[RESOLVED] career advice?

[cengineer]

Just wanted to get some experienced developers' advice:
I am in my late 20s and am just about to graduate with a bachelors in CIS. I have been fortunate to have started with a small company as a junior developer for about 8 months now. Compared to most of my classmates, I only began programming when I selected this career choice at college and even though I enjoy it I feel I lack the intelligence and natural talent to be up to par with most. I have had reasonably good grades and as my posts might show, always looking for help on what I feel maybe simple issues.
My question is: Is there hope for me in succeeding in this career or should I bail out early before I find myself in low paying positions all my life or worse still embarrass myself. I feel I have a lot to learn and am willing to do that; but I have started late Any suggestions? Just want to know if I can eventually make it up to par with some of you guys out there.

[Hack]

I didn't start a career of any kind until I was in my 30s...starting late is better than not starting at all.

[cengineer]

Thanks for the response; I understand that and I am not brooding over that, I am excited to be starting a career. But when did you begin programming? Does the fact that I started programming late (not even having had a computer before) hurt my chances at being a good programmer?
In college, most of the kids always knew more about IT than I did.

[MMock]

even though I enjoy it I feel I lack the intelligence and natural talent to be up to par with most. I have had reasonably good grades and as my posts might show, always looking for help on what I feel maybe simple issues.

Why do you feel you lack the intelligence? I don't think you would enjoy it if you weren't successful at it. We rarely enjoy things we fail at. I have been a programmer for almost 20 years (my BA is in English then I decided what I really want to do and got an MS in Computer Science so I am sort of a late bloomer too) and during that time I only had one job I didn't like - it was SAS programming and I didn't understand it or enjoy it so I knew it wasn't for me. But you are enjoying programming!

I don't know your past posts, but I would say if someone explains it to you and you learn from it, that is how life is. Don't beat yourself up for it being a simple question. You are asking and getting answers and building up your knowledge.

Good luck. I think what we do is a very fun job, so hang in there and have fun doing it! We are usually harder on ourselves than others are. And your management wouldn't keep you employed, I don't think, if they didn't see your potential.

[cengineer]

Thank you MMock. Talk about an aha moment. Really appreciate it. I guess my problem is my over enthusiasm coupled with a low self esteem. But thanks again and I will copy this to my desktop if you dont mind. It will be my Dr. Phil message

[MMock]

"Thank you" back at ya - I feel good having helped you feel better!

[techgnome]

I enjoy it

It's when you stop enjoying that you should get out.

I feel I have a lot to learn and am willing to do that;

Good... that's actually the nature of the beast, constant learning. I've been doing this for over 20 years, I'm learning new stuff all the time. And there's still a TON I don't know (I can spell WCF, but if you ask me to use it, I'll shrug my shoulders and say "I dunno"... that's not a bad thing, it's just not my forte.)

Just wanted to get some experienced developers' advice:
I am in my late 20s and am just about to graduate with a bachelors in CIS. I have been fortunate to have started with a small company as a junior developer for about 8 months now. Compared to most of my classmates, I only began programming when I selected this career choice at college and even though I enjoy it I feel I lack the intelligence and natural talent to be up to par with most. I have had reasonably good grades and as my posts might show, always looking for help on what I feel maybe simple issues.
My question is: Is there hope for me in succeeding in this career or should I bail out early before I find myself in low paying positions all my life or worse still embarrass myself. I feel I have a lot to learn and am willing to do that; but I have started late Any suggestions? Just want to know if I can eventually make it up to par with some of you guys out there.

I wouldn't worry over it. I completely agree with MMock's post... clearly they see something, or they wouldn't have taken the chance. Don't be afraid to ask questions, learn while you can. Also, I think it's better to start off in a small shop, where you can get people to help, rather than a larger organization, where it's sink or swim.

Also, just because you think you have a lack of knowledge, doesn't mean you shouldn't speak up. Some of the best solutions we implemented in my last job usually came from someone thinking outside the box (mostly because they didn't know better), coming up with a crazy solution (often it was so simple and crazy, it worked!)

-tg

[Shaggy Hiker]

I guess my problem is my over enthusiasm coupled with a low self esteem.

Yah. That's a significant problem. In programming, there is always more that you don't know than that which you do know. It's also getting worse. There are whole TLAs (Three Letter Acronym, in case you didn't know) that I haven't touched on. There are areas that I have largely decided I just won't get into, at least not now (such as WPF), because they would involve significant learning without offering immediate payoff for the projects that I am working on. So if you doubt yourself because you always seem to be learning, then you are in some trouble. In this field, you will ALWAYS be learning. I just dove into regular expressions in the last couple months. I have known about them for a couple years, just haven't ever found a need. Now I have the need and....oop, there's a little learning curve (though a modest one). Another thing that I have recently gotten into is lambda expressions (VB has only gained them recently), and how much more is out there?

I have a BS and an MS, but I've never taken a course in computers. I wrote several programs that are still widely used where I work, yet I wasn't sure that I could even get a job here as a programmer because of my lack of formal training. Didn't much matter, though, as they may have recognized that I have written or designed nearly all of the functional programs of any significance used by our unit. Experience mattered more in the end, and learning is perpetual. Still, I came into it doubting that I could measure up since I did have a career, it was just in something totally different (fish biology).

[cengineer]

ShaggyHiker and techgnome...
Thanks for your responses. Sorry for the late responses, but I do appreciate it. I guess I've always been sort of a type A personality, always wanting to be the best and impatient...I am graduating next month and contemplating graduate school. I cannot afford it right now so I want to work a few months, but I was wondering if it is worth it pursuing the Master in computer science or software engineering...I was considering more towards a business field like Information Systems Management or an MBA.

Getting your responses above just makes it that more appreciative and honorable to receive responses to my questions from you guys...

Thanks a mill