Hi everyone, and welcome to the Stop Refactoring channel.
In this issue, we will talk about some sharing other than technology.
Is it difficult for a non-graduate to switch to a programmer? Can self-study?
I am not a graduate of a computer-related major. The following are some of my real experiences. I hope to give some advice and experience to non-scientific friends who want to enter the software industry.
we discuss these issues
1. What is the gap between computer-related majors and majors?
2. How about the training class?
3. Will be laid off after the age of 35?
What is the gap between computer-related majors and majors?
First of all, what is the gap between computer-related majors and unrelated majors ?
The biggest problem for career-changing programmers is not the gap in basic knowledge, but the lack of a professional environment .
In a professional environment, even if you don't study well, you can at least hear a lot of professional terms and related knowledge.
But if you lack a professional environment, even if you can find a lot of tutorials on the Internet, or have a few friends to ask for advice, in many cases, you don’t know what to learn or what you lack, and you can’t express your questions clearly, and you don’t know how to ask them.
What's more, the knowledge in the software industry is relatively complex, and many people are essentially learning blindly .
How about the training class?
In order to shorten the gap in the professional environment, students in school can take classes, participate in clubs, and participate in competitions .
When I was in school, I often participated in competitions. I did meet a lot of people and learned a lot. However, most of the reasons why I decided to join the software industry are because the salary of this major is not so good, while the salary of programmers is not bad. reason.
So a better way is to participate in training courses , which allow you to systematically learn these professional knowledge.
Of course, the training courses are also relatively expensive . The cost of my participation in the training courses was more expensive than the 4-year university tuition.
So at the beginning, you can learn by yourself first, and see if you are suitable for the software industry before considering.
In addition, don't be fooled by the promotion of the training class to help you find a job . Companies with non-computer majors will not accept it, and in many cases, resumes for non-computer majors do not even have the opportunity to take a written test.
The training class experience will improve, but there will be no qualitative change. In the end, it depends on how well you learn.
If you think you are okay, then you don’t need to waste money to attend training courses , it’s better to spend time to make a few handy software works.
In fact, it is not that difficult to find a job for non-computer-related majors , especially for school recruitment. I thought it was difficult to find a job, so I participated in the training class, but in the end I found the job by myself, and the training institution did not recommend me a job.
But I am still very grateful to the training class that year, which helped me improve my professional knowledge a lot.
Of course, self-study without taking part in the training class is also possible, but don’t keep your head down and learn. You can learn while doing a complete small project, helping others to complete the project, and participating in some competitions are all better.
One more word here, don't listen to many people who say that they are self-taught software programming and think it is very simple, don't be fooled by survivor bias, in essence self-study is the most difficult, especially at the beginning.
Will be laid off after the age of 35?
Will the programmer be laid off after the age of 35? There are many rumors on the Internet that programmers will be laid off at the age of 35.
In fact, there is no such age threshold. I have many friends or colleagues in their 40s and 50s who are still writing code.
The layoff was simply because the person was not good enough, and there was no other reason.
Although the knowledge of the software industry is very complicated, there are not so many professional practices in the software industry , such as requirements sorting. Many product managers only list functions by page, and do not consider business architecture at all.
Of course, it’s not that these practices are totally unacceptable. It’s just that in the software industry, the software industry is still in chaos due to its short lifespan. Many things require you to rethink and try. You need to have your own methods, your own practice.
Therefore, the software industry is an industry that requires continuous learning, continuous thinking, and continuous experimentation . If you only rely on school qualifications, knowledge learned from training courses, or work experience, it is not enough to increase your salary every year and be reused every year.
Of course, this depends on your basic goal. If you just want to make money for a few years, then change careers or start a small business later, this is not a problem. But if you want to go up, no matter which industry you are in, you need to make continuous progress.
Summarize
Finally, if you are considering whether to change careers in the software industry, prove that you have the ability to not change careers. If you still have the right not to change careers, we hope that you will not spend too much time learning software knowledge, but just to get A job that pays well but might make you miserable.
It’s not good to have the idea of getting through it all the time, so what should we do now? Do you really want to spend half your life on your knees and spend the rest of your life being happy? What's more, in the second half of my life, I will get used to kneeling and forget how to be happy.
So, please take the time to experience more possibilities and find a career that you may dedicate your life to. Otherwise, there will be no essential difference in any industry.