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.

What Do Employers Want?

You’ve made over your resume, submitted it and begun preparing for programming interviews; but you should slow down and ask yourself “What do the employers really want?” Are they looking for a diploma, certificate, bachelor’s degree or master’s degree? Or real world experience with C#, Visual Basic.Net, SQL? No matter if you taught yourself programming from home or learned it from college or a correspondence training course, employers want to see good competent software development skills and interpersonal skills more than anything else. They are also placing more emphasis on newer object oriented languages and tools such as C# and Java. After you are hired your employer will expect you to be able to document and design software applications and write good quality code regardless of where you learned the skills. They will also expect you to keep up with the changes in technology and continuously update your development skills and technical knowledge.

Study Software Development and Get Hired Easily

You can get on your computer, connect to the internet and learn as much about programming as you ever wanted. Building up your programming skill level to an advanced level doesn’t strictly have to come from going to college. Taking a training course and reading up on programming books are also options that will help you achieve an advanced skill level in programming. If you invest the time into becoming knowledgeable about the processes and tools of software development you can get a job in the development field. A job opportunity might just be around the corner for you.