Advice on 'breaking into' the ASP.NET world for an experienced swdevel

[Bob Robertson]

Hey guys, I am an experienced sw developer (8+ yrs) with a pretty broad
background. I know C/C++ very well, have had a decent amount of
embedded experience, have had quite a bit of Linux app development
experience, as well as some core java development experience (swing
apps-no enterprise), and some win32/MFC app development experience. In
the past year I have been on a contract developing exclusively with
C#/.NET (windows forms and a bit of ADO.NET). All of my experience has
been with classic 'engineering' engineering companies.
I had been getting really psyched about moving into the C#/.NET world
UNTIL I started looking at the job postings. It appears that the vast
majority of jobs requiring C# also require ASP.NET (and many times
database design/maintenance). I have done some home projects in
ASP.NET, but nothing on a 'real' job. For me, it appears the writing is
on the wall...if I want to continue in .NET, I REALLY need to break into
the ASP.NET world and get some real experience in the technology. My
question for you folks is, how would you best approach it? How can I
maximize my chances of getting into the field? I have been studying my
ass off for the past two weeks (books and small projects), but I know
without real experience it's still is going to be tough. How should I
pitch myself to headhunters? What about interviews? I was thinking
that I may need to start dropping my rate or consider a jr level full
time position just to get this under my belt. Ideas? Any advice is
appreciated.

Thanks,

Bob

 

[tom pester]

I think its a catch 22 problem. You need a few real life projects to get
productive but with your background thats all you need I think.
Lower your demands maybe and get realy dirty in .NET cause as you know there
is a big difference between pet projects and projects that must satisfy a
community.
That's all the advice I can give you sry.

Cheers,
Tom Pester

 

[Kevin Spencer]

Tom is probably right. I should mention, however, that there are other .Net
jobs available, but you may have to be willing to relocate. Still, .Net is
quite networking-heavy, at least in terms of business usage, although it is
perfectly suitable for any type of application development. I have been
fortunate to hold a job which involves doing every kind of .Net project that
can be done, but it does indeed include ASP.Net.

--
HTH,

Kevin Spencer
Microsoft MVP
..Net Developer
Everybody picks their nose,
But some people are better at hiding it.