Frequently Asked Questions by Students

Here are few frequently asked questions by fresh IT programmers or fresh college graduates who are passionate to make big in IT industry. We know that all these questions arise in every fresh graduate’s mind. All questions are answered by Subhash.K.U. These answers are according to Subhash’s view and it is upto the individual reading this to agree or disagree with this.

Q1: Which is the best company to work?

It depends on individual’s interest. There is no single organization which will be loved by all. Few love to work in IT majors like Google, Microsoft etc. for their high package or perks that they offer and few work there because of the brand name, and few work there for love towards their technology. So interests vary among each and every individual. As per my perspective, I always suggest fresh engineering graduates to work for a start-up or in less than mid-sized organizations which enables you to become more productive and knowledgeable. But, it is very much true that, you are not paid more in a start-up when compared to MNCs, but this can be complemented with the technical knowledge, job responsibility and leadership skills that you acquire more in a start-up than in a MNC.

Q2: Which company pays more?

There are many organizations that pay very high salaries. To name a few are Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, Amazon, Apple etc. Also they expect a fresh graduate to be from the reputed colleges of the country.

Q3: Is salary an important criterion for a fresher?

“Salary” is the one word, for which we are working so hard. Yes. “Salary” is really important for every employee. As a fresher too, “Salary” is very important. But, that is not the only important thing for a fresher. Apart from “Salary”, the next most important thing is technology and learning environment. If your “Salary” is high and if there is no “learning environment” then what is the use? You are out of competition line. You are no more productive. For this reason, join any organization which will pay you a fairly decent “Salary” but has high “Learning environment”.

Q4: What do you mean by big companies and small companies?

Usually people refer to well-established MNCs as big companies and start-ups or not much known company as small companies.

Q5: Is programming a tough job?

No job is tough if it is your passion and if you have understood the job thoroughly. Few beginners do not understand the basics of programming for several reasons like no good teacher, not reading good books etc. and they feel programming is tough. But, if you have a right guide at the right time then, you would understand the subject thoroughly and programming becomes your interest and it would no more be a tough job. Still, after learning it from a right person if you find programming tough, then it would really not be your passion and I suggest not taking programming as your profession.

Q6: How many programming languages do I need to learn?

A professional programmer must know 1 or 2 programming languages thoroughly on a specific operating system. For example: C/C++ on UNIX-like operating system. Also, knowing only the syntax of programming languages will not make you a professional programmer; you should know how to implement better algorithms using them.

Q7: What are the books that need to be read?

Classical books like Ritchie’s “The C programming Language”, Stroustrup’s “The C++ Programming Language, Steven’s “Advance Programming in the UNIX Environment”, Bach’s “Design of the UNIX operating system” etc. I have suggested these books as example, as these are the classical books that make you a perfect system programmer.

Q8: What is the time frame required to learn programming?

It depends on individual’s effort. Time required learning professional programming is inversely proportional to amount of practice you do. More the practice and effort, less the time taken to master.

Q9: Will my low aggregate marks be an obstacle for my job search?

It should not. Only negative aspect is that, you would not be allowed to attend campus or off-campus interviews conducted by IT majors as they set certain bench mark for filtering huge number of candidates attending the interview. But there are many other companies who just test your programming knowledge with respect to technical concept as well as your logical programming skills. So do not worry if your aggregate is less. Just focus on learning.

Q10: Can I become a professional programmer with no communication skills?

Communication skill has nothing to do with your programming skills. So, you can become a better programmer without communication skills. But, to be a good team player, I strongly feel communication skills will play a vital role. So, if you are not good at communication, try to improve it.

Q11: Which is the best course that fetches a job easily?

Do any course, from any good institute, in a right way, with utmost interest and dedication. Doing this will definitely fetch you a right job. Do not do multiple courses at multiple institutes at multiple times just for the sake of placements. You will never find a right job, but waste huge sum of time and money. Learn for the sake of learning technology and be prepared for any kind of tough IT interviews in the specific domain of interest.

Q12: How do I become a programming geek?

First necessary ingredient is interest. If there is interest, then remaining is simple. Learn things from the right source (right teacher, right book) and put more efforts in practicing what you learn. “Practice makes man and woman perfect”.

Q13: How do I know I am good at programming?

Once you feel, you know the concepts, start solving complex algorithms, tricky bugs etc. and when you find these activities interesting, then it means you are good at programming.

Q14: How to increase my programming skills?

Practice and teach others as much as possible.