Expectations - Entry Level Programmer

[connorkincaid]

Hey!

 

I'm soon approaching the end of an associates degree for programming. My curriculum has mainly consisted of (java)front end web development. 

 

I'm going to this particular school, because I can go for free, but I can tell the curriculum is somewhat lacking. I feel like I have a horrible sense of what I should actually be expected to know when first entering this particular job market. 

Even after requesting additional help, I was met with boiler plate level responses.

 

In your coding experience as a professional, what are the things that you NEED to know, to be successful in your entry level position. I would really appreciate some insight!

 

Best Regards. 

 

[Zalosath]

10 minutes ago, connorkincaid said:

Hey!

 

I'm soon approaching the end of an associates degree for programming. My curriculum has mainly consisted of (java)front end web development. 

 

I'm going to this particular school, because I can go for free, but I can tell the curriculum is somewhat lacking. I feel like I have a horrible sense of what I should actually be expected to know when first entering this particular job market. 

Even after requesting additional help, I was met with boiler plate level responses.

 

In your coding experience as a professional, what are the things that you NEED to know, to be successful in your entry level position. I would really appreciate some insight!

 

Best Regards. 

 

Source control. Incredibly important. Docker. Jira/Kibana/Jenkins.

[Acid Panda]

not a programmer but friends with many.

 

you will learn more in your first year at a proper job than you will in education over 3/4 years. its an entry level job they will not be expecting the world and they will read your CV and see what you are capable of as long as you show keenness and willing you will be fine. your bosses will want to be asked questions. 

[connorkincaid]

4 minutes ago, Zalosath said:

Source control. Incredibly important. Docker. Jira/Kibana/Jenkins.

Do you think most people have trouble with auxiliary software like this more than anything? Or would it just be productive to know before entering a position. 

[Slottr]

3 minutes ago, connorkincaid said:

Do you think most people have trouble with auxiliary software like this more than anything? Or would it just be productive to know before entering a position. 

Knowing how these all work will be more than integral to your success within a team and testing

[Zalosath]

5 minutes ago, connorkincaid said:

Do you think most people have trouble with auxiliary software like this more than anything? Or would it just be productive to know before entering a position. 

In my first year, getting set up with Docker was my biggest trouble. Understanding source control came pretty naturally but merging to staging was a nerve-wracking experience the first few times, and hell it still is  

 

But yeah all of these tools are pretty important, some companies will use all of the above and others may not use any, but having a general understanding of one will make it pretty easy to work with another. 

[connorkincaid]

1 minute ago, Zalosath said:

In my first year, getting set up with Docker was my biggest trouble. Understanding source control came pretty naturally but merging to staging was a nerve-wracking experience the first few times, and hell it still is  

 

But yeah all of these tools are pretty important, some companies will use all of the above and others may not use any, but having a general understanding of one will make it pretty easy to work with another. 

 

3 minutes ago, Slottr said:

Knowing how these all work will be more than integral to your success within a team and testing

 

Do either of you have any good references for learning more about these specific applications? 

I don't learn extremely well when just learning something, often struggling with technical jargon that usually bloats documentation, until I have a better understanding of the vocabulary. 

 

I would really appreciate any links to video that you know to be reputable. 

 

If just utilizing google is the answer, then I can certainly do that as well, was just wondering if you had any favorites. 

[Zalosath]

5 minutes ago, connorkincaid said:

 

 

Do either of you have any good references for learning more about these specific applications? 

I don't learn extremely well when just learning something, often struggling with technical jargon that usually bloats documentation, until I have a better understanding of the vocabulary. 

 

I would really appreciate any links to video that you know to be reputable. 

 

If just utilizing google is the answer, then I can certainly do that as well, was just wondering if you had any favorites. 

Definitely practice your git skills, it's such an incredible tool to be able to use, even in your personal projects. You can find plenty of tutorials out there for this, as a task from me, try to set up your own repository, learn about commits, pull requests and pushes. They are much more simple than you probably first think, albeit sometimes a massive pain in the backside. 

 

Docker is a little more complicated, it may be worth just understanding what it actually is and why you would use it. If you feel confident then try your hand at setting up a container and playing around in it, if not, you'll surely learn come your first year in industry. 

[connorkincaid]

5 minutes ago, Zalosath said:

Definitely practice your git skills, it's such an incredible tool to be able to use, even in your personal projects. You can find plenty of tutorials out there for this, as a task from me, try to set up your own repository, learn about commits, pull requests and pushes. They are much more simple than you probably first think, albeit sometimes a massive pain in the backside. 

 

Docker is a little more complicated, it may be worth just understanding what it actually is and why you would use it. If you feel confident then try your hand at setting up a container and playing around in it, if not, you'll surely learn come your first year in industry. 

Thank you, really appreciate the advice!

[Slottr]

29 minutes ago, connorkincaid said:

 

 

Do either of you have any good references for learning more about these specific applications? 

I don't learn extremely well when just learning something, often struggling with technical jargon that usually bloats documentation, until I have a better understanding of the vocabulary. 

 

I would really appreciate any links to video that you know to be reputable. 

 

If just utilizing google is the answer, then I can certainly do that as well, was just wondering if you had any favorites. 

This is a holy grail of learning git

 

 

 

[computerace]

doing side projects are a great way to learn and can sometimes be used on your resume as a way to demonstrate some experience/willingness to learn to get an entry level job. codecademy has a pretty great (although i havent used it in a while) walkthrough style git tutorial course that should be free. that plus the video mentioned already should be enough to allow you to start using a platform like github/gitlab.

Using something like github/gitlab is great because its both a way to share your code and also somewhat forces you to use git as its the primary way to upload your code to those services. by doing a side project and putting it on a git providers site, you can do pretty much all of this at once and just generally experiment with different technologies and ideas for software you want to write.

[SydneyBrokeIt]

Things I expect from the junior devs I work with:

• A willingness to learn from others
• A willingness to *teach* others.  This sounds really weird to some people, but if I'm not learning something new from my juniors every once in a while, I am a bad senior.
• Curiosity.  I want you to try new things out - new ways of doing things, new languages, new frameworks, new architectures.
• An improvement mindset.  This one's hard if you don't already have it, but it's well worth cultivating.
• A basic ability in the language we're hiring your for
• More importantly, the ability to break down a problem, maybe with some help.

[connorkincaid]

10 hours ago, SydneyBrokeIt said:

Things I expect from the junior devs I work with:

• A willingness to learn from others
• A willingness to *teach* others.  This sounds really weird to some people, but if I'm not learning something new from my juniors every once in a while, I am a bad senior.
• Curiosity.  I want you to try new things out - new ways of doing things, new languages, new frameworks, new architectures.
• An improvement mindset.  This one's hard if you don't already have it, but it's well worth cultivating.
• A basic ability in the language we're hiring your for
• More importantly, the ability to break down a problem, maybe with some help.

Thank you so much for the added input. 

 

I guess the only reason I said anything in the first place is because the program I'm going through is leaving me feel very unprepared. 

Instead of my curriculum focusing on a singular language(2 year degree), they have introduced several different languages, only reaching a beginning level in each. 

 

I just feel as though the program I'm in is going to leave me blindsided when I begin searching for an actual job, rather than giving me an accurate (or at least general) idea of what competence level I should be at when entering this career field. 

 

I think that I have all the soft skills to make a great developer, but I just feel lost at the end of the day when it comes my skill level, I'm dreadful. Perhaps it is imposter syndrome. 

 

Would you have a suggestion for a good way of measuring your capabilities? I just want to know that I at least meet the baseline level of job marketability. 

[connorkincaid]

12 hours ago, computerace said:

doing side projects are a great way to learn and can sometimes be used on your resume as a way to demonstrate some experience/willingness to learn to get an entry level job. codecademy has a pretty great (although i havent used it in a while) walkthrough style git tutorial course that should be free. that plus the video mentioned already should be enough to allow you to start using a platform like github/gitlab.

Using something like github/gitlab is great because its both a way to share your code and also somewhat forces you to use git as its the primary way to upload your code to those services. by doing a side project and putting it on a git providers site, you can do pretty much all of this at once and just generally experiment with different technologies and ideas for software you want to write.

I have a side project at the moment, creating a loaner or rental tracking system for car dealerships/etc. I'll have to look into integrating the use of git into that. 

[SydneyBrokeIt]

Honestly, I *strongly* prefer working with polyglots/in a polyglot shop.  If you know multiple languages, that's a bonus in my eyes.  Different languages have different idioms, different philosophies, different ways of doing things, and that exposure is helpful.