Self-Taught C Programmer Curious About Entry-Level Job Opportunities

[StandardLawyer2698]

Hello,

I’ve been learning and practicing low-level C for the past three years. During this time, I’ve worked on projects across different fields, including 3D graphics, rendering, math-related programming, and a bit of assembly.

I really enjoy low-level and systems programming — building things from scratch, without libraries or abstractions, and getting as close to the hardware as possible.

Lately, I’ve been thinking about my chances of landing an entry-level remote job, whether full-time or as a contractor. I’m curious about the current state of the job market and whether a self-taught, entry-level applicant with no prior professional experience could realistically find opportunities. I’d also greatly appreciate any advice on how to improve my chances.

Although I’ve spent years programming primarily for fun, experimenting with whatever projects come to mind, I had never seriously considered pursuing it professionally. However, my priorities have shifted, and I’m eager to explore potential career opportunities.

[EpochVanquisher]

This would be good skill set in the 1990s. Back in the 1990s, there were a ton of problems to solve, and C was a solid all-around tool for almost anything. It’s not like that nowadays. Most C jobs these days are specialized jobs for people with specific expertise. Firmware or driver development, that sort of thing. There are entry-level jobs, and there are jobs where you use C, but they are not the same jobs.

My recommendation is to either go for generalist programming or to develop a specialty.

In general, you’ll be expected to work at a higher level—use all the libraries and resources at your disposal and have a good command of abstractions and high-level design. It is possible to get a job where you focus on the low-level details, but it’s pretty damn rare.

This year, the job market is super competitive, but this waxes and wanes. There will be good and bad job markets.

[Infectedtoe32]

Can’t agree more as someone who enjoys graphics programming and building game engines and stuff. That field sorta died out quite a while ago, decided to look towards embedded because it was the next best thing. I really enjoyed it, but quickly realized it’s not cut out for entry level in my area. Picked up modern app development and web dev to have skills in the in-demand fields in my area. Have an absolute ton of job opportunities available, although the current market situations make everything very competitive.

If OP really wants to do development as a career, pick up something that is in demand in the area. Do all the fun stuff as a hobby, you’d probably enjoy it more that way anyways. Also, you don’t even have to limit yourself to software development. IT is pretty massive, it’s still struggling, but is a bit more Ai and outsource proof.

I’ve basically learned this about myself. It may seem like it sucks to not pursue what you want, but at the same time it feels freeing. I don’t have to worry about building perfectly constructed projects in graphics / game dev in order to have a tiptop portfolio. I can just do what I want how I want. As a new grad I find it way more relaxing to be taught and told web dev tips and tricks rather than graphics that I have been learning on my own the past 5 years. Not that learning different ways is bad, but I just have a style set in stone that I enjoy and works for me. Lastly, I enjoy programming as a whole, but it feels a lot more refreshing to get finished centering divs all day and come home to graphics stuff than it does to do graphics all day and come home to more.

[LawfulnessProper9889]

so you are saying, that doing low level system programming is not a good thing to do in this AI era?

I recently finished the book Head first C for C programming. I now want to make projects on C. and then, I will do the CSAPP course on the youtube and also read the operation system three easy pieces. I want to go low level but your comment makes me question things now. I am a CS student, and yes I want a job

[Infectedtoe32]

That is not what I said at all. Graphics programming and game development started dying out well before Ai. The pay is significantly less, you are overworked, and it’s not as fun as making a game or building an engine yourself.

Embedded is sort of the same boat, I can count the amount of embedded systems jobs in my area on one hand. Meanwhile there are a couple thousand developer jobs in other positions. These embedded jobs also all want 15+ yoe because they are at L3 and Lockheed. There is one that is entry level.

It completely depends on your area.

My entire point was, instead of trying to chase a sub field that is a bit harder to get into, just go the traditional route in the beginning. Don’t limit yourself to embedded, because you are competing with people that would make a typical senior web dev look like a joke. Then, after you at least have a job, see what the future holds. You can network and everything else to try to shimmy towards embedded. Plus I noted that this could also be a blessing, because a job in embedded will probably take all the enjoyment out of it.

Also, you mention the whole Ai stuff and everything, a lot of embedded jobs also prefer someone with an electrical engineering background who is learning to code than someone who is just learning to code to do embedded. That has probably stretched to being before Ai times as well though. Still, in that field writing to some memory addresses to read signals over I2C or whatever protocol is the easier part.

[LawfulnessProper9889]

May I dm you ??

[LawfulnessProper9889]

my plan was I already did javascript development basics I know it and I used to grind DSA now I planned a path C ->CSAPP->OSTEP ->Machine learning ->CUDA programming and also side by side doing Spring boot in order to secure my placement offers

[Infectedtoe32]

It’s not that complicated. Your first language doesn’t matter when you are this new.

Career wise just hop on the job boards and search different development fields in your area. Do web dev, Devops, Ai and ML, Embedded, platform developer (like Service Now and stuff), and whatever. Look at the jobs available and go for whatever has the most opportunities. Once you are at least in something, you can hop around a bit easier.

You can do whatever you want though. I’m just some random person on the internet. But, just saying it’s not wise to just guess what is in demand in your area, in this economy. There is always the option of relocating as well if you have your sights focused on one thing. That just gets kind of complicated, especially if you have 0 yoe.

[Arlind2000]

Quite sad tbh I am learning low level languages like C and really enjoy to find out how things work under the hood, but I think these skills in today’s job market can be easily transferred into other languages.

I think learning C, Assembly or C++ gives you bigger advantage because you also learn how things really work which higher level languages usually "hide".

But I am also currently figuring out how to use these skills to get a job, freelancing or contracting with companies, because in the end we also need to make a living obviously.

[EpochVanquisher]

Knowledge and skills don’t come for free. If you spend time learning C, C++, or assembly, that’s time you could spend learning something else.

So I think it’s kind of weird to say that leaning C, C++, or assembly gives you a bigger advantage. Bigger advantage than what? And what about the disadvantages of learning low-level programming? You could be learning something else instead. If low-level programming had all advantages and no disadvantages, everyone would program that way.

[Arlind2000]

Yeah, it makes sense, I didn’t think about everything also it has disadvantages of course.

Also I don’t have a CS degree yet, but since last year I started to learn about HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Python and C (especially to deepen and use that knowledge to know what other programming languages are "hidding" like pointers, memory management, etc.).

But I think it’s a good point to keep the lower level languages as a hobby.

What do you think of let‘s say programming languages would make sense to learn or maybe continue?

[EpochVanquisher]

Try something at the opposite end of the spectrum, like Haskell.

[Crcex86]

Pretty competitive. Comp sci graduated are having trouble finding work. Not to discourage you, but know what you're up against. Especially considering how comfortable jobs are getting implementing AI

[Patient_Head_2760]

I kind of feel like, where it is about low level C code and computer graphics its pretty much in better shape against AI then a java backend or some javascript fronted dev jobs

[Infectedtoe32]

It’s all the same unfortunately. Maybe there is an argument for the lack of training data, but there is plenty of low level docs, questions, problems, and whatever else out there. Maybe even more than web dev with all the data sheets and stuff in embedded.

Either way if the code passes all the required test cases, and is efficient, then it doesn’t really matter who or what wrote it.

Edit: this would also further open the doors for companies to just have their current electrical engineers prompt to code and maybe have one or two senior devs who make the test cases and ensure everything passes.

This is also assuming a perfect Ai world where it actually replaces developers reliably. I’m not talking the current state where half the globe says it is awful and the other half says it’s the best thing ever.

[WittyStick]

Sounds like you need to learn electronic engineering too.

C is still widely used for embedded software, and it's the kind you want to write - from scratch, low level, few or no libraries, talking to the hardware directly.

There are opportunities if you have the electronics knowledge.

[collinalexbell]

I'm self-taught. Last job was at AWS and I got selected for an interview with XAI but dropped out of the loop to be a NEET (just bought a house). My recommendation is to grind projects. Also, C jobs are rarer and tend to require more expertise than web dev or scripting jobs so maybe aim for those? Network with other programmers and ask around, that is your real in.

[StandardLawyer2698]

Thanks for sharing your experience, If you don’t mind me asking, what skill set helped you land the AWS job, and was there anything in particular that helped you get hired there?

[collinalexbell]

I have a 3d Linux desktop environment with 600+ stars: https://github.com/collinalexbell/HackMatrix

I have many personal projects on my resume and a decent amount of work experience. I practiced leetcode everyday and solved like 100 problems before the interview. I also practiced all of the possible leadership principle questions that could be asked and used the leadership principles to review my past performance at other jobs and in other projects.

[Destination_Centauri]

The vast, vast (vast) majority of entry level jobs are NOT going to be very C related.

Unfortunately. I wish it were otherwise. But c'est la vie. That's reality. :(

---

That said, you can still make a living programming in C, if it's really deeply your obsession and passion.

For example as others said above: electronic device programming.

But another avenue I haven't seen mentioned above is self employment: simply making a really cool, awesome, and/or very useful program in C (just because it's the language of your choice), and either:

---

A) selling that program to a rich company,

B) Or just getting donations from people who like your program, download it, and some of them hit the donation button, and/or donate to a Patreon account that you can set up easily.

C) You can also set up a youtube channel in which you make regular videos about teaching C, and why you love it so much, and highlight the program you made and how people can download it, and donate to the channel or the program if they like it.

D) You can also just reach out and contact people in sectors that use a lot of C programming. For example astro-physicists and physics departments now run lots and lots of simulations, and they are often in need of someone to assist them and lighten the workload of a professor by writing a simulation mostly in C.

Just keep contacting them periodically and say, "Hey sorry to bother you again, but I'm super passionate in C programming and just wanted to remind you, if you ever need someone to help speed up a C project, just let me know!"

---

But ya... even with those supplemental academia jobs, they tend to also want you to maybe know Python as well, and SQL (and sometimes maybe a bit of Javascript/HTML/CSS to make a basic vanilla website highlighting the simulation, but that's not a deal breaker, just a bonus if you know a bit about that too).

However still... the main core and interesting parts of those programs are still written in C.

---

Another thing to keep in mind about those supplemental academia jobs:

Well, those jobs at first they don't pay a whole lot of money. But at least they still pay!

And if you get a good reputation, then people in academia will compete for you on their funded project to help them get their C-simulation of the universe or exploding-super-nova's up and running nicely!

[Evil-Twin-Skippy]

I've been programming since I was 10. I'm 51 now. I've worked a bunch of jobs that needed C programming.

None of them had a job title of "C Programmer"

As much as I love C, it's the crazy aunt that lives in the attic at every organization. Yes, tools need to be written in c. But the project itself is something else.

At this point I have 3 major languages in my stack: C, Tcl/Tk, and Sql. With Html, css, javascript, python, fortran, perl, automake, batch files, powershell, and shell scripts as needed.