How To Get a Job As a Computer Programmer – Doing Your Preliminary Research Part Two

This article covers the techniques required by those who are at the intermediate stage of their quest to become fully fledged professional computer programmers. Those at this stage already have a good idea of what computer programming is and may have even tried their hand at writing a few programs. However they will not yet have programmed for anybody in a professional capacity.

The goal of this article is to show people in this category how to perform the additional research required to kick-start the process of securing a job as a computer programmer. The point of performing this additional research is to map out the work they will have to do to prepare them for a job interview.

There are several possible reasons why you would be at this stage and not have gotten a job yet if that is your intention. Let’s explore them.

1. You are on track but haven’t had enough time.

2. You’ve dabbled into computer programming but are not sure what set of skills are required to secure and hold down a job as a computer programmer.

3. You think you know what the required skill set is but are not sure how to go about mastering it sufficiently to work with it in a job.

You feel you are on track but haven’t had enough time

If you believe that you are on track and it’s all just a matter of time then you can do one of two things. It can either be business as usual or you can try exploring some tips from the second scenario as detailed below.

You are not sure which skill set to study

It is possible to explore the various options available by using a web site like jobserve. Try Googling this web site. Once you locate it you will find that you have the option of using various selection parameters. Play around with it and experiment.

Try using the jobserve website to explore the various options you are considering. For example if you are thinking of taking up C# as a computer programming language, then use the jobserve search engine to explore your possible income if you go down this route.

Pay particular attention to the skills which surround C#. Are you really on the right track for what you want? Is what you’re planning to study actually going to be that lucrative? Use the Jobserve (or similar) website to check things out very carefully before committing time and energy to your chosen areas of expertise. For example try a combination of search parameters which include C# and a pay which is commensurate with your desired income level.

After you have gotten a fair idea of what you are after it might be a good idea to validate your findings by bouncing them off a human sounding board if at all available. Alternatively you can try visiting a few chat forums.

You are not sure how to go about mastering your chosen skill set

If you feel you have nailed down your required skill set then you have completed your preliminary research. The techniques required for mastering this skill set to a standard which will pass muster in an interview process will be covered under “general preparation.” This is the second step in the job seeking process. This will be covered in Ezine article “How To Get a Job As a Computer Programmer – Doing Your General Preparation.”