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| *Ostroff, Fair and Company>>>Technology |
What education or licensing is required to become a computer programmer?? |
also how long does it take to become one? does it pay well? does the apprenticeship pay well too? also what is it that they do exactly? My current job includes computer programming & also other computer duties. I guess my relevant title would be programmer analyst. This means that I get requests for enhancements to existing software, requests for new programs, requests for new reports, new inquiries, new data sets transmitted, info about something supposedly not quite right. Often the users of the software are a bit confused about their needs, so there is a discussion to nail down their needs, me research existing systems. You see, it is not acceptable, in the carrying out of the people wishes, for anything to get broken. We have to understand the systems and the business so well that we can enhance the computer experience, but not mess anything up. The answers have to be perfect. We have to know how to test the new software & to do so in such a way that if the new program is not yet perfect, nothing gets messed up. The actual programming requires me to be familiar with about half a dozen different programming languages and software tools that create program code. I have to update computer security since not everyone neccessarily has right of access to the new software. I spend a lot of time in front of a computer screen I spend a lot of time poring over big print outs, manuals, data dumps I spend some time talking with the people who use the software I work long hours, I am on 24 hour call. The work is interesting because of many varied different requests. To get a job as a programmer you need to know all the languages relevant to combination of an industry and a type of computer system. By industry I mean retail, wholesale, trucking, government, education, manufacturing, broadcasting, academia. By type of computer system I mean a particular brand name platform server operating system There are some similarities or overlap across industries and computer systems The work does not pay as well today as it did decades ago, because once upon a time computer technicians were looked upon as having some kind of mistque like astronauts and doctors, but now are looked upon as being a commodity like auto mechanics or clerks I took 15 months of night school and now I've been programming for about 15 years. Most companies today would like to see an associates degree at the least, if you don't have any expirience. Most apprenticeships don't pay well, if at all, but it's a great way to get you foot in the door. I just sit at my desk each day waiting for a new project, then usually make changes to a program, and install it. That's it. |
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