There is NOT a shortage of Programmers
Heard about the shortage of programmers? Yah, right.
I’ve always had an interest in computers. I bought my first one in 1980, a TRS80. I dabbled in coding a little bit now and then. Some things haven’t changed. The ‘if’ ‘then’ concept is still alive and well.
All these years latter, I still have a strong and lasting interest in computers. I regularly read articles talking about the shortage of programmers. When my life circumstances changed drastically, I made a decision to turn my efforts towards doing what I really wanted to do. Something I would do whether I got paid or not. Only now it looked like I could make a living doing it. Everywhere I turned, I heard about the shortage of programmers, so I looked into it a little further. I already had something of a handle on basic html and css, and it looked like JavaScript (or PHP) was the next logical step in learning. There’s is an endless source of free and/or affordable training on-line. I read some more. There seemed to be a strong indication that JavaScript programmers were in demand. Take, for example, the now somewhat famous statement by Matt Mullenweg, urging his audience and viewers to “learn JavaScript deeply…. because it is the future of the web.”
So I set out to learn JavaScript. I’ve been at it part-time for about a year or so. Not exactly the length of time a lot of the courses suggested it would take to learn JS. In fact what most of these courses teach you is the absolute fundamentals, but not enough to write any meaningful code without following along with the instructor. Unfortunately on the job there are not instructors.
…coding is not just about sitting down at the keyboard and pounding out code…
One of the things you had better learn quickly is that coding is not just about sitting down at the keyboard and pounding out code. It is about sitting at the keyboard pounding out code, testing, and then spending a significant amount of time figuring out why it doesn’t work. You need to learn to enjoy this. See it as a challenge. Like solving a puzzle. If you don’t develop this mindset, I suspect coding will not be the fun and rewarding career you had hoped for.
After you’ve completed 1 or 2 or 6 or 12 of these “basics” courses you need to move on the the next step. You need to try to write code. Your own code. Do it as soon as possible. Don’t freak out when you can’t make anything work without following someone else’s code. Just keep trying and keep studying. You want to add to an array. “No problem” you think. I just use ‘.push’ to do that. So you struggle through putting together your code, looking hard to make sure you have all the syntax correct, trying to remember what you learned about scope, and then….it doesn’t work. You hear about something called ‘.apply’ and you try that. An hour or two later you’re thinking again about becoming a long haul truck driver. If you’re committed to becoming a programmer, don’t give up. But hopefully by now, you’ve figured out, like I did, that coding is NOT easy as some people out there have said.
Every once in a while I read an article about how someone went to a bootcamp and in less that 90 days, got a great job upon (or before) graduation. I am very happy for these people. However, I don’t believe this is the norm. As far as I can see, the gap between noobie programmer and most of the jobs out there is wide. If you’re in a very large city, or willing/able to move then the odds may be much more in your favour.
It doesn’t seem to me that there are a shortage of programmers, but rather that there is a shortage of “Senior”, “Full Stack”, “..including a degree in CS and 5 years…”, programmers with a wide breadth of knowledge and experience. If you’re that person, congrats. If you’re young and have plenty of time, then persist. Someday you may be that person. Let’s hope that “shortage” still exists by then.
As for me, I have the added disadvantage of not being young. I don’t have an extra 10 years to stumble around figuring it out. Never mind though. I love learning to code, no matter how challenging it can be at times. Eventually I will have the skills one way or another. Plus I have about 3 decades of self-employment history. I have plenty of “soft skills” and life experience. I’ll find a way to make it work.
The message here, as convoluted as I have made it, is: If you love to code, then code. Be determined and persistent and you will get there. This applies to many things in life. But if you think coding is easy, and there a companies lined up to hire noobies, with a modicum of skills, maybe you need to rethink your plan. Otherwise get coding.
