Possible to get computing job at 15?

Hey, I'm 15 and I want to see if I can get myself a career involving computer enginering. Any ideas where I could start?

 

do some courses: MCSE, MCSA, A+, Network +, all that then you can get some good jobs. or so i would think!

 

Yea, I'm 2 months into my Applied ICT course which is a double GSCE award, and I'm hopefully going into A level after that.

 

To start, any idea what field you want to work in. As you are 15, I doubt you know the answer to that question.

Computer Engineering is a large field that encompasses a lot of different skills and abilities. Problem solving, Math, Patience are important. Above all though, this is a field that requires patience.

A good place to start, what do you know? Do you know how a computer works. Do you know why we have an Operating System. I'd suggest you learning all you can about computers. Learn a programming language, depending where you plan to school they might use C++/Java or something else. My school teaches C++/VB6/Perl/VB.net as languages go, mostly focusing on C++. I came into my program with abilities in C++ beyond the scope of the program and I can tell you that has made things much easier.

If your question was simpler, something along the lines of getting a basic computer job, I can tell you a few things. First, the above. Know about computers, how they think and how they work. If you can build one, then you're on the right track(thats where i started).

I wouldn't start with certifications, not if you are serious.
Certs are great, when you have experience and/or education, because they show you are up to date on current technologies, at least from a programming perspective.

For computer repair types of jobs, they are more important and are often required for jobs.

 

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Hi Star.. Been a while.
How ya doing!
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Hey, cheers for all the advice guys Yea I know most of the things to do with the hardware and technical side of computers e.g bud speed, cpu clocks, bois, etc etc. But still im not sure of which path to follow. The things I most enjoy are probably the building and upgrading of computers, and yes I can custom build a system from scratch.

 

Building computers ins't really Software Engineering... Though it is an extremely useful thing to know, especially if you're clued up on the different technologies being used etc.
Knowing how to slot the components together is one thing, but knowing what each of those components do, and how they work is another.
To what extent you're required to know these things depends on what aspect of Software Engineering you want to go into. Sure the CPU is the 'brain' of the computer that does lots of calculations really fast, but there is more to it than that... caches, fetch-execute cycles, 32/64 bit busses....

A good degree of knowledge about the hardware is essential for a Software Engineer - you need to understand what the software is going to do... you need to understand what happens when you declare a variable in a language, how that allocation is done and how long it stays allocated for... Its an exciting field with so much to learn...

My advice to you would be to learn a language as was suggested by iamien and to focus in on a language like C++. If you're 15 then surely you'll get a chance to do some work experience with school? See if there are any companies in the area and write to them asking if its possible to do your work experience there... that gets you known to a company and also shows you what its like working in that field.
Finally study hard... At 15 you have the chance to steer your education towards taking you in a direction towards computing - get busy on the maths, and some knowledge of electronics... A'Levels in Mathematics, Computing are a great starter for what sort fo things you can expect to do develop further at University if you decide to go down that route.

Hope some of that helps you...

 

i also wanna know what to do.. i am also 18 and my school don't offer many computer courses. i have managed to download some a+ and network+ courses but as you say, certifications are not so good at the moment.

I really like games and getting them to work if they are not working. and software, but i also enjoy messing aro9und with hardware... any advice..

 

It doesn't really matter how old you are: it's the skills you've got that matters.

I would get as much experience as you possibly can in a wide area of things that interest you. Personally, I'm interested in the Multimedia side of things (visual stuff, 2D/3D, sound, music, interactivity, web technologies), so I started my own business to make websites for people. It is by no means the best company ever, but having some real life clients has not only educated me in making websites for the real world, I've also got some good experience in dealing with the people who drive the business.

I don't think that many companies would hire a 15 year old, if only because you don't have much experience in terms of time. You can't say you've been using X technology for "10 years" (which is what employers seem to like to hear), just because 10 years ago you were 5 .

I'm aiming to take a university course in multimedia computing, and after 3 or 4 years of that I should be at good speed to get my career going.

Another bit of advice: Don't use your age to excuse mistakes. Anyone at any age can make mistakes, so you should deal with them just the same. If you know your advice isn't going to be helpful, don't give it!

 

I see a lot of certs getting mentioned. If the original poster truly means computer engineering, then certs aren't going to help a bit. Computer Engineering is more related to Electrical Engineering than Computer Science.

Now, if its Computer Science you are interested in...by all means.

Best thing at this point to make it easier to get into a COmputer Engineering dgree is to eat, sleep, and live mathematics. You won't be getting into Computer Engineering without a College degree.

Can't recall I've seen a real engineer anywhere that only had a High School diploma

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_engineering

Very little to do with computer certs, as you can see. I am working on this degree myself, but I may very well be switching. This is not for the faint of heart.

 

Wow, that sounds pretty hardcore! I'm terrible at maths

 

Me too, no matter how hard I try.

My last Trig test was bad...real bad. What I don't understand is, I had no problems with the homework, knew all 40-some odd formulae, and studied for two days straight. I knew it in my sleep. Come test time, I blew it.

Time for me to decide if its A: Me, or B: My prof.

The test was totally made up by him, and not based off of any text book.

 

Gah, well, tests like that are very subjective. I get them in Physics quite a lot.... the way to get past them is analyse what the teacher thinks is important, rather than what the textbook thinks is important, and learn that. Of course, that doesn't help one bit for finals

Incidentally, have you done calculus? I found a great website to get your head round the simple concepts if you ever forget.
http://www.calculus-help.com/funstuff/phobe.html

 

Come January. Thanks for the link

 

Yea, well im predicted an A-A* in GCSE maths so that should help me I think your right, i need to learn a little more about exactly how the parts work, i know about the clock/bus speed, cashes etc but not much more than that. Only probably is, how can I learn those more advanced things at this time? Because my school dont do IT courses at that level and im really eager to learn now. Also which is the best way to teach yourself programming languages in full. I know a tiny bit of c++ and a fair bit of htlm but apart from that im out of my depth

 

To be honest, IT courses wouldn't make a bit of difference. At that level all IT would do is making word documents and that kinda thing, maybe even a web page.

And really GCSE maths doesn't mean much. If the fact you're doing well in it means that you actually like it, then thats great. But do A-Level maths. It'll be invaluble to your CV. Most of the people in my class are failing Maths, me included, and I go to a grammar school where (supposedly) we should do better. Having a reasonable grade in A-Level maths is quite an achievement, and the hard work will pay off.

How to learn programming: now thats an interesting question. My own method was to first learn how to program - not in any specific language but to learn ALL of the theory. I used a lot of BASIC languages to learn that kinda thing (AMOS Basic, Blitz Basic, QBASIC). Logic, loops, using memory... that sort of thing. Then you find a language you like the look of (C++ is good) and learn how to use that by building on your understanding.

 

Yes I forgot to mention I use blitz basic code quite a lot in some of my odd little programs I make.

Well, thanks for all your advice guys, really appreciated it

 

I used to do unsavoury things to games on my Amiga with AMOS and Blitz basic, and a certain decompiler. All in good fun, of course

 

Was that iamien?! I can't believe it!!! Good to see you!