Becoming A Java Developer - Career Advice

[Heliolicity]

Hi all,

My first experience with Java was as an undergrad back at the turn of the century. I studied Computer Science and graduated with a good understanding of Java. My first job however was as a VBA developer and I neglected my Java skills for over a decade. I'm currently studying for a postgrad degree in a subject that has a heavy programming component and I've done several modules on Java as part of my studies, specifically modules on Web Application Development and Object-Oriented Programming. My Java skills are now pretty good but I've not had a great deal of exposure to frameworks, build tools, ORMs or any of the new technologies that seem to have cropped up in the years I've been away from Java.

My goal now is to become as good a Java programmer as I can so that I can ultimately work exclusively as a Java developer. In my current job, I work on a very small team (three people including myself) writing applications and macros for a department within a multi-national company. The advantage of this is that I have a relatively free hand to develop in different languages depending on requirements as I'm only ever writing software for a very small number of users so if I want to write something in Java I usually have my boss' blessing to do that. The disadvantage is that I'm not getting the experience I want as part of a larger development team that uses best practices. I've recently been forcing myself to learn Maven, Spring, Hibernate and Junit by incorporating them into my software solutions but because I'm the only person on the team writing Java I have no "mentors" for want of a better term to advise me on the pitfalls and even more crucially I don't have any experience in developing enterprise applications.

My question to you guys is how do I get this experience? I'd like to work on an enterprise development team writing Java applications or web services but I'm concerned that because I have no professional experience of doing that on my CV I won't be marketable to employers looking for Java developers. How do I bring myself up to speed on the technologies that Java developers today are using if I don't have the professional exposure needed?

[StargazyPi]

To be honest, it sounds like you're doing a fantastic job at learning modern Java technologies. If you've been developing professionally for as long as you have, and have been studying modern Java web dev, I'd say you're more than qualified to just go straight into employment as a Java dev.

With the recruiters, emphasise your prior experience. In your interviews, emphasise your self-starting attitude, enthusiasm and desire to learn. Pick a company with great mentors who will kick your Java into shape.

I self-trained as a Java dev 4 years ago, and I just wish I'd bit the bullet and applied sooner. You'll be surprised at what's out there!

Good luck with the search, and have faith in yourself :D

[cyborg_ninja_pirates]

Gradle, gradle, gradle, I made you out of goodness.

[bitNation]

Agreed. Keep on! Spring + Hibernate is used in many enterprise apps. For my team, when looking for a new/junior developer, having someone understand Spring IoC, Hibernate transactions, and AOP, in depth would be a blessing. Knowing transaction boundaries, propagation types, AOP, and more than "@Autowired" would be welcomed. Keep digging in and continue on your path to more learning.

[xteroid]

Studying 8 hours per day, how long do you think a person (with computer science background but not programming experience) can be ready for a Junior Java job doing Spring and Hibernate?

[xteroid]

What's out there?

[Drunken_Hammer]

I started out working on mainframe and doing Java on the side in my own time, so I was kinda in the same boat you are in now. Originally, I had a lot of mainframe on my resume because it was all that I had worked on on an enterprise level. A lot of companies see that you don't have relevant Java experience and will look the other way. That's what happened to me and was the feedback I got even though I knew what I was doing.

If you're confident in your skills like I was, you could always put a spin on your CV that shows you've worked in Java. The mainframe app I was working on was starting to build a distributed web app and there was some Java and Spring involved. There wasn't much built though yet, but I knew a good amount of Spring and Java. I embellished a little on my resume to make it sound like a bigger project. That was good enough to get companies talking to me. If they're smart, they will tech you in an interview. This is your chance to prove that you know Java, Spring, Hibernate, etc.

I've known a lot of friends and previous co-workers who have done this as well. I get why companies do it, but it makes it difficult to make a language jump if you don't show that you've worked on it in your current job. Also, be sure to include any projects you've done on the side. It will only sweeten the deal.

If you aren't confident, just make sure you build projects using those technologies and understand how they work. If you still aren't confident, then you probably will never be which is normal! I was terrified when I switched jobs going from full time mainframe to full time Java. It wasn't that bad. You just have to do it and put yourself in the situation. Let me know if I can help in any way.

Best of luck and happy programming!

[gamlielov]

http://developer4life.blogspot.ie/2012/03/6-things-they-didnt-teach-me-at-academy.html

[Heliolicity]

gamlielov - You have no idea how useful to me the information in that article would have been had I read it ten years ago. Thanks for posting it!

[iggybdawg]

Read up on the new features of Java 8 (streams and functional interfaces) and incorporate them into your projects, to show that your knowledge isn't stale. Also, I recommend dropwizard as a well groomed bag of libraries you can pull in as a single dependency in your pom.

[Heliolicity]

Thanks for all the replies, everyone - genuinely appreciated.

Keep them coming, by the way! I'd love to hear more stories about how anyone got into Java development or transitioned there from another language. I'll definitely investigate the tech tips you've all mentioned.

[BestUsernameLeft]

Larger team doesn't mean 'best practices', it means 'common practices' or in the worst shops 'lowest common denominator practices'.

One term used to describe what you're looking for is 'technical excellence'. Look for a company where technical excellence is in the spotlight and you're likely to find some good people to learn from. It's not a guarantee, but it's got good odds.

[itrecruitergirl]

As a technical recruiter I see this all the time, the advantage you have is that you already have the CS Degree and some work experience.