Developer as a Career Choice? Get Help to Choose the Right Career.

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In a Nutshell

Developers are tasked with programming an application based on an agreed specification. At times developers may design the actual application. Developers work with any number of languages which are constantly changing as well as different development methodologies. Developers have to keep their technical skills up to date.

The Good

Working on an application from beginning to end and seeing the outcome
The industry is ever changing – there are always new challenges

The Bad

* If stuck in the same role, can become repetitive and you can fall behind
* Pay not great relative to your qualifications (and intellect)

Start Salary

£ 25 K

Skill Requirements:

You have to tell the computer what to think, so the ability to deconstruct problems logically and put the pieces together again is vital.

Typical Career Path:

Start as a junior programmer/developer and move to a senior developer after 3 – 5 years. With decent interpersonal skills, you can then potentially manage a team of developers or move into other business roles

How to get into this career ?

Quite a few developers are self – taught. You don’t need a degree to get into the role, you need to show that you’re competent. Proficiency requires a decent mathematical and problem solving intellect

School Subject Requirements

Maths – if you don’t like maths, you won’t like programming. Computer Science – if offered.

Uni/College Requirements

Computer Science Degree. With “top” uni’s, the bulk of the course will be maths oriented and exam based. With lesser ranked uni’s, there’ll be more practical coursework. Don’t choose a uni based on the programming language it teaches – you’ll always learn new ones.

Alternative routes

If you have the aptitude, you can teach yourself at very little cost other than your time.