...and anxiety.
A little background: I have a Master of Science in Education and currently work in the mental health field. I have become incredibly bored with it and am embarking on a career change. I have begun taking courses in software engineering in hopes of getting into programming, software development, something along those lines. In terms of what the coursework is hitting, the focus is on
Java, though other languages are addressed too (C++, VB.NET, C#) in separate classes, with the .net ones not being a requirement. This is a program geared toward people who already have a career of some sort. I have always had an interest in IT, with programming being the aspect of it I find most intriguing, so that's where all this comes from. I rue the day I declared my major as Psychology so long ago in 1992 (should have been Computer Science).
So, I will be done with these by winter of next year. I have multiple questions about starting a job in this field, hopefully they will be coherent as I am entering them between phone calls.
Anyway, I have begun looking at job postings on Dice.com and Monster, and it seems like even for the entry level jobs, they want knowledge of a many things no program could prepare you for. Are most of the skills learned hands on?
Second, my biggest fear is to go from a job where I am established (even though it drives me insane and I don't want to stay in my current field), only to get a job as a programmer, and be thrown into a room all by myself and responsible for completing some mission-critical application with no prior professional programming experience. How much is expected from somebody fresh from school or new to working as a programmer? Furthermore, would it be assumed somebody could hammer a program out with no help from reference books or others? I certainly understand the programming concepts I have been presented with in class, but there's no way I could not refer to manuals or references to complete some things.
I hope all this makes sense, and I appreciate any insights that can be lent.
Brandt