For Those Who Wish to be Programmers?

Ryan asks: "I've been stuck in a helpdesk position at 3 different companies for the past 5 years. What I really would like to be doing is programming. At each job, I would write small programs or dynamic web pages in PHP with a MySQL backend, a few small Linux utilities for automating jobs and small Win32 programs, all written in C. Sure, these programs were popular with my fellow coworkers, my boss liked them, but my primary function there is to answer phones, and programming is secondary. I can not transfer to the 'programming department' because its located in another state, nor would I think that department would welcome me, only because I would be coming from a helpdesk. My programming is self-taught, and I don't have a diploma from a university. I'm 25, and have a family, night school is out of the question. The market here (Danbury,-Connecticut) is dry, and HR wouldn't even look at my resume with out a degree. I know someone out there must have been in the same situation and some how gotten their foot in the door. What did you do? Any suggestions?" I'm sure there many on Slashdot who have been in this situation. If you wouldn't mind sharing your experiences on this matter, it would be appreciated. Share the ups and downs of your decisions and in particular, please answer the question: If you had to do it all over again, would you make the same decisions? Those interested in this topic may also wish to check out the the last article that touches on this subject.

Comments

How about testing?

[TTop]

It's much easier to transition from Helpdesk to a testing department. In testing (at least the testing I've been involved in) you often get to use programming to develop test tools, scripts, etc. At the same time (depending on the organization) you have much more interaction with the development group and you may even get to review source code as part of your testing efforts. Over time as the dev group becomes more aware of your programming prowess, then you can look for a way to transfer into a rookie dev job. At that point, since the people you've been working with know your skills, it's much easier for them to justify hiring somebody who might not have a degree or other "proper" development experience.

look outside the company

[tps12]

You are going to be at a disadvantage trying to switch to an engineering position in your current company. All the more so since your coworkers and your boss find you useful where you are. Basically, you have been labelled by them as "help desk material," and this will likely overshadow any of your skills.

So, it may come down to choosing whether you would be happier with your current employer, or doing what you want to be doing for someone else. It wouldn't hurt to see what's out there, and if you get an offer then it might make your present employer see you in a new light.

Basically, the company is not going to go out of its way to move your career for you. You shouldn't expect them to. But most employers would be happy to work with you to put you where you will benefit them the most.

As this is happening, I recommend frequent practice. Try to keep abreast of current practices and new concepts and paradigms. Good luck.

If, in the process, you are to come across a Gandalf wallpaper where he looks stoned, please send me a link. Thanks.

What you ask is hard, times have changed....

[BRock97]

Sure, people were able to get their foot in the door maybe five years ago, but times have changed. With the dotcom bust, the market is now saturated with talent that has no formal schooling, but write mean code. In fact, I just got out of a meeting for my company where the comment was made that the problem right now is a glut of too much high priced talent. So, unfortunately, you will probably have to find a degree some how, even if it is doing the Sally Struthers home schooling method. Places are starting to place a huge emphasis on that in an effort to seperate people since there are so many tech types out in the world.

I can some what relate in that I have just a BS, but a Masters degree is what my company is interested in. Plus, I am classified as a test engineer, but would really like to program. I know it is hard, but even one course a semester would look great on a resume. It would tell your HR and higher ups that you are making an effort for a formal education. Heck, just taking two courses last year got me a pay raise.

This is the direction I am taking and I don't regret it. I am moderately happy in what I am doing, and have found persistantly bugging the higher ups for more programming to do doesn't hurt either. One final piece of advice I could offer is don't ignore the power of the web. Take on a moderately difficult task (in my case, creating interactive web sites for my boss and my old school) and then gloat about it as much as you can on a webpage along with a copy of your resume. This can get someone's attention as well!

How I did it

[esme]

I was doing tech support and some sysadmin for a project, and had been the sysadmin/graphic designer/jack-of-all-trades at a small company before that.

I taught myself Perl (sounds like you've already gotten this far), and picked an application that needed to be rewritten from scratch. In my case, it was the Campus Map at the university where I work. I went to the people who were in charge of developing it (who didn't really have the time to do it right, and it wasn't a high priority for them at all), and volunteered to do it.

Then I did a really good job. I did the project as if it was my real job -- meeting with the people involved with the site and related stuff on campus to get all the input I needed to have the app meet everyone's needs. I redesigned the whole section of the website. I badgered people to get access to all the content that needed to be included. I documented the API for the Perl CGIs so other people could embed the maps into their own websites.

And the next time a job came up in the department, I was at the top of the list.

-Esme