Switching careers advice...

[ChopTop]

Hi,

I'm really wanting to jump ship from my current field of work. I'm 27,
graduated with a BS in Graphic Communications and have been working in the
printed graphics field for the last 5 years. I work with apps everyday like
Photoshop, Illustrator, etc. I'm great with computers, but don't have any
schooling on programming itself, but I'm really wanting to switch to that
field. My question is from you guys in the field, do I have to go back to
school and get another BS in Computer Science or should I teach myself C++
and/or Java and try to get certified? What do companies in the programming
field require? A BS of any kind with proven skills (i.e. certification), or
do they require schooling in that particular field you are applying for?
Thanks for any advice on jumping ship 5 years after graduating college.

 

[Phlip]

I'm really wanting to jump ship from my current field of work. I'm 27,
graduated with a BS in Graphic Communications and have been working in the
printed graphics field for the last 5 years. I work with apps everyday like
Photoshop, Illustrator, etc. I'm great with computers, but don't have any
schooling on programming itself, but I'm really wanting to switch to that
field. My question is from you guys in the field, do I have to go back to
school and get another BS in Computer Science or should I teach myself C++
and/or Java and try to get certified? What do companies in the programming
field require? A BS of any kind with proven skills (i.e. certification), or
do they require schooling in that particular field you are applying for?
Thanks for any advice on jumping ship 5 years after graduating college.

This depends on how long your runway is. If you have some savings, return to
college. You will learn if programming feels right, and you will help
prevent recruiters from finding dumb reasons to bounce your resume.

If your runway is short, learn to program using the scripting language in
one of your art programs. I don't know about Photoshop, but Maya, for
example, comes with an irritating but effective scripting language called
MEL.

Another tack is to download open source programmable art tools, like POVray,
and introduce these into your workflow.

These systems will give you a shorter step towards programming. Game shops,
for example, often have a role called "technical artist", whose job is using
these scripting languages to tune the art tools.

 

[Jesper Madsen]

Join an open source project, and try to learn from them while you
contribute. Then do a project for yourself, then you have something to show
off. Make sure you understand and can use a large selection of algorithms,
and even implement them your self if necessary. Being selftaught is ok, as
long as you are not "a clean sheet", when it comes to developing. The
experience you have means a lot if you are selftaught..

--
Jesper Madsen, SAXoTECH

"The truth of the matter is that you always know the right thing to do. The
hard part is doing it"
- General H. Norman Schwartzoff