| I think the thing that separates a good programmer/developer/engineer is they enjoy doing it and, luckily, they can get paid for it. It is probably something they would be doing anyway if they weren't doing it professionally. At 30, it is time to take stock and ask yourself, "do I enjoy doing this" or "do I enjoy the idea of doing this"? If you enjoy it, keep doing it. Some things I would recommend: * Get a Github account and put some of your work out there * Get on Stack Overflow and try to answer some questions * Pick a small, self-interest project in an area you would like to work in and do the project from start to finish, as if you were getting paid for it. * Look at other similar projects on Github and see how other do it. I write software for money, and the thing I think most teams want is someone who can:
+ write good code that works
+ plays well with others
+ does stuff like they do For instance, you may write totally amazing software, but if it is in a different language, with different tools, and your an arsehole, then nobody wants you on their team. There is also a minimum level of entry because not many busy teams want to have to train someone from the ground up. For that problem (i.e. self-training), I would try to find other people with about the same level of understanding with similar programming interests. Then try to do a project as a team. It will give you great insight into how to communicate as a software engineer (i.e. mainly through disciplined use of a version control system like git). If you can learn how to make great git commits, then you will find yourself in demand. Good luck! |