You can become a computer programmer by going to college to study computer science or management information systems and beginning an entry level computer programmer job after college. However, if you cannot afford to spend years in college before you begin your programming career, you can learn programming from experienced developers or teach yourself computer programming using affordable textbooks, training courses and or coaching programs. While you are on your way to becoming a programmer you need to think about what programming languages and platforms you are going to learn. Consider learning: C#, C++, Visual Basic.Net, ASP.Net, Java, Perl, SQL and HTML. In this article I will show you how to become a computer programmer without the benefits of a traditional computer science college education.

Do You Need A College Degree?

On a resume your qualifications or programming related degree will stand out and get you noticed, but prospective employers are really looking for people who have the ability to write good quality source code. There are many programmers that have developed their programming skills without spending any time in college and got a job in the programming market without a computer science degree. It's up to you to figure out if you want to get programming qualifications or a programming degree.

What Do Hiring Managers Want?

It's very important to figure out what each employer wants from you when looking for a programming job. The consensus is that employers want to see well rounded software development skills. They expect computer programmers to be able to design and develop software applications using efficient high quality code. Whether you learned how to program from home or were taught in college or a correspondence training course, hiring managers want you to apply your development skills to solve real business problems.

It Is Easy To Study Computer Programming and Get a Job

One of the best kept advantages of becoming a computer programmer is that you can learn computer programming at home and advance your skills to a competent level without first getting a programming job. When I realized this more than 12 years ago that I could just buy a computer, connect it to the internet and learn as much programming as I wanted without having to get a job first, I was excited. Of course, I realized that I would still need to invest in programming books, software development tools, and invest in training packages that would allow me to learn programming on my own. I figured out that the total cost of my investments in computer programming training would pale in comparison to how much I would earn as a programmer and how much more time it would take me to study medicine or law in college. I took my developer training and got a well-paying contract programming job within 6 months, an opportunity I knew I would not have had with any other high paying career.

How to Begin a Software Development Career after High School?

You can get a programming job without a college degree and here's how. You will need to communicate your programming knowledge and development experience. Knowledge and experience is the key. Show your prospective employer that you have just as much knowledge as the guy who did go to college and go into the specifics about the applications you have built using software development tools. Talk about the problems you ran into when building an application and how you solved the problems. Do all that you can to show your prospective employer that even without a college degree you are an asset to anyone who hires you!