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Hi, I'm currently a senior in high school.. So no degree in computer science for another 4 years. But, I really do not want to work at some dumb fast food joint those 4 years either. Anyone know of anyway to put my programming skills to use without a degree, and get paid for it?

This is what I've seen:

1. Freelancing. Everywhere I've been I see almost no jobs but site design involving asp or javscript or even flash... not that I'm not willing to learn new languages, but I SUCK at site design. Also, I'd really like something more lowlevel and not web based(I don't work well with it, and there is no way I could make the deadlines I've seen)

2. Create my own little business. I have no idea how to do this... and how it could be profitable with so many out there..

Other than that, I've even searched monster and such, but almost all of those jobs require you to move somewhere far away. Oh, and degrees are needed almost always. I saw this real interesting "Create operating system kernel for mobile device" but under requirements was like a PhD in computer science.

anyway.. anyone have any ideas?

Bookstore? Books are fun.

Reality: I can't imagine anyone would hire someone with no degree to write low level code for them, especially when said person is ~18 and has had no previous programming jobs.

Everyone has to start somewhere...

Hi,

earlz wrote:So no degree in computer science for another 4 years. But, I really do not want to work at some dumb fast food joint those 4 years either. Anyone know of anyway to put my programming skills to use without a degree, and get paid for it?

One of the ways I paid for my living expenses at university was to get a Hall of Residence netadmin job. It was still pretty tedious (each Hall had ~500 PC's (owned by the individual residents) and I was Campus lead for 5 halls of residence), but perhaps better than working "at some dumb fast food joint".

If you're good at what you do, you can find something, but it won't be a degree-level job and you'll have to work hard to persuade someone to employ you in the first place.

Cheers,
Adam

How about applying for an internship?

Solar wrote:How about applying for an internship?

I have no idea of any place that does that around here

And an internship doesn't offer any money (which is what the OP specified in the title).

I'd suggest doing some web/script work for local businesses (as they are in more demand than software in local communities) and build up your resume (while getting paid). Then once you have something worth showing off, apply to a large company that needs software developers.

Also, in the meantime, checkout places like www.guru.com and such as they are made for developers who want to do freelance work for cash.

01000101 wrote:And an internship doesn't offer any money (which is what the OP specified in the title).

I'd suggest doing some web/script work for local businesses (as they are in more demand than software in local communities) and build up your resume (while getting paid). Then once you have something worth showing off, apply to a large company that needs software developers.

Also, in the meantime, checkout places like http://www.guru.com and such as they are made for developers who want to do freelance work for cash.

That is simply incorrect , if you do internship in some companies (for eg, if you do internship where I work , you will get more money than full time employee's of some other firms ) you surely will get money . But getting an internship is the difficult part .


In my place , if you are student , possible ways of earning money includes

1) Coding contests : -- I even got a job offer after I won a coding contest . Participate in as many events as possible and network with people . You might gain lots of ideas , even though you did not win the contest . I failed in the first three- four attempts , then started winning consistently .

2) Teaching

3) Post your resume everywhere and attend interviews [:)].I assure you , after a struggle , you will eventually get a job .

Regards
Shrek

Well, around here call centres are a good source of income for those without an education behind them.

If, at the same time you were working at a call centre, you got a tech support certificate (see your local listings to find out what employers are looking for), you'd probably have a decent shot at landing a better gig (At home tech support, corporate tech support, etc.). But don't just ignore call centres, there are some call centre jobs that are pretty good. A friend of mine landed a Solaris support position, you only get calls from Solaris admins who tend to know what they are doing (and tend to be professional).

Where I live, we start Co-op between 2nd and 3rd year, which pays decently, and really does help you get a job after you graduate. Not to mention that you get to try different employers for a 4-month period.

Just try to get a programming co-op job eventually, I once chose to make $5 less per hour to program in C++ rather than work at a help desk. And in the long term it was the right decision (in the short term it was damned dumb though).

Alboin wrote:Bookstore? Books are fun.

Reality: I can't imagine anyone would hire someone with no degree to write low level code for them, especially when said person is ~18 and has had no previous programming jobs.

Everyone has to start somewhere...

This is not true, i get at least 1 job offered a month, from my work on my OS, i do not take them because i have a very sucessfull business and only code in my spare time for fun.
But other OS Dev's with OS must get the same offer's and some must take them.

from my work on my OS

That's the kicker. Compared to the rest of the osdev community, your OS is 'well-known'.

Alboin wrote:

from my work on my OS

That's the kicker. Compared to the rest of the osdev community, your OS is 'well-known'.

Ah, if only my OS was as popular as DexOS or MikeOS and the like...

Shrek wrote:

01000101 wrote:And an internship doesn't offer any money (which is what the OP specified in the title).

I'd suggest doing some web/script work for local businesses (as they are in more demand than software in local communities) and build up your resume (while getting paid). Then once you have something worth showing off, apply to a large company that needs software developers.

Also, in the meantime, checkout places like http://www.guru.com and such as they are made for developers who want to do freelance work for cash.

That is simply incorrect , if you do internship in some compaines (for eg, if you do internship where I work , you will get more money than full time employee's of some other firms ) you surely will get money . But getting an internship is the difficult part .

No it's not, do your homework. Internships are usually free (but sometimes, near-free). Co-op programs (where usually part of your schooling is paid for by the target company in return for your employment once you're out of school) pays very well as both money in-hand and school money.

The terminology differs by company and by country. For example, "internships" at Microsoft pay very well.

01000101 wrote: No it's not, do your homework. Internships are usually free (but sometimes, near-free). Co-op programs (where usually part of your schooling is paid for by the target company in return for your employment once you're out of school) pays very well as both money in-hand and school money.

My answer was based on my personal experience.


Regards
Shrek

Troy Martin wrote:

Alboin wrote:

from my work on my OS

That's the kicker. Compared to the rest of the osdev community, your OS is 'well-known'.

Ah, if only my OS was as popular as DexOS or MikeOS and the like...

But the first thing you need to have, before your OS will be "popular" is a use able OS, if not no one will beable to add to it.
You really should aim to be self supporting, as fast as possable, eg: you can write, assemble/compile, load, and run app on your OS.
Remember when we started to design DexOS, we chose fasm over nasm as the assembler so we could easlly port it to the OS.
That's what helped linux, because codes used it, even in its raw state (and i know it also came at the right time) .

The next thing to remember is to keep it simple, both thouse OS's are at there hart simple in desgn, remember it would take at least 5 year's of full time work to make a Dos clone.
Also remember that one of the most sucessfull hobby OS is FreeDos.
But most of all you need time, i started my OS in 2002 and by 2005 it was self supporting.