I've no idea what to do

LegacyUser

I am after graduating from University with a 2.1 in Computer Science but the problem is most of the jobs I have been seeing are all in development.

Programming wasn't my strongest points in Uni it was mainly down when I was first started Uni I felt completely out of my depth and I didn't put much work in which resulted in me getting terrible results and having to repeat a lot of exams in the Autumn but I passed just by the skin of my teeth (a lot of people thought I wouldn't get passed 1st year) but I had missed out on the building blocks for programming which they had shown us in first year. For the next year I became to dislike programming a lot as I couldn't do it I even got grinds but they didn't help though the grinds teacher didn't exactly help matters.

By the time I got to final year I knew how to work the system as in I knew how to get good grades with certain lectures and that's the only reason I got my 2.1 (which shocked a lot of people), for all of my programming I would ask the lectures or my class mates to help me out like sit down beside me and show me what to do. For my Final Year Project for all the programming that wasn't done by my supervisor was done by him pretty much holding my hand.

So now after graduating I am unsure what I want to do, I know that is quite normal but my sister (who is a careers advisor in a top Uni) has told me to apply for development roles as I might like it but based on my Uni work I am not so sure.

I have been applying for jobs and I had an interview for one that was pretty much sales but I hated the sounds of it and thus did no work for the interview and didn't get it. Now I had one for an graduate Software Engineering role with a massive company which involves a lot of travelling around the county/abroad and the hole job sounds really good plus the wage is fantastic (8k higher then the sales one) but I'm worried that if I get that job (or something like it) I would be really out of my depth, wont be able to do the job and thus will become to hate the job and this is something I am worried about every single type of career I am thinking on about doing. Like for other jobs I have had (non-skilled jobs) I had pretty much learned everything in the space of two to three weeks so was never really out of my depth.

Another thing I have recently discovered is that I have become highly unmotivated but his wasn't always the case like a few years ago I learned how to code in web languages all by myself then once I have accomplished a site that was getting 5,000 hits a week (not bad for a 14 year old) I stopped doing that and moved on to graphic design which I created stuff for websites and did bebo skins (which had hundreds of people using them) and posted work up on forums which people seemed to love but I also have gotten bored of that and have stopped doing that. You could say I was motivated in my last year of Uni as I wanted to get a good degree.

Now I have no idea what area of work I want to go into, I have thought about doing work experience just to see if I would like to go into one area but I want to start earning money and if I was doing experience I don't think I would get paid at all. I dont even know how I would even go about looking for it.

So what do you think I should do, keep looking at the highly paid development roles or do the free work experience just to see if I would like them.

Maybe post over in the Development forum...they may offer you some direction

MonkeyBone

unsuregrad wrote: »

I am after graduating from University with a 2.1 in Computer Science but the problem is most of the jobs I have been seeing are all in development.

Programming wasn't my strongest points in Uni it was mainly down when I was first started Uni I felt completely out of my depth and I didn't put much work in which resulted in me getting terrible results and having to repeat a lot of exams in the Autumn but I passed just by the skin of my teeth (a lot of people thought I wouldn't get passed 1st year) but I had missed out on the building blocks for programming which they had shown us in first year. For the next year I became to dislike programming a lot as I couldn't do it I even got grinds but they didn't help though the grinds teacher didn't exactly help matters.

By the time I got to final year I knew how to work the system as in I knew how to get good grades with certain lectures and that's the only reason I got my 2.1 (which shocked a lot of people), for all of my programming I would ask the lectures or my class mates to help me out like sit down beside me and show me what to do. For my Final Year Project for all the programming that wasn't done by my supervisor was done by him pretty much holding my hand.

So now after graduating I am unsure what I want to do, I know that is quite normal but my sister (who is a careers advisor in a top Uni) has told me to apply for development roles as I might like it but based on my Uni work I am not so sure.

I have been applying for jobs and I had an interview for one that was pretty much sales but I hated the sounds of it and thus did no work for the interview and didn't get it. Now I had one for an graduate Software Engineering role with a massive company which involves a lot of travelling around the county/abroad and the hole job sounds really good plus the wage is fantastic (8k higher then the sales one) but I'm worried that if I get that job (or something like it) I would be really out of my depth, wont be able to do the job and thus will become to hate the job and this is something I am worried about every single type of career I am thinking on about doing. Like for other jobs I have had (non-skilled jobs) I had pretty much learned everything in the space of two to three weeks so was never really out of my depth.

Another thing I have recently discovered is that I have become highly unmotivated but his wasn't always the case like a few years ago I learned how to code in web languages all by myself then once I have accomplished a site that was getting 5,000 hits a week (not bad for a 14 year old) I stopped doing that and moved on to graphic design which I created stuff for websites and did bebo skins (which had hundreds of people using them) and posted work up on forums which people seemed to love but I also have gotten bored of that and have stopped doing that. You could say I was motivated in my last year of Uni as I wanted to get a good degree.

Now I have no idea what area of work I want to go into, I have thought about doing work experience just to see if I would like to go into one area but I want to start earning money and if I was doing experience I don't think I would get paid at all. I dont even know how I would even go about looking for it.

So what do you think I should do, keep looking at the highly paid development roles or do the free work experience just to see if I would like them.

I was in a similar situation to you when I graduated from my computer science course. The bane of my existence was Java programming and a lot of the development jobs I could even be eligible for demanded a high proficiency in it. For example, Accenture Technology Solutions would expect a high calibur of whatever programming language that would be part of the role they hire you for etc. Gaining experience in a WPP may be benefitial but only if it is a job that you enjoy. I mean if you hate programming and take a WPP in programming then don't expect to enjoy your job and you will only have gained experience to go for similar jobs in the future. Maybe tech support would be an option as it does a lot of computer systems admin stuff........

jimmycrackcorm

OP, avoid development jobs as it will quickly become apparent that you are not up to scratch when programming and you will suffer.

You could consider doing QA, IT Admin, / support roles.

_Kaiser_

jimmycrackcorm wrote: »

You could consider doing QA, IT Admin, / support roles.

The problem with those roles these days is that the employer expects you to have some scripting and development experience as well - in effect they want one person to do what was previously the job of 2 or 3.

LegacyUser

There's nothing worse than having a junior dev that's not up to it - when they don't seem to absorb any of the assistance they're given, someone else ends up doing all their work on top of their own and on a personal level resenting them for it, and it puts the whole project in a bad place. And of course they get a poor review (most big firms have formal review processes) because they couldn't get do the job (or alternatively they are replaced, which obviously looks really bad). Reputations spread quickly and it can become hard to get a position on a team.

OP if you genuinely can't code, unless the role has specific training programmes (i assume that's all in the past these days) I wouldn't consider applying for a dev role because you will hate it by the sounds of it, when you can't do it. Some firms are doing technical tests for Software Engineering positions in any case.

Nolanger

Why did you do a Computer Science degree if you don't like programming?

LegacyUser

anon7890 wrote: »

There's nothing worse than having a junior dev that's not up to it - when they don't seem to absorb any of the assistance they're given, someone else ends up doing all their work on top of their own and on a personal level resenting them for it, and it puts the whole project in a bad place. And of course they get a poor review (most big firms have formal review processes) because they couldn't get do the job (or alternatively they are replaced, which obviously looks really bad). Reputations spread quickly and it can become hard to get a position on a team.

OP if you genuinely can't code, unless the role has specific training programmes (i assume that's all in the past these days) I wouldn't consider applying for a dev role because you will hate it by the sounds of it, when you can't do it. Some firms are doing technical tests for Software Engineering positions in any case.

Yeah, this is what I am afraid of but a lot of people have been telling me (who nothing about programming) saying that if its a graduate position they will know you know nothing and will train you, they go on to say that in their first job after university that they knew nothing but I often counter that by saying that its something I have studied for years and should have a high standard of programming already. The only people who seem to understand me on this is my class mates.

Nolanger wrote: »

Why did you do a Computer Science degree if you don't like programming?

Computer Science isnt all about Software Engineering, its just used as a tool to improve your understanding of CS. I am very big into technology and I am very good with computers so it made sense to do Computer Science degree. The only other course I would have liked to have done is Electronic Engineering but I didnt have enough points to do that course.

wes

While QA or Admin roles will require at least some programming (as pointed out by Kaiser2000), your best bet would be that kind of role, as it will still require much less Programming than a development role, at least in my experience.

Colonel_McCoy

Get some professional certifications Oracle\ Red Hat\ VmWare \Cisco.........It will make your C.V. stand out

sheesh

op you have a good degree I would start looking at large multinationals like oracle and ibm and banks, they need IT people try to get into their student recruitment programs and you will be put on some kind of track.

estar

before jumping into a graduate role would you have any contacts to get some work experience?

would your sister be able to get you a week somewhere shadowing someone.

you are obviously clever and motivated to work the system. this is how I have always gotten along in something that does not match my natural affinity. i have top top marks, and deep down no natural ability and have to be very careful not to get found out!!!! it can be exhausting.

PL/SQL developer and oracle / DBA these roles are well paid, or SAP developement. no real coding, as in JAVA or C++ but you still need logical ability which you clearly have.

i hated JAVA. but i loved oracle. and to be honest oracle is very widely used.

you could always try a general masters such as business and IT. this could open other roles.

dont be afraid. have a look at some PL/SQL development books.

LegacyUser

Hmm, wouldn't want to look at some of the pl/sql dev I've seen/done and call it 'not coding' - it's pretty hardcore at an enterprise level...

OP I'm not certain but I've got the impression over the last couple of years that even the big multinationals don't have the time and money to train you up from scratch - when I joined up, that was the case (tho I had coding experience from college and it made a big difference, and it is ten years ago) but now we need people to hit the ground running, and focus the training on client relationship or architecture and other progression skills, not the basics you should already have (depending on the field you go into).

A masters might not be a bad thing. But it sounds like you actually could program if you weren't trapped in a 'behind the rest of the class' mentality. Any night classes in this area? But I'm not feeling the love, really. A masters in multimedia might be the way forward - if your focus, what intrested you before is web and graphics and shiny UIs - that's not what a lot of the big companies sell -for example in consulting, they sell business applications. And sometimes outsource the front end. It's all data and rules and making useful stuff happen - but if UI is what floats your boat it's maybe not going to work for you.

And if it is, you'll find DBA or sysadmin dry as a bone...

katseye

Wow, I almost thought somebody had written about me circa seven years ago! I completely understand your predicament and it's very common, don't worry!

Naturally you will become somewhat de-motivated as after four years hard graft in Uni. you are out on your own, outside the structured world of the campus and now faced with the question of “what’s next?”. Scary! Your self confidence is low but if you got a 2.1 degree, it wasn't just down to your ability “to work the system” – you should give yourself a little more credit than that.

Look you may feel you have lost out on some of the foundations of programming and hence you’ve fallen behind your peers – but what’s to say you can’t catch up!? You have observed a lot and been helped with programming but what you may have failed to do is stop, think and absorb the info about the programs you developed/received. It's easy to coast along and not learn when you have friends and teachers who helped a little too much. You should go back to basics – start again with programming. Start getting involved in some projects that interest you – even if you just want to develop some facebook or iphone app go do it. Research the tools, the languages and don't just google for code but google for ideas. Start playing with code and start enjoying building new projects for the sake of it rather than trying to pass a module.

On the professional side of things I had the exact same worry when I came out of Uni with my 2.1 in Comp Science – I sucked at programming! But I knew, even though I felt I hadn't excelled at it in Uni I could do it if I got the right help and right project. Sure enough (though horrible nervous about it) I got a graduate position with a large multinational and bit by bit I began to ply my trade. The biggest problem in that job wasn't the programming it was the application domain. The problem most software developers have is in their understanding the problem rather than how to code something! I worked for a year in that role and thought I was getting good – in fact I was good but I faced another challenge. I was assigned to another project team who worked differently and they had very skimpy feature specs. I was handed an assignment and suddenly the butterflies returned to my stomach. “How the hell am I supposed to code this up?” I thought to myself. There's no googling this one! ;o) But sure look I took it simply, just broke down each piece, took the core concepts of the feature design and prototyped it outside of the application with a basic text editor so I could regain familiarity with the parts of C needed and built it bit by bit and tested the living daily daylights out of it along the way. After I was satisfied that all the little bits would come together and work as a full feature I plugged it back it into the application and tested it more. The feature was finished two weeks early and not one bug was every written on it (ok… I lie, there was one bug but that was a minor oversight as the customer failed to mention something….!)
The point is – you or indeed I may not be an “elegant” or naturally gifted programmer (yet) but that doesn't mean you can't get the job done! But the more time you spend at it the better you'll get! Even today I wouldn't consider myself the greatest developer around but when it comes to a nasty bug in the system my ability to hunt it down and fix it is second to none - and that in itself is a large part of a developers role.

One other thing… because this scares a lot of people like yourself. The probability of you working on a Greenfield project is fairly slim! Chances are you'll work on an existing system and the biggest source of inspiration in that case is the source code you are adding to! It's much easier to start on a existing software base than having a blank canvas when you start out in a new job! And you won't be a alone doing it. Get into a large company and you will get training and assistance.

So, stop scaring the living bejaysus out of yourself and just go for it! Revise your programming, put some serious learning effort into it (i.e. practical mixed with theoretical), go for a grad job with a big company and try it! If you feel you aren’t progressing and it's really not for you then you can leave but before you do, you can take a good look around the organisation and see what other type of roles within the techie industry might suit you better. You'll find it hard at the beginning and you may feel worse than you do now as you'll have a team depending on you to get stuff done but that's what it takes to get over the hump. If you don't feel nervous by something you are not being challenged enough! But all the mini challenges you overcome the better you'll feel, your confidence will increase and your skills will develop.

So don't worry you'll find you niche - but to do so you have to try a few things first. Good luck!