Who am I
Adam Burnett
- B.S. Computer Science - University of Massachusetts Amherst - 2005
- 15+ years of professional software development
- Roles include: tech support, developer, recruiter, architect, QA
- Father, mountain biker, skier
How did I get started
GAMING! - LAN Parties, Quake, LucasArts Games, Mech Warrior, Starcraft, MUDs...
Personal Interest - Built my own PCs, family tech support, etc.
High School - C++, AP C++, Java.
Work - Worked for a local software company doing random development, QA, 3D modeling and graphic design.
What is a Career in Software
Software development is for people who have a passion for solving problems. You must enjoy constantly learning and improving your skills on your own. Most software is developed by a team so you must have the ability to work with others and be modest.
What is a Career in Software
There are many different roles one can have as part of a career in software.
- Developer
- Quality Assurance (Testing)
- Systems Engineering
- Release Engineer
- DBA
Education
In Software what you've done speaks louder than where you went to school or, even, what you studied.
A 2 or 4 year degree or IT training during a military career is generally required by employers. Computer Science is the traditional path for developers. It will give a great understanding of how computers work from top to bottom and will make you a better developer. Also, most likely, a higher salary.
A Computer Scientist and a Software Engineer are not exactly the same things. Some universities now offer Software Engineering focused programs or certificates.
What Can You Do?
Just about anything! Every industry relies on software in some form or another.
Your code could run on planes, cars, refrigerators, satelites or across thousands of machines
in a data center.
Don't get stuck on picking a particular industry to work in. Focus on the technical problems that you'll be solving.
Where can you Work?
Finding a company that fits you culturally is just as important as finding one that will challenge you technically. This isn't just the one with the best free snacks!
- How is this company going to help me progress technically?
- Do they encourage the use of new technology?
- Am I just going to be on-call 24/7?
- Is leadership transparent about plans and goals?
- Work/life balance?
Getting Started Now
Getting started in software development is easy!
Learn HTML, CSS, Javascript at W3 Schools
Write cross platform mobile applications with React Native
Learn a programming language! Java, Python, Go, Ruby, Javascript, etc...
Market Yourself
You probably suck at writing a resume. And that's OK!
A resume filled with classes taken, previous job titles and vague descriptions of job functions does not tell employers much about who you are or what problems you enjoy solving. It also does not help you stand out among a pack of applicants.
Blogging, Tweeting and committing on GitHub are great ways to market yourself. This will help build your name in the industry and give you a place to point employers to see what kind of developer you are.
Thank you!
This presentation can be found at https://github.com/aburnett/software-developer-presentation