Ask HN: How do I make programming my job?

1 point·FuManJew··7 comments

I have introduced myself to programming with MATLAB, Python, and Java at work but my job doesn't require me to advance my skills in programming. I want a job that challenges me to program constantly and continue learning. What can I do to get in the field and build my resume?

If I know basic programming and have a BS in physics/astronomy would it be possible to find a 60k+ job? Thanks for any advice.

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Build something and start contributing to the open source community. Once you have some work out there, I bet you will be able to find a programming job. A lot of great companies don't pay attention to your degree, they will just want good problem solvers who can learn quickly.

Thanks johnnyn. Any more advice of where I can go to contribute to the open source community?

Github is your friend. Create an account and put some of your code on there (outside of work of course ;) ). I'm sure you could come up some a neat Matlab or Python tool to build.

What do you mean by "basic programming"? What do you know already? What are you capable of building? I ask for more details because you may already have enough skills for find an entry-level engineering gig. A physics degree, in particular, bodes very well.

I have completed two undergrad Intro to Programming courses with Java. I am able to perform 3D data processing in MATLAB, and so far I've used Python to make a wrapper which controls another program as a subprocess. I'm not sure if that gives you an idea of my abilities/knowledge.

Shoot me an email (contact info in profile) if you think you'd like to give interviewing a shot. Who knows, you might know more than you think!

For every one line of code you type, write 10 lines about how, why, and where you wrote it.

Rinse and repeat.

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