Quote:
Originally Posted by haydnwalker
To be honest, unless you are looking to change jobs, theres little point in the qualifications aspect of IT.
I think these days, a degree is what you need to get the interviews, but the experience is what you need to be successful. I would create some example works and have them hosted online, which gives prospective employers an idea of your competency (if web developing).
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I agree, practical experience is what matters - not a list of qualifications.
I've seen new grads not have the experience to know when they are making mistakes, or to know basic stuff like using faster more simple routines is usually best rather than create a monster function that does too much.
Saying this, if you like web development, you could do worse than learn how to use Zend Framework (
http://framework.zend.com) - they offer various training courses although you could just learn it for free by yourself.
I completed their fundamentals course back in September and it was pretty easy (although I am fluent in PHP already).
If sysadmin stuff or Bash/Perl is your thing, you could look at Red Hat Engineer Certification.
Be warned that this does not come cheap at $3000 (about £1800?), luckily I'm getting mine paid for me and I'll be doing it in February.
They do other starter courses too.
Finally, if you prefer low level stuff and want pure C, just install GCC on a Linux VM (I'd advise using a copy of Ubuntu/Ubuntu Server for most development work), a text editor and this site:
http://publications.gbdirect.co.uk/c_book/
I'll also add that depending on where you end up working, learning data security is also an advantage.
A few basics for web development would be:
- never store a password in a reversible format
- always use SSL when processing a login and wherever practical after that
- use a salt with a password (Google it), this protects you even if your database is compromised
- avoid sending passwords by email to your user, use a "click here to reset" link which expires in 60 minutes
- always quote variables in SQL statements, escape special characters and never trust user-supplied data