What should I be doing?

[maa11235]

Hello, thank you for reading my post.

I am 32 years old. I currently am in school getting a cs degree (about 1/2 way through). I do IT work currently.

The classes I have taken mostly revolve around Java. I have taken C, and Scheme also. I will take operating systems, assembly, a software engineering class, and a few others. I will probably take a class called compiler construction as an elective.

My questions are:
1. Am I on the right track to get a job sometime between now and in two years from now?

2. What can I learn (in Java) and in general that will make me more marketable?

-maa11235

[CaptainMorgan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by maa11235

Am I on the right track to get a job sometime between now and in two years from now?

You didn't mention what your potential job focus would be. You currently have experience in IT, which is good as a starter. Working towards a degree in my opinion is definitely heading on the right track.

Quote:

Originally Posted by maa11235

What can I learn (in Java) and in general that will make me more marketable?

If you already have experience through taking courses, then I would recommend planning to shift your current IT work towards something more programming related. Your current IT work, is it part-time or full-time? Besides trying to shift into programming to gain experience, you may want to work on something notable. Finding an open source project on SourceForge that will have some value to either you or a potential employer to develop or take part in is a great idea.

Interviewer:
"What have you done while you were in school, projects or goals did you work towards?"
You:
"I took part in an online project with other developers working towards the production of a financial management and data warehousing solution for a medium to large sized company. From the time I started the project, two years ago, there has major achievements with only a few roadblocks. Nevertheless, today I am proud to say that ProjectZulu is labeled as stable and fully distributable. For references, I have provided links for you to contact other team members and you can even download and view the project for yourself for further investigation on what it is I hand wrote."

[maa11235]

Thank you for your input.

maa11235

[arulk]

1. Am I on the right track to get a job sometime between now and in two years from now? Yes. In addition to this, try to get as much hands on experience as possible. Contribute to open-source projects or work on self taught projects.


2. What can I learn (in Java) and in general that will make me more marketable?


-- Make sure that your resume is well written.
-- Learn the Java Core Concepts
-- Get some hands on experience with sought-after Java/J2EE Technologies like Spring, Hibernate, JSF, Maven2 etc.

[arulk]

Also, it is important to market yourself as well-rounded candidate as opposed to just a techie. You can draw on soft skills from non-java related work experience.