Google Engineer Shares His Guide to Getting Computer Jobs

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It usually starts with someone telling my wife that they know someone who wants to be a “computer person” and they would like for me to speak with them. The people I talk to come from diverse backgrounds and knowledge. The range can be from graduates with a Masters in Computer Science to kids in grade school. I wrote this post for people interested in the computer field but do not know how to start.

I am a Computer Scientist by training. What this means is that I should be able to solve problems using computers. One major confusion is that people think being a Computer Scientist is the same thing as being an IT person. Dijkstra, a famous computer scientist is known to put it this way: “Computer Science is no more about computers than astronomy is about telescopes.”

This quote means that I may not know how to remove the latest virus that you downloaded(even though I can probably figure it out), but I can write programs that you use on the computer. Having a Computer Science degree also means that I should be able to work on things like personal digital assistants, self-driving cars, search engines, and other techno-wizardry. A lot of Computer Science majors do not get to work on those things, but end up doing Software Engineering type things.

Because of my background, I have a peripheral view of other computer related fields, but do not have in-depth knowledge in all of them. Being a computer person is like being a doctor. There are foot doctors, ear doctors and hand doctors. Also, there are specialist within the specialties. This mean that a foot doctor has an idea about what an ear doctor does, but does not have in depth knowledge. Similar thing with computers, there are different fields like Computer Networking, Software, Electronics, Information Technology, and within each field there are subfields. Now that you know that there are different fields, I recommend that you look at each field and see what interest you. I work on Software. So much of my advice will come from that perspective but possibly could be used with other computer fields.

Start Now

If you looked at the different computer fields and writing software is something you want to do, start now! If you don’t have a personal computer that you can call your own, then you should buy one! Some computers cost around $200 that you can use to start programming. Plenty of free websites can get you started programming (see list at the end of post). If you liked going through the learning materials, then I recommend spending more time and money on things like courses and equipment.

There are a few avenues towards the goal of becoming a computer software person. The software industry is a very new field (about 60 years old) compared to other fields.

Entering the Software Field without a Degree

I graduated with a Computer Science degree, but I know a few people that don’t have a degree. My recommendation is to do a lot of projects to show a body of work that you can demonstrate during an interview. Take online courses that are listed at the end of this post. They have course projects that you can add to your portfolio. Enroll in a boot camp. Some people feel like these are dubious and are out to take your money. I feel if you do everything that they say, you can be successful. I know a guy that now works at Microsoft after doing a boot camp. I use to say: “Contribute to an open source project.” From my experience, this is not great advice. I recommend doing personal projects over attempting to contribute to open source projects. I found that it is hard to find a project that you are interested in and a project that has a good onboarding experience. Above all else, the key is to make sure that you code, code, and code some more! If you don’t like solving problems and coding, you probably should pick another field.

Entering the Software Field with a Degree

If you decide that you should get a degree, you will probably not have much trouble finding a job after finishing college with a decent G.P.A. While in college, I recommend that you keep track of your school projects and have a way to talk and link to them on your resume. Projects that are not part of the curriculum is a great way to learn and to build your portfolio of projects. Internships are good, but make sure that it does not tank your G.P.A. too much! If you plan on hunting companies like Amazon, Google, Apple, and Facebook, I recommend that you pay attention in your algorithm class and throughout college practice algorithm problems that are presented in books like Cracking the Coding Interview.
There are a lot of people in software that do not have a formal degree in the subject. Some people don’t even have a college education. Personally, I feel that having a four-year degree shows that you are likely a person that will invest into your education and see things to the end. You don’t have to get a Computer Science or a Software Engineering degree, but having one makes things much easier. Having a formal education in Computer Science or Software Engineering shows that you are serious about the field and that this is just not a passing hobby that you have.

What is it Like to Work in the Software Field

Once you enter the field, you will probably work on some website either directly or indirectly. The reason being is that most software applications are now web applications and for good reason. Day to day tasks will be creating features like “Allow users to see their history of doing X”. There are jobs where you do more Computer Science activities, but they are not as plentiful as working on a website. The pay is decent. I am debt free and feel like I can buy anything I want.

Hopefully, this answers most of your questions about being a computer software person. If you have more questions, feel free to comment on this post.