Career Guidance
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Hi everyone, I could use some guidance on how to tailor my career and I guess you guys are the best people to approach on this. First some background: - I am a programmer based in Manchester, UK , 23 years old and graduated from university about a year ago with a good electronics/software degree. I have been programming for about 5 years off and on in C++ specialising in GUI design with ASP creeping in over the last couple of years. At present I work for Siemens, building computer systems for Airports. I work in a team of 10 with me being the youngest by about 10 years. Most of our systems are UNIX/Oracle based, written in plain C and with very little GUI work. My work currently consists of consultancy/project management. This is OK but I never actually get to code anything as it's all UNIX based and there are developers who are far more skilled than me in UNIX and thus produce the goods quicker. I tend to do the high level design and they go away and write the code. I think I have written about 15 lines of code in the last 12 months. Also I am a devout Microsoft follower in a sea of UNIX people. I am seen very much as the young upstart trying to introduce 'new fangled' technologies which are deemed of no use to our current business. I am getting extremly frustrated with it all and feel like I'm wasting my opportunities while I'm still young. Am I just in a 'grass is greener' mode or should I really try and do something about this? In an ideal world I would like to be working at Microsoft developing products but I guess that's not going to happen. Please any thoughts would be welcome - I don't really have anyone near me that understands where I'm at. James
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Hi everyone, I could use some guidance on how to tailor my career and I guess you guys are the best people to approach on this. First some background: - I am a programmer based in Manchester, UK , 23 years old and graduated from university about a year ago with a good electronics/software degree. I have been programming for about 5 years off and on in C++ specialising in GUI design with ASP creeping in over the last couple of years. At present I work for Siemens, building computer systems for Airports. I work in a team of 10 with me being the youngest by about 10 years. Most of our systems are UNIX/Oracle based, written in plain C and with very little GUI work. My work currently consists of consultancy/project management. This is OK but I never actually get to code anything as it's all UNIX based and there are developers who are far more skilled than me in UNIX and thus produce the goods quicker. I tend to do the high level design and they go away and write the code. I think I have written about 15 lines of code in the last 12 months. Also I am a devout Microsoft follower in a sea of UNIX people. I am seen very much as the young upstart trying to introduce 'new fangled' technologies which are deemed of no use to our current business. I am getting extremly frustrated with it all and feel like I'm wasting my opportunities while I'm still young. Am I just in a 'grass is greener' mode or should I really try and do something about this? In an ideal world I would like to be working at Microsoft developing products but I guess that's not going to happen. Please any thoughts would be welcome - I don't really have anyone near me that understands where I'm at. James
James, I'm also from the UK, got a good degree (1st, 1979) and immediately went contracting. I suggest you take the opportunity of not yet being tied down with a family and work abroad - EU or US - doesn't matter, EU is, of course, dead easy. There are rumours of high-tech down under, but I have no experience there. ;P Anyway, you'll be paid well, you'll see more of the world, learn a few foreign languages, and gain experience that doesn't exist in the UK. Regarding the future: you'll either be an employee (direct or as a contractor) or you'll start your own operation in a few years. As for o/s and the language: a very good programmer can start with a new o/s and/or language and be productive in a few days - if not then we're a museum piece. What's most important is how you consider yourself. Always push to write the best code you can, always try to do it better. In the end it's the product that matters. :-O Old Simon HB9DRV
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James, I'm also from the UK, got a good degree (1st, 1979) and immediately went contracting. I suggest you take the opportunity of not yet being tied down with a family and work abroad - EU or US - doesn't matter, EU is, of course, dead easy. There are rumours of high-tech down under, but I have no experience there. ;P Anyway, you'll be paid well, you'll see more of the world, learn a few foreign languages, and gain experience that doesn't exist in the UK. Regarding the future: you'll either be an employee (direct or as a contractor) or you'll start your own operation in a few years. As for o/s and the language: a very good programmer can start with a new o/s and/or language and be productive in a few days - if not then we're a museum piece. What's most important is how you consider yourself. Always push to write the best code you can, always try to do it better. In the end it's the product that matters. :-O Old Simon HB9DRV
Simon, Thanks for the advice. I have been wanting to work in the US for a couple of years now and I guess if I'm going to do it I need to do it now. Does anyone have any advice on how to go about getting a job internationally? Do I just move over there and then look for a job or do I try and obtain a job from over here? The whole prospect is extremly daunting to me but I really would like to give it a go.
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Hi everyone, I could use some guidance on how to tailor my career and I guess you guys are the best people to approach on this. First some background: - I am a programmer based in Manchester, UK , 23 years old and graduated from university about a year ago with a good electronics/software degree. I have been programming for about 5 years off and on in C++ specialising in GUI design with ASP creeping in over the last couple of years. At present I work for Siemens, building computer systems for Airports. I work in a team of 10 with me being the youngest by about 10 years. Most of our systems are UNIX/Oracle based, written in plain C and with very little GUI work. My work currently consists of consultancy/project management. This is OK but I never actually get to code anything as it's all UNIX based and there are developers who are far more skilled than me in UNIX and thus produce the goods quicker. I tend to do the high level design and they go away and write the code. I think I have written about 15 lines of code in the last 12 months. Also I am a devout Microsoft follower in a sea of UNIX people. I am seen very much as the young upstart trying to introduce 'new fangled' technologies which are deemed of no use to our current business. I am getting extremly frustrated with it all and feel like I'm wasting my opportunities while I'm still young. Am I just in a 'grass is greener' mode or should I really try and do something about this? In an ideal world I would like to be working at Microsoft developing products but I guess that's not going to happen. Please any thoughts would be welcome - I don't really have anyone near me that understands where I'm at. James
Well if you really want to work for Microsoft, it couldn't hurt to apply http://microsoft.com/jobs int f,r,a,c,t,A,l=42;main(){while(--l>-42)for(t=-60;t++<20;putch('J'-f))for(A=a=r=f=0;++f<42&&r*r+A*A<7056;c=r+t,a=l+A,r=(c*c-a*a)/42,A=c*a/21);}
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Well if you really want to work for Microsoft, it couldn't hurt to apply http://microsoft.com/jobs int f,r,a,c,t,A,l=42;main(){while(--l>-42)for(t=-60;t++<20;putch('J'-f))for(A=a=r=f=0;++f<42&&r*r+A*A<7056;c=r+t,a=l+A,r=(c*c-a*a)/42,A=c*a/21);}
Well, maybe it can. Some of the questions are *really* tricky - and the interviews are extremely (ridiculously?) thorough. If young James decide to try it, anyway, he should be very well prepared. Maybe this link would be worth looking at: Hack the Micro$oft Job Interview Nice 'Mandelbrot' in your signature by the way :-) Christian Skovdal Andersen
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Simon, Thanks for the advice. I have been wanting to work in the US for a couple of years now and I guess if I'm going to do it I need to do it now. Does anyone have any advice on how to go about getting a job internationally? Do I just move over there and then look for a job or do I try and obtain a job from over here? The whole prospect is extremly daunting to me but I really would like to give it a go.
We have several foreigners working for my company. They found their jobs through a company that does job placement specifically for Italians. I would suggest finding a similar company that can handle the job placement for you.