Moving to Development

Hrududu

I'm currently working in IT, in QA for a number of years. I am thinking of making the move into development. I have a BSC in CS but as that was a while ago I've been brushing up on some languages in my spare time.

I've been looking at junior development positions but all of the ones I've spotted require a couple of years commercial experience within development, which I don't have.

Does anyone have any experience of cracking into this field from a similar position? Luckily I'm in a position where I'd be prepared to take a pay cut to get onto the ladder I want to be on.

If I take on a few projects in my spare time will companies look at these as valid experience?

Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

AwayWithFaries

Hrududu wrote: »

If I take on a few projects in my spare time will companies look at these as valid experience?

That wouldn't be a bad idea. It's not as good as experience in a work environment but it would definitely be looked upon favorably.
It would also show that you are a motivated person and genuinely interested in the area.

komodosp

Agreed. Companies who are finding it hard to find people (and there are a couple out there) will be impressed if you are showing a keen interest and can demonstrate decent knowledge in what they are looking for, even if you don't have real work experience, but you won't beat someone with actual experience unless they really f*ck up the interview.

Even better if it's web development as then you can show your work... (you can't really point to an ERP system you've been working on your own)

Also see what they are looking for in the job applications, and learn about them and incorporate them in your side-projects so you can talk about them in interviews. The problem is though, finding a job is your job at the moment...

dazberry

It's been my experience that a lot of organisations have no formal QA (or a poor approximation of one) so firstly I wouldn't be discounting your QA experience. If you have good formal QA experience, and learned about TDD (test driven development) and Unit testing on the development side I think that would definitely stand to you. I worked with someone that moved from localisation to development, and they got their break when they got hired as a junior developer in a company that just happened to want to localise their products, and while it was by far not the best job in the world, it was the stepping stone on to better things.

The thing about experience however is that not all experience is created equal, so if you're going to spent your time working on projects and the like, focus on the tools that will at least get you a look-in, and be prepared to be able to demonstrate that experience. I'm a senior dev but work in a legacy tool stack and there is zero interest in what I do. I've been trying to move into C# for nearly 5 years now but it's been a tough slog, working in one tool during the day and trying to chip away at another tool in the evenings. Finally I'm talking to a couple of companies and things are looking up. The catch is that I've had to cast the net wide, one role is very support orientated and the other is junior. The junior role isn't a shoe in either, I've really had to demonstrate architect level experience and knowledge to compensate, and have had to go thru' a number of stages (including submitting a project) just to get the actually face to face interview!!!

So what I'd say to you is use all the options at your disposal, personal projects, tech sites and blogs, your existing QA experience and fill the gaps with a strong demonstration of genuine interest and enthusiasm

HTH

D.