Why did you get into this profession?

JJayoo

As the title says

Was it a genuine interest in all things tech or did you see the potential for a growing industry so chose this route for job security/opportunities.

Raging_Ninja

In my college years I didn't know what to do really. Started one course and left it after a couple of years, worked in a bar for a year while trying to figure out what to do with my life.

Did a general arts degree, discovered I had a talent for writing code, so decided to not do something I'm good at for free.

Now I turn code into cash and am figuring out what do with with my life.

14ned

JJayoo wrote: »

Was it a genuine interest in all things tech or did you see the potential for a growing industry so chose this route for job security/opportunities.

I always viewed this as my hobby, and not wanting to mix hobby with day job, I tried quite hard to not go into tech. But when the kids popped out, I went with the thing which maximises my time not working so I can be at home with them as much as possible, which is tech.

Niall

maccored

i fell into it. started off in design and then the internet came along

dazberry

Bored one day in the 80s, and instead of gaming I took out the ZX Spectrum manual and started leafing through the BASIC instruction reference, and ended up writing a program, and was hooked from then on. To subsequently get into the profession took a trip to college for a while.

JJayoo

Thanks for the replies.

I guess I'm asking the question to try and decipher wither or not this is a profession that one can move into from a logical point of view ie growing industry+ hard work = plenty of opportunities, or if to succeed in this business you need to possess a passion and an almost natural flair like the above posters.

To be honest I don't really know that much about the area, apart from what I've seen on Youtube videos and from reading various forums. Certain qualities do appeal to me such as the constant learning/upskilling component, the fact that my life has stalled over the last few years is pretty depressing to say the least.

I have been considering doing a Springboard conversion course, though there are plenty of options available it's also hard to narrow down to the right choice when one is looking for the 'foot-in-the-door' course from which you can progress.

I am also wondering if the growth in this industry is really restricted to the big hubs such as Dublin/Galway. A quick check on indeed.ie shows 1900 jobs in Dublin when Developer is searched compared to 6 in Sligo.

I appreciate anyone taking the time to reply to my rambling.

Raging_Ninja

Well, like any set of skills it can be learned with time. How fast you learn and whether you're going to enjoy the process is up to your personality.

The ability to plan and think methodically is paramount., But again, those are skills that can be learned.

At the end of the day writing code comes down to a bit of creativity and a lot of problem-solving.

14ned

It's the same as any skilled profession, you invest your 10,000 hours, you reap whatever the market rate at the time is for someone in that specialism of that skilled profession. If you're happy where you are at that point and don't think you'll ever need another job or a pay rise, you can coast along easily enough in most places. If you do want the big bucks, or move sideways or upwards, you'll need to keep working. Same as in any skilled profession really.

Is it risk free? No.

Is it a reasonable bet long term? Yes.

Is it a reasonable bet medium term? Depends on when this current tech bubble bursts, and how severe the resulting downturn is.

Niall

pillphil

JJayoo wrote: »

Thanks for the replies.

I guess I'm asking the question to try and decipher wither or not this is a profession that one can move into from a logical point of view ie growing industry+ hard work = plenty of opportunities, or if to succeed in this business you need to possess a passion and an almost natural flair like the above posters.

To be honest I don't really know that much about the area, apart from what I've seen on Youtube videos and from reading various forums. Certain qualities do appeal to me such as the constant learning/upskilling component, the fact that my life has stalled over the last few years is pretty depressing to say the least.

I have been considering doing a Springboard conversion course, though there are plenty of options available it's also hard to narrow down to the right choice when one is looking for the 'foot-in-the-door' course from which you can progress.

I am also wondering if the growth in this industry is really restricted to the big hubs such as Dublin/Galway. A quick check on indeed.ie shows 1900 jobs in Dublin when Developer is searched compared to 6 in Sligo.

I appreciate anyone taking the time to reply to my rambling.

There have been a few new companies looking for devs recently in Sligo. I don't think there was much there before that.

Buford T Justice

In Sligo terms, LiveTiles and e3 Retail have both announced this summer that they are opening offices in Sligo and so both are hiring aggressively. Dublin is Dublin, Sligo isn't, but then Sligo isn't trying to pretend its Dublin either. Tech is growing in the north west.

https://irishtechnews.ie/tech-life-balance-event-to-be-held-in-sligo-on-april-19/

Talisman

JJayoo wrote: »

I have been considering doing a Springboard conversion course, though there are plenty of options available it's also hard to narrow down to the right choice when one is looking for the 'foot-in-the-door' course from which you can progress.

I am also wondering if the growth in this industry is really restricted to the big hubs such as Dublin/Galway. A quick check on indeed.ie shows 1900 jobs in Dublin when Developer is searched compared to 6 in Sligo.

Are you any further along the path from watching some YouTube videos? Have you tried writing some code in any language in the past three weeks? It sounds to me like you're still procastinating - If you're not committed to taking the first step then there is no point in even considering a Springboard course.

In the great scheme of things, Dublin/Sligo doesn't matter - there is a thing called the internet it offers a whole world of opportunities.

Find something that is going to motivate you and go with it - looking for reasons not to is never going to help you.

Codecademy - Start there, focus on Python and stay away from the fluffy stuff (HTML & CSS). If you can get through the Python course without hating yourself or the prospect of facing the computer then you know that you have a solid base to work from and the next step will be a lot easier.

BrokenArrows

That's interesting about Sligo. Im from there.
Sligo hasn't had much going for it in a long time. Would be great for the town to get some new high skill employers.

----

I had always found computers easy, and was exposed to the result of some Trojans that infected my computer. Sub7 was the name. This was the Trojan that was very popular back in the day.

Anyway after removing it I started researching what it was, how it worked etc.

I learned how to write batch files and some basic exposure to c.

When it came to apply to colleges I just picked software development because I didn't really have anything else which attracted me and the points were achievable.

After I graduated I really had no desire to do it for a career.
Went traveling for a while but eventually ended up back coding due to a number of promotions and an eventual random job offer.

Royale with Cheese

My dad was a fairly successful programmer so aged 17 when I was filling in my CAO I decided I didn't want to turn into my Dad and ended up doing an Arts degree.

5 years later I had little career prospects (believe it or not) and I had to retrain. The two 'safe' career options that you could retrain in without having to do a full degree were IT and accounting. I chose IT (thank fúck) and ended up doing a one year conversion course in DCU, followed by a full MSc in Computer Science in UCD. It was two years in total so longer than I anticipated, but I was on a par with other graduates at that point.

I can't think of any proper job that I'd be better at or like more, so I ended up kinda falling into the perfect career for me. I definitely should have just gone down this route to begin with, but glad it worked out in the end.

14ned

Royale with Cheese wrote: »

The two 'safe' career options that you could retrain in without having to do a full degree were IT and accounting.

I like accounting. It's basically the programming of large groups of people. You get to set how the org works, what is important and what is not, which bits get hired and fired, and so on.

Like "cost centre accounting" for example. What it means is that anything allocated to that is to be driven down to the lowest achievable cost. Woe betide any employees allocated to a cost centre (cleaners, helpdesk etc). Its opposite is a "profit center". That means you are important, and to be treated nicely. Sales and developers get allocated to profit centres, testing and QA to cost centres. Which shows where the priorities are.

Accountants get enormous influence on which categories to allocate things to. That's where the programming comes in

Niall

I have always had a big interest in all things technology related in general and I love solving problems

Jim2007

By accident:

Thirty plus years ago I did a business degree in college, while there I discovered computing. This was before the days of the PC, so I spent my nights hanging out with the techies in the computer lab, often being locked in for the night!

After college I moved on to one of the big 4 accounting companies and having putting in the time and getting the qualification I decided it was not for me. I quit the job to spend a summer climbing in the Swiss Alps, which was fantastic by the way. At the end of the climbing season, one of my new Swiss friends offered me a job writing software...

And here I am still hacking and still in Switzerland.

experiMental

When I was in secondary school around 15 years ago, I mucked around with Flash, Java and a bit of HTML. My intention was to make a living from development of games and interactive products, so that I would not have to attend college in the future. That dream didn't come true though. Since then, I went to college and I have managed to get a few web development jobs and contracts.

First and foremost, I have joined projects, rather than the whole IT profession and industry. I never really set out to have one single career path. I had a vision to contribute my creative skills to projects and companies where I could add value, and in that process, learn new skills as well.

By the way, I'm not based in Ireland anymore. 
@OP : if you want to get IT jobs in the future, you have to look for specific skills which are used in IT industry and see where you excel. Don't just look at jobs, pay more attention to the skills that they require.