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I'm not sure how many people here are based in the UK, but hopefully a few (or at least greater than none) will have useful information. I'm nearing the end of a maths PhD (in recursion theory; despite the name, the topic has no direct relevance to anything in computer science) and have very little programming experience - just a couple of simple pieces of coursework as an undergrad and an eight week summer job, again while I was an undergrad. However, I've decided that I'd like to work in software development. Does anyone have any suggestions for companies that employ software developers and don't require programming expertise. The company I did a summer job at had a great looking grad scheme but I cunningly cocked up the interviews/tests there. IBM appear to also have a program which doesn't require you to be able to code (and offers a bonus to people with PhDs, which is nice), but aren't currently hiring programmers. I'd ideally like to work on stuff with a fairly heavy theoretical component as well as pure coding, but mainly I'm looking for UK based employers who: 1. Accept grads for software development jobs who have very little programming experience. 2. Put serious effort into training and development for their grads. I'm currently working through Nisan and Schocken's "The Elements of Computing Systems" to learn more about how computers work and to get a little more programming experience (the book guides you through building a computer from scratch; I'm currently writing a virtual machine for their simple 16 bit architecture and will eventually write an operating systems and a compiler for a high-level language). I'm also planning on reading a few textbooks on algorithms and programming over the next few months and writing some simple code, but I'm obviously not going to be anywhere near proficient enough to get a job somewhere that requires you to be able to program off the bat. I have good degrees, so I think I'd at least have a shot at competitive/high prestige jobs as long as they don't require previous experience. Any suggestions of companies to look at or things to do/read before I finish my PhD would be greatly appreciated. Thanks! Grey_Area fucked around with this message at 19:31 on Dec 30, 2010 |
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Dec 30, 2010 17:08
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Ok, thanks. I'm not sure I'm being particularly naive. The one job I applied for seemed ideal, but like I said I failed the technical tests. I put it down to excessive stress, but even if it was incompetence or stupidity I got to the last round of interviews so at least had a reasonable shot at getting the job. And that started you on £30k with really good benefits and required no experience at all. And IBM also require no experience for software development jobs, while paying a bonus to people with PhDs in any mathsy/engineering subject. I was hoping there might be other companies with similar starting positions.
Grey_Area fucked around with this message at 23:34 on Dec 30, 2010 |
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Dec 30, 2010 23:32
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A reasonable shot in that I got through the first day of tests/interviews and was invited back to the second round, and would have gotten the job if I'd performed better on the technical-but-not-programming-related tests. My point was just that they didn't care at all about having any programming experience. I thought there might be other similar jobs. From your extremely helpful sarcasm, you must think otherwise. Edit: You did suggest high performance computing and avoiding application programming, so thanks. I was just miffed at your "you're an idiot, no such jobs exist" when clearly some such jobs exist and I was just hoping to find more. Grey_Area fucked around with this message at 23:45 on Dec 30, 2010 |
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Dec 30, 2010 23:41
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tef posted:Luck and networking have frequently more to do with employment success. Yeah, that's fair enough. The "technical tests" assumed no specific knowledge of anything related to computers, so that's not why I failed them. I intend to learn more, but I'm not going to be able to learn a massive amount in three months while simultaneously writing up a PhD. I'm not that bothered about getting paid a lot, but I assumed low paying jobs would involve lots of drone work and little development. I'd be happy to be proved wrong, though. I guess "nah, you're hosed" might be good advice, but I'll keep looking for now. Grey_Area fucked around with this message at 01:45 on Dec 31, 2010 |
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Dec 31, 2010 01:37
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Cicero posted:Grey_Area, ever considered moving to the states? Vaguely, but never seriously. I suppose it's worth looking at properly. Thanks for the advice, everyone.
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Dec 31, 2010 21:04
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