How To Become a Computer Programmer Without a College Degree

On April 28, 2009, in Careers, by How To Become A Computer Programmer

You can become a computer programmer by going to college to study computer science and beginning an entry level computer programming job after college.

However, if you cannot afford to spend years in college before you begin your programming career, you may also gain knowledge of computer programming from software developers or teach yourself computer programming using reasonably priced textbooks, training courses or software developer mentoring programs.

In this article I will show you how to become a computer programmer without having to invest a fortune in a college education.

What Type of Computer Programming Credentials Are Employers Looking For?

Getting your first computer programming job without a computer science college education is not as hard as you may think.

This is because when it comes to computer programming, employers put more emphasis on your ability to write good quality code than on your educational credentials.

Many professional computer programmers have taken advantage of this to forgo college and focus on developing their computer programming skills to the best of their ability.

What Are Software Development Managers or IT Employers Hiring For?

If you have prepared a programming resume, sent it over to software developer hiring managers and are now getting ready for your programming interviews, you may first ask yourself this question:

What are prospective employers looking for in computer programmer resumes?

Whether you taught yourself computer programming or learnt how to program in college or in a correspondence training course, employers are looking for superior software development skills more than anything else.

After you are hired as a computer programmer, employers also expect you to document and design software applications and write good quality code, regardless of how or where you learnt computer programming!

It Is Easy To Study Computer Programming or Get a Software Developer Job?

One of the best kept secrets of becoming a computer programmer is that you can learn computer programming at home and advance your skills to a competent level without first getting a programming job.

When I realized this more than 15 years ago … that I could just buy a computer, connect it to the internet and learn as much computer programming as I wanted without having to get a job first, I was so excited … that I went ahead and did just that!

Of course, I also realized that I still needed to invest in computer programming books, buy software development tools and invest in software developer training packages that would allow me to learn programming on my own.

However, I figured out that the total cost of my investments in computer programming training would pale in comparison to how much I would earn as a computer programmer or how much more time it would take me to study medicine or law in college.

So, I took my developer training and got a well-paying contract programming job within 6 months, an opportunity I knew I could not have had with any other high paying professional career.

How to Get a Computer Programming Job without a College Degree

What you need to emphasize when looking for a computer programming job is your software development knowledge, coding skills and any programming experience that is related to the job you are interviewing for.

If you don’t have a college degree emphasize the other skills you have acquired, like your ability to learn technology quickly or your ability to keep up with technology or solve real programming problems.

In other words, you have to prove to prospective employers or hiring managers that you can do the job well if given the chance.

Make sure that your prospective employer sees the list of software development projects you have completed by yourself, live web sites or software application programs you designed or coded as well as the list of current or future projects you are planning to work on.

Show your prospective employer that you have a beautiful mind and make the case that you are an asset to any one who hires you!

Where Does This Leave You?

This leaves you without an excuse for not taking action. I am granting you the opportunity to purse your interests, your aspirations and your personal desire to learn or master computer programming. I take pride in being an computer programmer mentor, software developer mentor or IT Consultant who has worked with people that have overcome all sorts of obstacles, personal situations or challenges to begin their computer programming career.

By coaching, mentoring and training individuals who want to transition to a software developer career or become an expert computer programmer, I’ve observed or learnt that success in computer programming boils down to how skilled you are at software development and how much experience you have in solving real-world computer problems. If you gain a lot of practical computer programming skills or real-world, hands-on programming experience then your software development career will go into overdrive.

If you want to improve your programming skills and take your career to the next level, I encourage you to read the book “The Computer Programmers Book – The Street Smart Guide to Computer Programmer Careers”.

It goes into detail on “how to learn software development in as short a time as 24 weeks.

It will shave years off your learning curve by showing you how to learn programming fast, how to prepare your resume so you get noticed by hiring managers, how to prepare and excel at programming job interviews so you get job offers more quickly and how to consistently gain the kind of programming experience that gets your career moving forward.

Click here to request more information on the Computer Programmers Book

Tagged with:

6 Responses to “How To Become a Computer Programmer Without a College Degree”

  1. abhimanyu says:

    hi.. i from india.. could you please tell me how can i buy this book named as “The Computer Programmers Book – The Street Smart Guide to Computer Programmer Careers”.. in india

  2. abhimanyu says:

    or can i have a soft copy it.. if possible.. thanks in advance

Leave a Reply