Saturday, July 21, 2007

Career planning for csc gradutes

In the last two years I have seen a lot of ups and downs in the Software Industry. So I thought of writing this post specially for fresh graduates who will enter the industry.

Initially there are two options for a computer Science graduate :
1 - Software Industry
2 - Telecommunication

In breif I can say if you are confident about your programming skills do not you choose Telecommunication just for the intial spark of salary they offer. If you are good enough as a programmer then defiently you will get better salary and satisfaction being in the Software Industry. Plus in the long run if you compare with your fellow mates you will find out that you are getting better salary and plus you are happy with your work.

Since I have not worked in the Telecom Industry I will not go in details about how to choose one to work in.

For the Software Industry according to me the best advice for freshers is to start working with a company who gives you the oppurtunity to work independently and have atleast one or two seniors. Even though there are lots of companies where you might even get to be the senior in no time .. but at the end of the day it is not worth it. So choose a company where you have atleast one or two good seniors. Make sure the company gives you actual development work rather than make you test softwares by saying be professional and do testing temprorary as soon as there is project you will be switched. Or makes you wait by saying there are projects in the pipeline, so you wonder around like a dangling pointer with no reference. This companies will create memory leaks in your career, so the solution is to leave those companies immeditely. No matter how much work you do each day make sure you are involved with opensource projects. Working on opensource porjects just takes you to another level. Always keep an eye on System design, try understand the project you are working on, understand its architecture. Since there are projects which have been going on for years, its understandable that understanding its architecture is not a piece of cake, so try understand the portion you work on and how it interacts with the rest of the system. Try getting yourself familiar with the upcoming technologies and do small sample projects when ever possible just to keep your self up with the rest of the world. Knowing the latest release of API's and Technology will also aid in your daily work.

The last advice is WORK WORK WORK and understand your WORK
- Reza

9 comments:

Tahmid Munaz said...

Nice article or topics to discuss..

You could have been generic according to your Title :) you started with Software and Telecom only.. but you missed the Network career.

QA and testing could be a career too.. just same as Development in Software Engineering.

Unknown said...

It is a good guideline for new comers.I agree with Munaz bhai, QA is also a shining sector of Software Industry :)

But good Job rezu...:)

Unknown said...

Important Topic, but I have to agree with both Munaz vai and Fami that you missed QA and Testing carrer.(Though you mentioned Testing, it seems that you don't suggest it as a career.)

Fariyah said...

Nice Article. But you made software testing sound like something that is done when there is nothing else to do. Testing is also one of the career a new comer can choose from. Of course it requires a lot of analytic thinking power. So anyone thinks he has it in him, he should think about having testing as a career.

Reza said...

Well.. Thank you all for your valuable comments, but I wrote this post geniunely from a Developer's perspective. I totally agree with you all that QA is a very well respected career and its a vast field as well. Hope fully I will write more about QA Careers in my coming posts.

hassan said...

To me, this blog is a guideline for any person working or willing to work in software industry.

Nice article, thanks :)

Shams said...

I just loved these :

Or makes you wait by saying there are projects in the pipeline, so you
wonder around like a dangling pointer with no reference
will create memory leaks in your career,

imyousuf said...

Career planning is very important and good article for people trying to get into software industry.

I agree that QA is missing and would just like to add that our QA culture is not up to the mark and I have serious doubt on how managements actually know its worth and how-to.

The part that I very much appreciate is the OSS part. I am in full agreement that everybody who wants to sustain in the SW industry for long term and want to get elevated in their career should be involved with OSS for not only learning but also being part of an amazing community. We have so much to learn from it. We also have to keep in mind that the SW industry in our country is still astonishingly young, so we play a significant role in shaping where the industry will be leading to.

imyousuf said...

The OSS is a wonderful, significant and appreciable portion of the whole blog. I am of the opinion that people should take it more seriously for their own betterment.