Software development course

eyeball kid

Hi all,

Sorry if this is the wrong forum if not please move. I'm just looking for some advise on suitable courses to get into software development.

A bit of background info. No previous experience in anything software related. Working as a telecoms engineer for the last 10 years. This has lead to a lot of travel internationally but not a huge amount of jobs in Ireland in my field which is why I'm considering changing careers.

Why SW? Well I did a couple of modules of programming back in college and really liked it at the time. I think its something that would interest me and I'd like to think I could be good at it.

A couple of questions on this.
What is the career situation like in Ireland Is there a lot of jobs out there? Any feelings on how it will be in 5-10 years? What fields or languages (Java, C, SQL, Perl etc) are most in demand?

Are computer science degrees absolutely necessary or could you get by with diploma/certification?

Does anyone know of any part time or ideally online courses that would be suitable to get an entry into development? Full time wouldn't suit as I have a mortgage. Doing a search on the web just a results in a dizzying amount of courses but I have no idea if they are worth doing or not.
Some examples..
http://www.ncirl.ie/Programmes_Courses/Part-time-Courses/Higher-Diploma-in-Science-in-Software-Development-H8HDSSDNCI1

http://www.fitzwilliaminstitute.ie/java_course_part_time.php#apply

Just looking for some advise from people actually working in the industry.
Sorry for the long message and I hope this makes sense.

Thanks..

srsly78

You already have a relevant qualification, including some programming modules. Try self-study I would say, there are lots of free resources on the internet for this. If you do end up as a software professional expect to be learning new stuff on your own anyway...

Pick a problem that is interesting to you, then try to solve it with software. Try to pick something that builds on your previous work experience - Voice over IP or signal analysis maybe?

Employers value experience over qualifications, experience working on your own projects counts for a lot as it also demonstrates enthusiasm and initiative.

druidhill

If you have done some in college already, then you are moving over to a new field, so you are looking to upskill or update the skills that you just didn't need at the time.
Self-study would be the cheapest option if you are disciplined enough to put in the time. Build up a portfolio of work so you can present and talk about it. That would be best for someone in your situation, imo.

Aswerty

Electrical based engineering degrees seem to hold up well when going into development but as others have said you have to also be able to show you have development experience (which luckily you can get on your own). I'd also say self study is your best bet and I'd also recommend for you to invest in a book or two instead of just relying on online material.

I'd say go for either C++, Java or C# since they seem to cover the lions share of the available work out there. On the other hand you could just pick up whatever language you used in college since you're already familiar with it, as long as it's not something obscure.

Since you have a lot of experience in telecom engineering you should try leverage your domain knowledge in that area. So if you have a good knowledge of network protocols you could go with C/C++ and do some development in that area.

Melanoma

Maybe check out the open university. A guy with a diploma I worked with was doing one and working, he had a lot of difficulty getting down to doing it not sure if that was long finger type thing or the volume of work, but he was never too worried. Why not start by programming some simple things before you get tied to an expensive course. They will take your money and have a job.