Getting Employed at 16

Why not take your last chance for a big vacation now and go on about your life later? If you''re out of school next year, chances are that you won''t be going on a nice vacation for a while. I''m 17 (Birthday was May 8th) and know how you feel, even though I am a designer. That feeling that provokes you to just leave home immediately and try to find a job. If I were you, I would got to Virginia, and have a nice time. Then when you get back you can go on with your life. That''s just my 2 cents

I haven''t gotten employed as a programmer yet (I live in a hick village though... Who knows if they have even discovered computers here yet. ) But my cousins got a job for a company programming their web-site. And some ''web-lockers'', for them, in Cold Fusion I think.

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Trent (ShiningKnightGL/DX)
NovaStorm Games
Project: 3D Engine, various OpenGL demos

Programming is my free time, I don''t care if I do it for other people or myself, as long as I can . Either way, I''m being forced to get a job by my parents (in a state where I don''t have computer access, no less), and my choice is to find one prestigious enough on my own (my only real skill is programming ) that they won''t refuse to let me have or take one at some random resaurant.


http://druidgames.cjb.net/

Well Now,

I only know C 1 yr exp. and HTML 4 yrs exp. thats how my college teach unless you learn from a book or online. And I'm 18 now. However I have learnt loads of other stuff ranging from hardware (right down to CPU architcture) down to network management. But I still feel really in-experienced. When I hear about you guys knowing all this C++ and DX or OpenGL I feel all crap and insignificant. But in 2 yrs time I'll have 3yrs C exp and 2 yrs C++ and I'll know DX and some Win32 and Java. So that will make me feel better. My college insist in the first 2 years after school it's better to have a solid foundation to fall back on rather than going ahead so fast. And I guess thats true cos at school you learn nothing of progamming or computers. Even if you want to. So at 16 I think you've done really well for yourself...

STVOY

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Pyre Light Studios (Under Construction)





Edited by - STVOY on May 12, 2001 6:41:34 PM

Well, one idea would be to use your HTML skills and contract for local businesses. Offer to setup and maintain their websites, charge them a monthly fee for hosting and small maintenance, and one large up-front cost for the initial build.

You''d have to have your contracts spaced throughout the summer to make it worth while.

Just a thought.

Epolevne

i was employed when i was 19 .. as a c programmer ..
learned direct x at that age also ..

but then that was in my home country malaysia .. ..

I just applied with the other applicants. And they hired me

Get a retail job. I just pulled off a management position at a clothing store. They pay better than restaurants.

As for starting a career job at 16...ick. Get some corporate slave job at a place you can stand, work up to management over a couple years and do freelance programming along the way.

If within that time you find a good programming job you''re ready to take it and if not, the experience you gain will keep you secure in the job market.

Ben
http://therabbithole.redback.inficad.com

call the companies where you want to work, tell them how it is, and ask them for any job, say that you know computers and programming and want to work and that you can do anything.....

You probably won''t get a job as a programmer since it isn''t just your programming skills that counts, it also counts whether you can be trusted to fullfill your tasks in the very best way possible. Now that is much harder than beeing a great programmer and that comes with experience and working with experienced people. That is what I think you should try to do, work with some experienced people, do whatever they ask of you, and suck in whatever experience they share.

You probably won''t be able to get a programming job at 16. All those stories about companies hiring kids before they''re out of highschool are nothing but a bunch of crap. I''ve made hundreds of dollars from my personal webpage design business, but I can''t seem to get hired as a webpage designer anywhere (I''m 18). I finally broke down and looked for a normal job, as a short order cook. cleared about 100USD a week while still going to school full time (PENN STATE!!!).

AOL, so easy to use, no wonder it''s nothing but a bunch of retards

Spyder''s Web Games

im 15 and i want a job too. anything that has to do with programming. so far ive had 10 years of regular C/C++ experience. then i started programming with windows and ive been doing that for 4 years. I started learning directx about 3 years ago. OpenGl for a little longer. Ive made countless 3d shooters. one was entirely in asm. Ive also made 5-6 3d tools much like 3d studio max, but much more realistic texturing, lighting, and physics. right now im working on a gran turismo 2 clone. Ive done just about everything but I added a level editor and car editor. Only thing i havent doen is model all the cars. Ive been working on it for around 3 months, and ive gotten ~50 cars done. ive made some other partial clones: quake(used original level and char files), Delta Force Landwarrior(without the videos), ViperRacing, Warcraft2(no videos), tetris, breakout, and lots more arcade games. So any of you think i could get a job programming while im still 15???

My first programming job was hooked up for me by a friend of my dad's; contacts are by far the best way to get a job. I was just out of HS, so I must have been 18. 'It's not what you know, but who you know.'

For my second job (at 19, the other company had gone under so I couldn't go back), I sent my resume to about 15 companies that advertised in the Sunday job section if I somewhat fit the description. As long as you don't give a rat's ass if you are rejected/ignored 14/15 times, that's a good road to take. I got about 5 interview offers; considering none of them were looking for summer interns, it worked pretty well.

I have also tried some online sites (monster.com, etc), but nothing ever came of that.

Don't listen to the cynics, if you don't try for a programming job, you are guaranteed not to get one.

Good luck,

Mike

Edited by - Vetinari on May 13, 2001 7:13:16 PM

I agree with Vetinari, contacts really do make the difference. I got my first programming job at 15, and have had summer programming jobs ever since. I recently graduated HS, went to college for a year and a half, droppped out and got a full time dev job. Of course it''s all Business Developement in VB, which is a far cry from Game Dev The only job that wasn''t hooked up by a personal contact is the full-time one I have now. So use those contacts!

Epolevne

My first job was around that age. I hooked up with a local community college as computer lab staff. It was very difficult to get my foot in the door, but once I did it was smooth sailing.

Pretty much, monitor the lab, slap people who thought that the Cd-Rom Drives were cupholders, get the pr0n viewers to move to a corner, do a little Saber scripting, some hardware and network, and just look busy. There was enough dead time to do a little programming and raytracing on the side (while getting paid by the state to do it - it was all good though, the state refused to pay more than minimum wage because I didn''t have a diploma). I met a lot of interesting people, some of whom I still talk to daily, even after many years and miles. Had a lot of fun doing it, wasn''t stressful or corporate like every job since, and didn''t look half bad on the resume.

Give it a try. It''s more rewarding than "would you like fries with that?" and won''t burn you out before college.

pwd

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What makes you think I''m not going to like a goatse pic on my window? - nes8bit



E.A.R.E. To keep your children away from elephants!

Just so that everyone knows, I am reading all of this and thinking over it, I''m just not sure what to do as of yet. I still have a little while before I have to get moving, but I''d better get thinking . Thanks for all the tips.


http://druidgames.cjb.net/

Whats wrong with Virginia, I live in Fairfax it''s a nice place. Are you going to northern virginia, or somewhere else? Once you leave the snobby and extremely wealthy lands of northern virginia, you basically are in the old country, lots of farms and country land probably not a lot of internet there. I find it hard to believe that if you are going to VA you cant find internet access anywhere, this place is wired like a bitch. Thats why they call it silicon valley "east". Although i consider it more like beverly hills "east". Besides, there are tons of things to do around here, especially in the summer so whats the problem?

It isn''t Virgina''s fault (I''ve been to Fairfax county a couple times, it is a lot nicer than the area I have to spend most summers at, which is a little ways outside of Fredricksburg). It is more the fault that no one would get me a computer or an internet connection there, so I have to do without.


http://druidgames.cjb.net/

Umm just cause you cant compile your code on a computer doesnt mean that you should stop writing it while you are up there. Look at it this way, your brain is your computer/compiler and pencil and paper is your source code file.......although obviously that still means you have to solve the job issue, oh well, I can''t help you on that 1.

Well, you can open up the yellow pages and start making cold calls, as distasteful as that sounds. Don''t tell me that won''t work, because I got two web development jobs that way. I was desperate though, and I didn''t find either job to my liking, but for someone who is 16 and doesn''t need to pay as many bills as I do... Also, one of the companies I worked for emplyed a guy who was 16.

Really, a better way, but requires time, is to cultivate relationships with people and build a network of people who can broker work to you, and conversely you can broker work to them. It works like this in many industries. It boils down to talking to people you meet out there on the street. Although, persoanlly, I have found many of the programmer types to be sort of annoying to talk to. I''m a pretty major programming geek myself, but sometimes I find talking face to face with others about coding is irritating: it usually boils down to the other discussing opcodes and environment variables in a snooty ''I know more than you'' tone.

I happen to have a lot of interests, and enjoy striking up conversations with people all the time. I''ve recently entered into the auto transport business, and it required me to stop and talk to people out there I met on the road about the industry. For the most part, everyone''s really friendly out there. Unless you''re trying to close a deal with a customer, don''t hesitate to describe your situation and what you''re looking for. Talk to people at computer stores. Not necessarily the clerks, but the customers buying development tools. Also try the computer section of the bookstore. And conferences, displays, etc. If you see someone wearing a t-shirt proclaiming something software related, don''t hesitate to ask them what their relation to it is.

I''m 16 and employed as a programmer. I do mostly vb stuff and some asp, php, html, etc. It''s not bad and definately pays more than minum wage. bttw. my dad got the job for me.

HHSDrum@yahoo.com
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