Re: advice

osmium wrote
(in article <3nkacgF20e8pU1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>):

> <secret.type@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
>> i feel very awkward writing this mail, that's why i kept this post
>> pending for a year...
>>
>> i am an undergrad in my junior year & i _think_ i like programming
>>
>>
>> i like to write short/trivial scripts etc to do small jobs
>>
>> but, when it comes to writing decent sized programs, i start postponing
>> it & when i really get started on it, i get bogged down by some trivial
>> thing/bug
>> & that is the end of the project
>>
>> I feel really bad about this, especially because I hope to build a
>> career in the IT field
>>
>> I keep asking myself whether I like programming or not
>> & whether it was meant for me...
>
> I think you are not cut out to be a professional programmer.

Bull. Lots of people procrastinate in college, often because
some of the assignments are boring as hell, and many obviously
don't have any real-world application, they're just some stupid
thing the prof dreamed up to put you through a specific set of
techniques or algorithms.

> IMO it takes a lot of determination to be a programmer, and you
> seem to lack even a modest amount.

I sort of doubt you are a psychologist, so maybe you should
refrain from trying to diagnose people's internal wiring from a
single usenet post.

> In the US, the out sourcing is only get to get worse, so you are
> going to be competing with a lot of driven people for a diminishing
> pool of jobs.

If they were that driven originally, outsourcing would not have
happened. The fact is, the whole business sector got fat, damn
and happy, and stacked with people that entered the industry
just to make money, because they heard a lot of other people
were doing it. Justifiably, IT shops got tired of paying people
that weren't really qualified tons of money to sit around
bitching about their benefit packages instead of getting work
done.

> The real paying jobs are not the little ones you
> like; they are big, nasty and hairy.

First of all, that's not always true. In addition, it turns out
that your motivation is a lot different when you think you are
working on something that fits into one or more of these
categories:
1) Interesting & challenging
2) Useful in the real world
3) Lucrative

Not necessarily in that order.


--
Randy Howard (2reply remove FOOBAR)

.

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