Harmonic
Executive Member
I really and truly hope soI assume the part about building a stackoverflow score and forking hundreds of github repo's is/was a joke
I really and truly hope soI assume the part about building a stackoverflow score and forking hundreds of github repo's is/was a joke
@CW67 so an important skill as a Software Dev is spotting nutters. This is your first test. I hope you're learning.
So I haven't followed the entire thread, but do you still have questions?Yes, informative (and entertaining) exchange between cguy & dontcryforme, and good info from everyone else.
So I haven't followed the entire thread, but do you still have questions?
A far more direct proxy to demand is to look at what people are actually being paid for their level of experience (you may want to take a look at the OfferZen survey). That should set your expectations. The question then, is if that is something that that is better or worse than you r current situation?The purpose of the thread was just to get a feel for the South African Python/programming landscape and whether or not it's worth pursuing for somebody in my situation.
If I was still living in the UK (or US or Europe for that matter) I don't think I'd even attempt to break into the industry at this age given the experience needed. Though I suppose it's six of one half a dozen of the other, far more opportunities I imagine in the northern hemisphere, and far more support in a country like the UK to help older people change career or get back into work etc, but also, SA is a technologically developing county, so I would think lots of opportunities here too.
We all know the dire state of our education system in SA as far as school leavers go, generalising of course, and I see that as an advantage for someone in my position trying to break into the tech industry.
Feel free to disagree on the last paragraph.
Most corporates wants a BSC degree or M.SC degrees in programming now.I've spent a few days researching this, and I could go on reading advice online for another year and keep getting conflicting info, all valid and valuable info though, but I'd like a unique South African take on this 'cause much of the advice I've read online, like Reddit, I would think pertains to software dev job markets in the Northern Hemisphere, anywhere from US to UK to India, Russia, China, and anywhere in-between.
I don't have a relevant computer science degree, and I have no programming experience beyond being very computer literate, I've spent most of my life tinkering with computers (software stuff) and backend stuff since the 80s, and studied a short web design course some years ago, but it's all just for curiosity's sake. So I would consider myself a power user with computers if that's the term. I currently work in media, video, photography, design and general tech stuff like that.
For the last few weeks I've been learning Python, the real basic stuff seems to come naturally and I'm really enjoying it, and I understand the very basics so far in terms of variables, if-else, converting a str to a float, etc. While I haven't got there yet with this course, I grasp the concept of boolean logic from researching what some junior interview questions might be.
With the lack of a CS degree, and I'll be late 40s probably by the time I'm 'ready' for a junior position, am I wasting my time, even if find I have an aptitude for it and get some projects on GitHub? Specifically thinking about SA being a developing country and the fact that programmers will probably be in high demand here for decades to come as the country continues to advance in tech.
Feel free to be frank, but looking for serious, objective answers. TIA.
The day is coming a ChatGPT/Copilot expert is going to ask: "Guys how do I change 2000 connection strings at the same time?"