

Special Case: Reverting to Software Engineering Career - saamirz

Hey,<p>I&#x27;m a Computer Scienece Graduate (2010 Batch). After Graduation I joined an MNC as a Sales Engineer (..for an entirely different field..Industrial Automatiom..dumb move !..I know..it was the money I guess..) Its been almost 4 years and now I would like to switch to Web Dev field as my current job sucks and I don&#x27;t foresee any professional growth. I have already started learning Rub on Rails, Javascript, HTML, CSS..plus I am aready enrolled in Stanford&#x27;s CS106A course to catch up on the basics. I am at a cross road - Join a Coding bootcamp or go for a Masters degree in Computer Engineering. Getting a Masters degree is a lot of commitment interms of time and money..and joining a coding bootcamp in US&#x2F;Canada means I wont really get a job in Us&#x2F;Canada as I will be an international Applicant. I&#x27;m 26 years old..is it too late to switch back now..I just dont know what to do ?? Pls  Advice... :((
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jasonkester
That's an easy one. You don't need a Masters to work as a computer programmer.

Having an undergraduate degree of some form is handy, as it will prevent
certain doors from closing and ensure that you don't end up having to put in a
few years at a lowball rate. But a Masters degree doesn't really tick any
boxes for pretty much anybody in this industry. It might get you a few grand
extra in your initial offer, but probably not enough to offset the opportunity
cost.

Coding Bootcamps and similar things won't really help either. Building things
will.

You already know how to program. Go register a domain name, build something
cool, and stick it there. Better still, build something that people will pay
money for each month. Either way, conjure something into existence that you
can point prospective employers to and say "I built this" (and thus "I can
build things like this" and "I will build them for _you_ if you hire me").

Keep your sales job until you get the offer you want, then simply step into
your new life.

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_em_
is it that easy ? I mean, building something is one thing, but attracting new
clients and making them pay every month requires "A good idea which people are
in need of" AND "Good marketing skills to spread the word around".

Don't get me wrong, I am almost at the same page as of OP (though i am working
as a dev but working on legacy technologies) and I also want to get out of it
and move to some better opportunity but now i feel so rusted. I have been
trying to keep up with technologies by reading about them but to prove that I
know them, I need some thing to buiild on it and for that i need an idea too
:(

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pjungwir
I did something similar: after working a few years in programming I took 6
years off to study Greek & Latin in grad school, then came back to development
around 2010. To top it off my undergrad was an English B.A. from a small
mediocre liberal arts college.

It was actually pretty easy. If you already have a CS degree and have simply
been doing something else for 4 years, I doubt you'll have trouble getting
offers. You just need something to prove that you're competent. Skip the
masters and code school, build a webapp that does something interesting, and
show that to your potential employers. Bonus points if you can charge for it!

For tactics I'd say don't quit your other job until you've got an offer.

Best of luck to you, and remember that it's going to be all right!

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digita88
It is never too late to switch!! Believe me.

1\. Start building up an online/offline social and professional network of
developers, dev/tech evangelists

2\. Start researching and looking into languages that you are interested in
personally, don't restrict yourself to 'marketable/hireable' programming
skills

3\. Start building up your dev profile - be more active on GitHub, participate
in online communities, blog about your projects, open up a website to put your
projects online

4\. Take part in online challenges as well as hackathons to prototype your
profile, get in touch with other people and dev evangelists (many are sponsors
so have a go at their APIs)

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mateo411
You should have come to us when you were 25. :)

You already know how to program and you have degree. You just have to break
into the industry. A side project where you build a web app, put it on the
internet, will be very helpful in getting a developer job.

You should do the Masters if you want to learn another area of CS more deeply,
such as Machine Learning, Distributed Systems or Programming Languages and
Compilers. This is not necessary if you are interested in becoming a
professional programmer. It won't make you more money on the outset, but it
could help you develop other skills, but it will make you a better critical
thinker, writer and give you a network that will be valuable to you.

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Im_Talking
Let me get this straight... you're only 26, your current job sucks, your
current job has no growth potential, and you are asking what to do? Jeez.

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jpd750
Why dont you just build something with your knowledge (a fun side project) -
forget the MS and taking a code course. You can't learn the in's and out's of
developing in a language without doing it.

So do.

