It's hard geting work...

KroG

Its hard geting work as a programmer with a fully fleged degree in cs the money is so crap its near min-wage. Why is this happening you allways need programmers for programmes.

cullenswood

I wish I knew, I have a Masters in Computer Science and am also finding it difficult to get programming work. It's the typical chicken and egg scenario whereby you need experience to get a job, but can't get a job in the first place to get experience!

Hobbes

How much experience you got with that degree? You generally have to start off at the bottom but even a little bit of experience will help.

KroG

Yes it is i'm so pived atm tbh because i'm highly qualif and i can't get anything i'm very tempted to leave the country and seek work else were

Evil Phil

Well first of all stop refering to it as programmes, its programs, but what you're doing is software development.

Second of all, everybody starts at the bottom at near minimum wage regardless of qualifications. If this is what you want to do then accept the salary and do it, if you're only in it for the money then I'd suggest Sales and Marketing.

KroG

Yes i know but it very hard to get into somewhere and sooorrry about the programs thing.

Evil Phil

/me wags finger

KroG

Me then sticks middle finger at you

yossarin

I have a masters and was in the same boat. two years later and i'm starting to see proper money. Its just how it works i'm afraid.

Evil Phil

Just get your foot in the door somewhere and stick it out for 12 months at least. If you're then unhappy with the situation you'll have a years experience behind you and that makes you a lot more employable. If you have any mates working in the industry see if they can help out by recommending you. Or if they work in an Admin/Support role plague them until they let you develop some little utilties for them - that's what I did.

Enygma

Good advice there. Try to get in anywhere, 12 months experience will really stand to you, besides you really only start to learn when you're on the job.

<off_topic>
my pockets hurt - I love that!
</off_topic>

Ardent

I was on pretty much minimum wage years ago in the same line of work you're trying to get into. Had to bite the bullet, take the job and get in on the ground floor. 15 months later I moved job and doubled my salary.

seamus

As others say, your degree really only starts to come into it's own after you start working. A person with loads of theory and no practice isn't really much more use until they have put that theory into practice.

You'll start off crap, but progress quicker, and learn quicker.

stevenmu

Heh, I had to work as a security guard after finishing my degree until a programming job turned up. Even then, I had to accept a pay cut to take it. It worked out well though, two years in I'm on decent money with a hefty raise due (supposedly) and pretty decent prospects if I get itchy feet.

Peace

Evil Phil wrote:

Just get your foot in the door somewhere and stick it out for 12 months at least. If you're then unhappy with the situation you'll have a years experience behind you and that makes you a lot more employable.

This is good advice.

Its exactly the situation i'm in at the moment. Straight out of college and got a .Net developer position. Now i've got to serve my time (up to 12months) before i can move so i give myself a better change at finding another job at a decent salary. I'm 9 months in now.

I don't hate my job, but i really despise the place i work.

Can't beat the experience though (programming .net apps/compact framework/ websevices/ windows services and maybe some asp.net coming up.)...

<edit>fixed spelling mistake before phil wags his finger at me *damn finger*</edit>

Evil Phil

Fear the finger.

I wonder how many developers leave their first job after 12 months. I did but I was kinda being bullied and technically it was my second development job but my first job writing code as apposed to script.

Peace

I would imagine a lot of developers move after their first 12 months. I was looking on irishjobs.ie at the weekend and most of the .Net positions require 1 year minimum experience in C#/VB.Net.

So when it comes around for me i'll be using it to move to a nicer environment to work in (all i ask for is a small bit of professionalism) and get a large salary bump.

damnyanks

In fairness you should of been prepared for the reality of learning peanuts upon graduation unless landing a grad placement, and even then it isn't going to be great. Just get the experience and you will be happy. It's not as if you are used to living the high life on whatever you were getting in college.

Also depends on where you go. I'm doing a placement year next year and finding jobs that pay 20k sterling a year is not a rare thing to find. Just a lot of competition.

stagolee

slightly off topic here but, if its that hard to get a job with a computer science degree is there any point in me trying to get a mcad for purposes of getting a job in programming?

WizZard

Anything that makes you stand out is good. However if you don't have a degree then an MCAD won't look like much, IMHO. In addition to a degree and some (>1-2 yrs) experience it would be good.

Learning to spell and properly use grammar is always a good starting point.

<edit>:D:D @ Trojan for excellent editing!</edit>

superhoops1973

KroG wrote:

Its hard geting work as a programmer with a fully fleged degree in cs the money is so crap its near min-wage. Why is this happening you allways need programmers for programmes.

Good CV. Good attitude. Good grades. Coming from a good college. Interesting projects help alot. If you don't have some of these, well chances are very slim i'd say

Getting a decent job is extremely difficult, but if you take a bad one, well it can make getting a decent one afterwards very difficult.

Keep learning stuff enhancing your skillset