Career suggestions?

helphelp911

Hi, i am very happy to know this forum and i want to get some suggestions from experts.

Currently i am lost and i don't know how to go forward with my career.

I graduated from computer science two years ago. In the first year, i got a help desk/sys admin job. Payed at really low rate (10 CAD /hr). I worked there for half year then laid off. i spent almost a year to find job. Finally i got this job ( web developer ) in very smaller company ( only me and boss ). My current pay is low too (14 CAD /hr, 30K CAD /yr). Currently it is my six months in this company. Anyways, now i don't know what to do. My short term goal is to be a programmer (website) and do something related to database.

1. Is there any cert i can get for web programming, database?
2. If i keep going in web programming, should i learn Photoshop and front end design? i know nothing about web design and photoshop.
3. Should i stick with this company for longer or should i find a better job?
4. if i achieve my short term goal (web programmer), what should i aim for next?

Thanks for all help!!
Thanks

nel

Firstly welcome to the forums.

Your still in the early stages of your career, so i would recommend taking the experiance above all other things such as income etc. i would rather have a great experianced job, which gives you good exposure, with a low income than the other way round. So grab the experiance while you can and make the most of it all. Besides the greater income levels will increase when you begin moving up the ladder.

There's quite a few certs from different companies available. Here's a few to start you off but other developers will be able to provide better links. It will also depend on which area you go:

http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/certification/view-by-name.aspx

Oracle Certification Program: Oracle Technology and Applications Certification

As your young and still gaining experiance, if the job is giving you the experiance you want, then stick with it. If you arent getting the experiance you require/want then you can always look else where. Nowadays, alot of entry level folk dont realise how difficult (and long it may take) to get the job and experiance you crave for. So if your job gives you that - cherish it (for now).

What should you aim for next? well that depends on what you want to do long term. write down some idea's of your career track and map your education to coincide with it.

Other folk will be able to suggest more for the development side as its not my area

Good luck mate.

GAngel

helphelp911 wrote: »

Hi, i am very happy to know this forum and i want to get some suggestions from experts.

Currently i am lost and i don't know how to go forward with my career.

I graduated from computer science two years ago. In the first year, i got a help desk/sys admin job. Payed at really low rate (10 CAD /hr). I worked there for half year then laid off. i spent almost a year to find job. Finally i got this job ( web developer ) in very smaller company ( only me and boss ). My current pay is low too (14 CAD /hr, 30K CAD /yr). Currently it is my six months in this company. Anyways, now i don't know what to do. My short term goal is to be a programmer (website) and do something related to database.

1. Is there any cert i can get for web programming, database?
2. If i keep going in web programming, should i learn Photoshop and front end design? i know nothing about web design and photoshop.
3. Should i stick with this company for longer or should i find a better job?
4. if i achieve my short term goal (web programmer), what should i aim for next?

Thanks for all help!!
Thanks

I don't know of any unis in canada that teachs comp sci without large amounts of programming in it??? Certification wise you should decide where you want your career to go before picking suitable certs to study.
1. The main players are .net, java,sql and oracle.
2. Photoshop, dreamweaver and frontpage/sharepoint designer
3.Y ou do what makes sense for your future.
4. Depends on your goals.

What part of canada are you located in? If you're in a major city that pay is aweful (entry level or not) but if you're serving one of the smaller markets (manitoba, out east etc) then it may be the standard there. Maybe try feeling out your boss as to giving you a nice bump at the one year mark if your work is satisfactory.

helphelp911

Thanks for all replies.

I live in Vancouver. i graduated from Simon Fraser University. In fact, i know nothing about .Net or C# when i graduated. i slowly learned C# in one of my job project (Really simple one). Now i am using PHP, Mysql to build website for my company.

i know i like to do programming. But for my skills set i have now (php, mysql, school experience of java), i know i have tons to learn and keep up.

If i want to keep on doing web development, should i focus on php, or should i start to self-learn .net , oracle as GAngel suggested? (thanks GAngel)

Thanks nel for the great links. i am very interested in getting the Microsoft Certified Application Developer.


Thanks for the help!

kate88

Thanks for your nice suggestions.It is good job not boring........... and I am interested in this job.Thanks in advance!!!!

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ServerProvides

helphelp911 wrote: »

Thanks nel for the great links. i am very interested in getting the Microsoft Certified Application Developer.

Thanks for the help!

This might be a good place to start. I'm thinking about it myself. If you're interested in web programming You'll want to pick up the ASP.NET 3.5 as well I'm sure. I believe these programming certs hold more weight than some of the others out there. C# is also a pretty "hot" language right now I believe.