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Starting a programming career - where to start?

  • 10-08-2012 5:22pm
    #1
    TenLeftFingers
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 683 ✭✭✭


    I graduated with a degree in software engineering in 2003. I had some excellent opportunities that were not software related and I took them, but now I'd like to get back in to programming full-time.

    I did eight months in a start-up company and some side projects, but I'd like to get into a larger company and hopefully not be bouncing around from one technology / language to another all the time. Java was my favourite at college.

    I see a lot of recruitment websites now (hays.ie, simplyhired.ie, computerjobs.ie, galwayjobs.ie and indeed.ie) and most companies have their own careers area too.

    Are these a good place to start? Or should I be approaching companies directly? They mostly advertise senior developer positions which I *really* don't want.

    I see myself as a graduate level programmer at best right now and I don't want to be challenged to the degree I was in the startup company - I have enough of that with current circumstances (four-year-old child and a weekend college course).

    I've spoken with friends working in the industry and they've told me that the processes are far more organised and refined in the larger companies so this is what I'm looking for to start out (again).

    Anyway, I'm rambling. I live in Galway now and any direction would be great. I'm happy to spend a day on the recruitment sites if they are actually connected to businesses that hire.

    Thanks,
    Ten
    Tagged:


Comments

  • #2
    conor.hogan.2
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,246 ✭✭✭conor.hogan.2


    Applying directly to companies / applying through ad sites that are not done by recruiters is the only way I got interviews.


  • #3
    Feathers
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,082 ✭✭✭Feathers


    conor.hogan.2 wrote: »
    Applying directly to companies / applying through ad sites that are not done by recruiters is the only way I got interviews.

    You can have two things that make approaching companies directly a good option:

    Firstly, the company could want Junior as well as Senior devs, it's just that they are getting plenty of junior level CVs in the door, which is why they only advertise the senior positions.

    Secondly, if you take it that a recruiter is on 10–20% commission of your starting salary. You have good and bad recruiters — good ones, cherry picking the CVs that they send on & practically guaranteeing a suitable candidate for the role. Bad ones just keyword match your CV to the job spec & probably don't have a good understanding of the work.

    So if a company has experience of dealing with bad recruiters, getting all sorts of unfiltered candidates through the door from agencies & don't really have faith in that process (You see a lot of ads placed with "No recruitment agencies please" added to the bottom), presumably they might be more willing to give you a month's trial if they don't have to pay commission on it, rather than taking a gamble on someone they found through an agency (roughly costing them the same amount — trial vs commission).


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