iamacp.com – I Am A Computer Programmer
All about the daily work issues of a Java/J2EE Computer Programmer

How do I find the perfect IT job? Knowing what contributes to the perfect IT job is something that both new and older IT workers should be aware of. Throughout my past few years of my career I’ve discovered just what factors contribute to the perfect IT job. The factors are the following:

Meeting Your Career Goals – If you dream of becoming a computer programmer make sure you’re pursing coding jobs. They key is to focus on the type of IT job you really want. If you pursue jobs that aren’t related to your career goals you will not be satisfied and it will be a waste of time.

Learning New Skills – I think the ability to learn and develop new skills on and off the job is very important. If you’re constantly learning and developing your skills on the job than your skills won’t become as outdated so quickly. I find that it also keeps the job far more interesting than to keep using the same technologies over and over again.

A Stress Free Environment – This is one thing many it workers and especially new IT workers don’t even consider when looking for a job. If you apply to a company and you have a choice between a rigid formal environment and a more relaxed environment you should take the company with the more relaxed environment if the salaries are similar. If the salary difference is enough to warrant the extra hassle than by all means take the job with the higher offer.

Salary – Salary is one of many of the factors the perfect job. Don’t ever expect to get rich or make a lot of money in IT. Would you rather work 40 hours a week and make $50,000 in a laid back environment or work 60 hours a week for $60,000 in a very high pressure environment? Remember money really isn’t everything it’s just one of many factors to consider when looking for the perfect IT job.

Remember every factor I listed above has a trade off. You’re never going to find a job that matches all these qualities. If you’re looking for one quality in a job you may have to sacrifice another quality. But it all cases I recommend you do whatever it takes to find the perfect IT Job for yourself.

During the past few years as a computer programmer I have discovered many useful tricks for making my life easier as a coder. One of the most useful and time saving tricks I’ve discovered is never try write code from scratch. If you need to do some coding task odds are it has already been done before. All you have to do is consultant references (The Internet, Google, Books) to find the solution to your problem and you usually will find the answer.

Most programmers already have a head start on development. This is because companies have their own framework that facilitates software development. One key to becoming an efficient programmer is to understand how to manipulate the framework to your own needs. If you learn to use and adapt preexisting code you will save yourself hours (possibly days) worth of development time. The more you research the issue and the more you understand the problem the better you can adapt preexisting code to your needs.

This is why I don’t try to reinvent the wheel whenever possible.

When I originally wrote my How To Learn Complicated Technologies post a few days ago I forgot to share one of my favorite tips that I’ve learned. Here it is below:

Learn At Your Own Pace Whenever Possible – Throughout the past several years I found that learning a little at a time helps. This may mean just spending 15 minutes or 1 hour a day to learn something new. They key focus is to remain dedicated to learning the technology. Learning at your own pace when you have the opportunity makes you a far better programmer. By learning a technology slower you will remember and understand far more information than if you just rushed to learn the information as fast as you could.