?

      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

      • Are you suggesting his only job option then is to do some kind of "blue collar" or "manual labor" job?

        No.

        Perhaps if I didn't have a mortgage, bills, or a wife, I could consider getting a part time job somewhere and go back to school.

        Or go back to school part time. (My wife got here CPA certificate (which requires a bachelors degree) that way for example.)

        Your pithy answer seems to indicate that you are either relatively young, or just damn secure in the job (and/or skills) you have.

        Nope. Just someon

      • No kids?
        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.

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