Every employer has a different view on degrees. I'm personally of the belief that it shows that you're dedicated enough to spend 4 years of your life to get a piece of paper, which shows that you're less likely to be the type of person who will quickly jump ship.

Degrees might help where you have nothing else to differentiate you between other candidates, but there's really no substitute for social networking -- go to the relevant meetings in your area (Perl Mongers, maybe a LUG if you do that sort of thing, etc.), and let your friends know you're looking for a job change, and they'll funnel news to you. (hell, I complained about frustration about not knowing what's going on with the contract I'm under to a few people, and a week later, I had gotten 3 job leads, even though I wasn't actually looking for work).

This might seem strange, but you may want to try to push existing experience to differentiate you from other job candidates -- eg, analog video production ... how can you relate that back to programming? Maybe from a project management perspective? Maybe there are art aspects that can apply to the type of programming you'd be doing? Perhaps you should look for programming work within a similar field, as you'll already know the issues and jargon of the industry.

My advice to anyone looking for a career change -- don't oversell yourself. If you promise, and can't deliver, you're screwed. I'm not in a hiring position these days, but I'd much rather see someone who knows what their weakness are, is willing to admit to them, and seems genuinely interested in correcting them and/or improving in general. Of course, don't dwell on the weaknesses ... you want to push your strengths, just don't try to BS the recruiters. It might work on the HR people and incompetant managers, but it'll piss off technical folks.

In reply to Re: Suggestions for radical career change? by jhourcle
in thread Suggestions for radical career change? by bigmacbear

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