The world of coding and tech is growing and taking shape even more. The demand for technical talent is at an all time high, and the demand to learn is at an all time high. But being someone that has been in the hiring seat for many years, I can tell you that there are a lot of mistakes that beginner programmers make when they want to pursue a career in development. And these are things that most companies don’t tell people just starting out. So I’ll be more than happy to share this information about the different mistakes you want to avoid when pursuing a development career. Avoiding these mistakes will help you be an irreplacable asset anywhere you go. While I’m telling you this I’m going to play through some Streets of Rage Remake because in my off time I do like to get some gaming in here and there. Let’s get started.
I want to learn THIS language and THAT language.
I’m just going to start out with the big one. One thing that most, if not all companies do, is follow the technology trends. There are so many different languages and the title of being the hottest language changes very often. For a little while it was Pascal, then C, then C++, then ASP, then Java, then PHP, then Ruby on Rails, and now Python. Next it will probably be GoLang. And I know I missed a bit because again, it changes very often. When I gave this list, I’m sure that many of you have heard these languages and got a quick trigger of memory from hearing them. That’s what happens in this development industry. Whatever’s considered the top language other companies follow and then they start looking for talent in those languages. So then people decide, and we’ll use Python for instance, decide that, “Hey, I want to get into programming, so maybe I should learn Python so that I can get one of these jobs out here.” While that’s somewhat true, let’s say that you learn Python, get that dream job, and in 6 months the company decides that they want to shift to Golang, which is a up and coming language provided by Google. How will you adapt to this new direction? You’ve put so much time into learning Python and the company isn’t going to give you the same amount of time to learn Golang. And once they see that you’re not picking Golang up as fast as they would like, you can kiss that dream job goodbye. This happens all the time. So, The first thing that a beginner programmer should do is first learn the fundamentals of reading and writing programming languages. Because if you can understand the fundamentals of what makes a programming language, you can adapt to ANY programming language. Because they all follow the same rules and fundamentals. They just have slightly different ways about executing those rules. You really could equate programming languages to speaking languages. A person who speaks English versus someone who speaks KiSwahili both use punctuation to give direction or emphasis to their sentences. But the words used in both languages are different. If you know how to use punctuation and the fundamentals of reading and writing, you’re at least able to tell that the other language is asking a question, for instance. Same logic is applied to programming languages. If you know the building blocks of what makes a programming language a language, then adapting to a new language and understanding it’s subtle nuances will be much faster. And that means you are way more marketable because you’re able to keep up with a company’s constant changing in direction. Even your own constant change in direction. Because a career in tech doesn’t necessarily mean working for a company because you can also own your own. Don’t ever count that possibility out. I actually encourage it.
My plan is to go to school and get this degree. Once I get it, I’ll get a development job EASILY.
As someone who thought this same way when I graduated from college, it does not work out that way at all. It doesn’t matter if a company has an entry level position available. Back when I graduated, there were these entry level programs that professed that they would take a college grad to build them up. But what they didn’t say was that They want you to have at least 1 to 3 years of work experience. I know right? How can I get work experience when I’m just graduating? Again, this isn’t something they tell you. There are many different ways that you can get work experience while in school or even outside of being in a degree program. Because a lot of companies are valuing experience well above someone having a degree. But degrees do make it slightly easier to get in. If you’re in college, your best bet is to find internships and training programs starting your freshman year. Because once you graduate you’ll have accumulated at least 3 years of work experience and a degree, which makes you a lot more marketable for entry level positions. I know companies profess entry level, but truth be told, they don’t have the time to properly build someone up and train them to be a highly efficient developer. They only have time to train you in what THEY are doing. They want you to already have the fundamentals instilled, and if the training could be done within 2 weeks, all the better. If that. So internships and training programs are huge. Even bootcamps help more than simply having a degree. But it also depends on what the bootcamp teaches. Our program, Digital Brilliance Hour, is a combination of both a bootcamp and internship. We teach fundamentals and give you real world experience and by the time you’ve completed all of the program, you’d have at least 3 years of work experience that you can show, or use that experience to build your own company. You’ll learn about all the different factions of a company and development. If you want to learn more about this program and how you can get involved, feel free to go to digitalbrilliancehour.com, link in description, to find out more. You know, maybe after you watch the video.
If I get into programming, I can make around $100k+ a year easily.
Let me give a disclaimer first. I am in no way trying to say that you can’t make any money in this field. But I would rather you have an accurate view of what you’re getting into. So typically an entry level developer averages around $40K. Reaching up to $120K and above means that you are a manager of some sort, or senior level. The higher you go, like a director and above, that’s when you’ll see money like $170K and above. But right off the bat, no. So if you’re going into this thinking that if I get me an entry level job right out of college, that I’ll be set, stop thinking like that. I will say, however, that working for a company gives you access to benefits, 401K that can be maximized, and even stock options. There are 3 kinds of workers. We all fit within these categories, I feel.
- Someone who wants to work for a company and stay with them for 30 years to retire with benefits.
- Someone who wants to work for a company for experience in many different situations and learn about the business from that experience to then open their own business in some way
- Someone who owns their own business
Now when you own your own business or become a consultant, you may be liable to make those higher numbers a lot more quickly, but it will require a lot of business administration work, and that’s a totally separate video. But there are a lot of channels that are out there that talk about how to build successful businesses and passive income. A programmer can be essential in this overwhelming spike of small businesses opening up. So just saying. There’s enough work for everyone. So keep this all in mind. Working full time for a company seems safer as it’s steady, but you don’t make nearly as much as you’re worth. Owning your company, once the work is put in, and you’ve followed the steps to be in a position to be successful will definitely earn you a lot closer to your worth, as that’s something you control. It requires a lot more work. So choose wisely.
One more free nugget. If you are serious about getting into programming and development, we have a free checklist to help you train yourself to build up your engineering mindset. It’s full of tips that don’t require any technical knowledge as it’s more about training your mind and building it up for what’s needed in the development field. The link to get this free checklist is here.
Alright, I’m gonna stop right here, but I may make this a small series. Because I see a lot of mistakes that up and coming programmers just aren’t told so that they can bypass them. So look out for the next part to this in the few weeks. Again if you appreciated what was shared, feel free to leave a comment or ask any questions you may have as we are serious in helping with filling in any gaps people may have with regards to development. Also like this video to show your appreciation, share the video, and subscribe if you want to stay up to date with what we’re doing, and how you can be involved. Don’t forget the notification bell if you take this route. Check the description for any additional information to ensure you got all you could out of this video.
