Also, if you're parents can still provide for you, don't rush it. I mean, don't choose a job that is in an area that doesn't interest you that much.
For example, is you're a backend developer, don't take a frontend job.
That’s actually an interesting point you make there. I’m tentative to make an upfront declaration along the lines of “I’m a backend developer” since I really do want to cultivate as broad of a skillset as I can reasonably support, especially at my level of work experience.
Well, at least from my experience, it would be good to find something that REALLY interests you, and get a big expertise in it. Especially at your age, if your an expert in something, people will be astonished by your professional knowledge. They won't care about the fact that your not that god in other things if you already blew them of their feet.
Also, at a job you'll usually only be doing specialized work anyways.
Check out http://meetup.com/ for finding local programming meetups. It's awesome.
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By the way, what languages and paradigms do you think you are really good at?
First off, thank you for the informative reply. I’ll be sure to poke around and see if there are any groups around here that fit the bill! Answering your question, I’d say that Java, C#, and C++ are my strongest languages (by virtue of me having known them for longer than anything else), and I can safely say that I’d feel pretty comfortable talking shop about JVM or CLR internals at any level. As far as paradigms go, I’ve been adopting a strongly functional programing style with a healthy dose of aspect-oriented and actor-based system design (though I’ve started to be more wary of the former in favor of plain old composition).
