Hey, what's up?
John Sonmez here from simpleprogrammer.com.
I've got a question about getting a quicker way to get into the industry.
This question is from Josh and he says, “Hi John, I am currently a student pursuing a
degree in Computer Science with 3 or4 semesters left.
I have been working 2 jobs that I hate (along with student loans) so I can pay for school
and bills.
I really would like to get into the field ASAP.
I do my own personal projects/learning after school/work into the early hours of the morning.
Internship are scarce here and I am losing my mind.
Do you have advice on getting into the industry quicker?
Or should I just rough it out until I graduate?”
So Josh is pursuing a Computer Science degree, just 3 to 4 semesters left and he’s got
2 jobs that he hates.
SO here’s the thing, I think you’re kind of already doing what you can, Josh.
There’s some periods in life where you’re just going to have to wait it out, just going
to have to grind it out.
I did this video on grinding things out being one of the most valuable skills that you can
have in life.
I really think that this is a situation that you’re in here.
There’s not a lot that you’re going to be able to do to accelerate things much beyond
this.
I mean if you’re working 2 jobs already so that you can pay your school that’s really
good.
That’s a good idea.
That makes sense even if those aren’t programming or Computer Science related jobs.
It would be nice if one of them were, but you’re doing the smart thing because you’re
setting yourself up for the future, right?
You’re not going into debt which a lot of people go into debt and they don’t work
the extra jobs but you’re doing the smart thing.
Because not only are you doing that but, you’re also developing the grit that you’re going
to need to succeed and I think that’s probably the most valuable thing that you’re doing
right now is you’re going to college, you’re working these 2 jobs and you’re staying
up late into the late hours of the night working on your own computer science project and increasing
your own education, taking responsibility for your education.
This is great.
This is awesome.
It’s going to be really hard, but if you can make it through 4 more semesters, you
can have such grit that whatever someone throws at you is going to seem easy compared to what
you’ve done here.
I wouldn’t really throw much more on top of that.
I feel like you’re kind of at the breaking point here.
If I could give you some advice on how to get into the industry quicker once you graduate,
I would say network and set up opportunities.
Think about it ahead of time.
if you’ve got some projects that you’re working on try to start putting together a
portfolio.
try to start getting projects together that you’re actually going to be able to maybe
put into if you develop an iOS or Android app that you can put in the App store.
Try to some projects that you can—maybe websites or something that you can actually
show to employers.
If you can, if it’s possible, can you turn one of those 2 jobs that you’re working
into into an actual Computer Science related job, can you do some kind of a programming
job that will get you that experience.
But you’re not going to be able to add a lot more to y our plate, not at this point.
It’s not a good idea, because what you want to do is you want to make sure that you make
it through.
Right now, if you make it the next 3 or4 semesters, you’re going to come out good.
You’re going to have a degree, it’s going to be totally paid off, you’re not going
to have to work those 2 extra jobs anymore because you’re not going to have to pay
for school, so you’re going to have more time, and you’re going to have all the experience
that you’ve gained from doing the side projects, right?
So set yourself up for that and I think that makes a lot of sense.
you might not even need to do an internship.
If you’ve got a chance to do an internship that’s paid so that you can eliminate one
of those part-time jobs that’s a great idea, but aside from that just grit it out.
Just grind it out and get to the end, get this finished and then you can move on.
You’ve got plenty of time.
Don’t worry.
You don’t need to be in such a rush.
What you’re doing makes sense and you’re doing the right thing.
It’s not going to take you much longer.
You’re already almost there, so just keep going Josh.
I think that’s the best advice I could give you, honestly.
All right.
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