[nfbcs] Career Advice

Gary Wunder gwunder at earthlink.net
Thu Oct 11 20:05:54 UTC 2012 

While I am not a programmer anymore, many of these things ring true for me. One of the hardest parts of my job was to see a new piece of software introduced and find that, while it made everyone else's job easier, it made mine harder. Finding workarounds was something I had to do every week. And yes, staying up with new trends in programming is important. People will try to get you to maintain the legacy systems rather than immediately confronting the new technology they are trying to use, but down that road leads unemployment. Sometimes you have to force your way into the new technology while at the same time accepting the role you have been given supporting the legacy stuff. And always, always, always, a lot of training time has to take place at home. I think a 40 hour week is a good work standard to have, but I have seldom worked one. Working as the editor of the Braille Monitor is in many ways the same in terms of work hours, but I think that goes with the territory if you're talking about a salaried job.

Gary

-----Original Message-----
From: nfbcs [mailto:nfbcs-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of John G. Heim
Sent: Thursday, October 11, 2012 1:22 PM
To: 'NFB in Computer Science Mailing List'
Subject: Re: [nfbcs] Career Advice

I pretty much agree with everything you say below although I might not paint quite such a dark picture. But, yeah, I feel I've been successful in my career by working harder than everybody else, putting in extra time to make up for being slower than the sighted guys, and doing a lot of research on my own time. 

I also agree with the point about keeping your skills up. There is this phenomenon I call "backwatering". New technologies tend to be inaccessible so a blind technologist doesn't get the assignment of working with them. Slowly, he becomes less and less crucial to his company because he's working with old technology. Then when layoffs come around, he's the one to go. And in some ways, that's only fair. After all, he is the least important member of the team.

IMO, its important to be very aggressive in pursuing new technologies. I taught myself on my own time almost all the skills I use in my current job. I am sure there are jobs where that isn't necessary but they are few and far between. Also, to some degree it depends on what you want out of your career. I work for the University of Wisconsin and they don't layoff people very often. But a few years ago, I went to my boss and said I thought my skills were being wasted and that I could do a lot more, he said, "What's your problem? You're still getting paid, aren't you?" But I wasn't satisfied just pulling down a paycheck. Plus, I figured that eventually they'd get around to getting rid of me. So I switched jobs and got into a different department.

----Original Message-----
From: nfbcs [mailto:nfbcs-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of majolls at cox.net
Sent: Thursday, October 11, 2012 11:31 AM
To: NFB in Computer Science Mailing List
Cc: Tracy Carcione
Subject: Re: [nfbcs] Career Advice

Working in the computer field is a challenging experience, especially for a blind person (well partially sighted in my case).  Here are some things to consider:

Know your craft thoroughly.  Be as prepared with your programming languages as you possibly can be.  Corporations are looking for people that can solve a problem quickly and who know where to go look when they don’t know the answers.   Therefore, you need to be as knowledgeable as you possibly can be in whatever programming languages you decide to work in.  

 Know your weaknesses and have solutions in place before you go get the job.  It’s a competitive environment out there and the people that can get the job done right in the shortest amount of time at the least cost are the ones that seem to rise to the top at least in my company.  You need to know any limitations your disability places on you and you need to have a solution BEFORE you go to the job so it doesn’t hurt you in your career and you can keep up with the normally sighted people.  For example, my reading speed is about 130wpm.  A normal person reads at about 250wpm.  You can see it will take me twice as long reading as someone else.  In my daily job, I’m constantly reading code on the computer monitor.  So you can see how a normal person without any vision issues will finish things before me.  Doing your best in this case is not good enough because you’ll always be coming in last.  And that equates to less money at your performance review.  Trust me, I have 30+ years of experience to back me up on this.  If you think Braille, for example, will help overcome slow reading, or using programs such as Jaws, learn it BEFORE you get to the job so there’s no chance of supervisors forming opinions of how you work.

Know that the job will eventually change, and sooner than later.  In my job, new technologies are always coming up.  The company is looking for faster and better ways of doing things.  And that means they’re trying new programming languages, new things to make us meaner and leaner programmers.  And that means that you have to learn quickly, and probably more often than you would like.  You may be required (not by your employer but just by the fact that you have to keep up) to spend extra hours in the evening learning if you don’t have enough time during the day.  The years of learning a few things for your job and doing that for 5-10 years are gone.  Figure on having to relearn your job every couple of years depending on what new thing is coming out.  You have to ask yourself if you feel like  keeping up like that all the time, or if your disability will put limitations on you there.  You are definitely under pressure in these situations.

Be prepared to work overtime.  If you’re in a professional job such as I am and you’re not as fast as others, it’s going to take you more hours to do the same work in a time-frame that an employer considers normal.  I’ve come to the conclusion I can probably never please my employer.  Or, if you have to do the training thing, you may not get it all done in the course of 8 hours.  In my job, an 8 hour day is the thing of the past.  I work more like a 10 hour day just to stay even .. to make up for my poor eyesight.  Even with technology such as screen magnification and speech, and Braille, I still work a 10 hour day.  With the demands of the job, it’s just the standard.

So consider all these things.  Perhaps you can assess your situation and justify going into computer programming.  It is a good career, but to keep up and compete is a challenge.  It’s even moreso with a vision disability in my opinion.  

I don't want to throw cold water on things, but I've had a lot of frustration in my career.  It's no fun when you come in second most of the time and people seem to move ahead of you and nothing seems to work.

---- Tracy Carcione <carcione at access.net> wrote: 
> When I was looking for work with my programming certificate, I got an 
> offer from the IRS, but the salary was very low, and any programming 
> would have to be approved by head office in DC.  I declined the offer, 
> and soon got a much better one.  Even though I started at a low, 
> trainee salary, it was still significantly better than the IRS was 
> offering. Though perhaps IRS salaries are the same across the country, 
> and only low when compared to average New York salaries.
> Tracy
> 
> > I googled tfor info on the program. A link is below. A one paragraph 
> > summary is as follows...
> >
> >> Program Description: The Programming curriculum prepares clients to 
> >> work
> > in a wide range of programming
> >> environments including .NET and JAVA, and other application 
> >> projects as
> > well. Certification exams for JAVA and
> >> Microsoft Certified Professional Developer (MCPD) are offered 
> >> through the
> > program. Some prior programming
> >> experience is helpful, but not necessary to be successful in this 
> >> course.
> > This program often offers the opportunity to get
> >> a commitment for employment with the Internal Revenue Service.
> >
> > http://lwsb.org/index.php/general-overview/vocational-catalog/#conte
> > nt
> >
> > Wasn't it this list where we just had a huge debate about java?  I'm 
> > thinking java programming might be making a huge comeback in writing 
> > apps for mobile phones.  But I'll admit I don't really know what I'm 
> > talking about. I would note, however, that the link above indicates 
> > that the Lions web site itself is written in php, not .net or java.
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: nfbcs [mailto:nfbcs-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Tracy 
> > Carcione
> > Sent: Tuesday, October 09, 2012 9:38 AM
> > To: NFB in Computer Science Mailing List
> > Subject: Re: [nfbcs] Career Advice
> >
> > Hi Daniel.
> > I got a programming certificate, after I found I was going nowhere 
> > with my college degree.  I looked around, and found a certificate 
> > course that taught the languages employers were looking for at the 
> > time.  It was local, not out-of-state.
> > If you do go to Lions World, try to make sure that they are teaching 
> > languages that will actually  be in demand.
> > Learning programming was a very good move for me.  I have a secure 
> > job that pays well, and is usually interesting.  I'm not sure if the 
> > IRS job pays well, or is interesting.
> > My brother is also a blind programmer, working for subcontractors to 
> > the government.  He gets paid OK, but gets laid off every few years.
> > So your results may vary. But I think he'd rather be programming 
> > than having a rather dull but secure IRS job.
> > HTH.
> > Tracy
> >
> >> Hello Everyone:
> >>
> >> I hope this is the appropriate forum for this question.
> >>
> >> I am legally blind with a background in engineering and manufacturing.
> >> After
> >> talking with many blind engineers, I find that many of them are 
> >> thriving computer programmers.
> >>
> >> I am now trying to decide whether to go to Lions World in Little 
> >> Rock to take their 10 month computer programming course. My 
> >> counselor at my states agency for the blind wants me to go to Lions 
> >> World but to take one of their IRS courses, which would in essence 
> >> be a guaranteed job with the Feds.
> >>
> >> I am the type of person who could do any job, at least that is what 
> >> my aptitude tests tell me.
> >>
> >> What is life like for blind computer programmers? Do most work for 
> >> employers or as freelancers/contractors? Are there any languages in 
> >> particular I should focus on? Are there any other ways of learning 
> >> computer programming as a blind person than going out of state?
> >> Learning on my own is just not working for me.
> >>
> >> Any advice you can give would be appreciated.
> >>
> >> Regards
> >>
> >> Daniel Garcia
> >> Northville, MI
> >>
> >>
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