Looking for career advice...

[andycorm]

I'm currently running around like a chicken with no head trying to figure out what the best plan of action is for my career. To make matters worse, when I ask ANYONE for advice, (college councilors, family, friends, etc.) I get a lot of "I'm not sure"s and "I don't really know much about that field". So to all you gurus out there, I would be eternally grateful for ANY advice you can give me. (I apologize, this got rather long)

As it stands now I think I have a pretty solid foundation for web-development, but virtually every single job-opening I've found as a minimum requires one or two skills that I don't have. (ASP.net, Silverlight, C++, C#, MSSQL, Python, Ruby, Perl, Ajax etc.) Currently, it seems my options are:

A: Continue job hunting, gain any work experience I can find (including unpaid), and in my downtime do online tutorials to learn what I can (for free or cheap) about new technologies. I've found that one site, Lynda.com, has some excellent video serieses(plural?). It was actually from there that I learned everything I know about Coldfusion and PHP, so it can be effective.

B: Go through a local community college's (renton technical college) computer science program (it has received an exorbitant amount of praise, and roughly 98% of their graduates get employed immediately). It will be a little pricey ($8000+), and there may be some overlap taught that I might not be able skip (i.e. basic web development classes and the like), but, especially in the second year they seem to get into some really cool, really deep stuff. (ASP.net, C#, and e-commerce related development.)

C: If I act fast, apparently there are some eight month programs being offered at another college (Bellevue College) that I could potentially get into for free due to being a dislocated worker. Unfortunately, there are only two subjects offered. One is for becoming a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (you don't actually get certified, but it prepares you for the exam(s)), which from what I can gather deals a lot with networking technology. The other delves deep into database management and prepares students to become database administrators.

I've done some homework and according to craig's list, most of the jobs that deal with network technology require an obscene amount of work experience, or a bachelor's degree at the least, leading me to believe that the MCSE program isn't really for me. I also could find no postings what-so-ever looking for database administrators, so that, coupled with the fact that databases aren't extremely interesting to me, makes me lean away from entering that program.

If we're going by what interests me, I really am starting to like server-side programming (PHP, Coldfusion, etc.) and would love to ultimately become some kind of programming super-guru that can program everything from flash games to accounting software. The only thing that would derail me from that is money. For example if being a database administrator DID mean I made a fair amount more money than say, a web developer or software engineer, I would have no qualms about "learning to love" to databases and SQL.

Again, any input, comments, or general life advice, would be extremely appreciated. Thanks!

[JTweedie]

You sound like you're in the position I was in about a year ago. I had been building my own little website projects for years, the largest of which was a basic e-commerce website. But, like you, I didn't have any qualifications, and I had little experience with ASP, C++, etc.

Now, I'm a self-employed website developer. I work closely with a designer, who designs websites, and I make them a fully-functioning, user-friendly website. It was brilliant for me, because as well as getting into the website industry, I learned a lot about the work of my designer-friend.

Admittedly, it has taken about 8 months for us to get the invoicing stage of our first website, but along the way, he kept money in my pocket by giving me work helping him fit signage, apply vehicle graphics, etc.

I'm not saying becoming self-employed is going to solve your problems; but it's another option. Really, my success is primarily down to my luck; I met my designer-friend on a part-time website creation course, and it just so happened that he was looking for someone to create websites, and I was looking for someone to design them (because I have no creativity).

Before you decide to become self-employed, you need to make sure you can meet the requirements of the clients you bring in. What is a client likely to ask you for, and can you provide it? If there are things your clients could ask for that you can't currently provide, you have two options; acquire the skills, or find a business-partner who can bridge the gaps. Some skills are too difficult to acquire (in my case, design), but a lot can be acquired, whether through books, youtube tutorials, online guides, etc.

I went to college three times, and failed all three times, not because I didn't have the skills or knowledge, but because I'm useless at exams and coursework. You have to choose a learning method that works for you. Personally, I learned everything I know from online tutorials and books.

Other things you need to consider are whether you can find enough clients; if not, a business partner may already have a client-base (that's another benefit of my designer-friend), do you need a reliable source of income to support yourself (self-employment is a rocky road at first and completely unpredictable), can you handle the financial and admin tasks of being self-employed.

Sorry for rambling so much; it's a habit. If you need me to further explain anything, let me know. Good luck!
James

[NogDog]

Note that when a job advert says they want somebody with skills A, B, C, D, E, F, and G, they probably realize that finding a single person with mastery of all those skills and willing to work in their desired salary range may be unlikely. Therefore, if you have skills A, C, E, F, and G, do not hesitate to apply if the job sounds interesting to you. They may be willing to hire you on if they like you overall, and either let you learn the other skills as needed on the job or even with subsidized schooling, or just hire a second person who is strong in the area where you aren't (and vice versa).

[multimediocrity]

Though I'm big on college, for matters like this, I would recommend self-teaching. It's a way to make some money on the side if you have a job doing it and read books written by professionals.