A completed degree is by no means a guarantee of being well-trained for a specific industry, as some computer scientists realize.
Who has what problem here? On Reddit, there are several threads with dozens of similarly sounding comments, and they all share one theme: College or university graduates who should have primarily focused on learning to program during their studies have exactly that problem – despite their successful completion. For example, neveracontharry writes in one of the Reddit threads in the subforum “learnprogramming”: “I am 22 years old, graduated from university at 21, and have absolutely no idea what I’m doing.”
Other graduates report similar experiences in other threads that can also be found on Reddit. But there are also tips for all the frustrated, who mostly say they belong to the so-called Gen Z as those under 30.
There is a lack of practical experience
What challenges do young programmers face? Many consistently report that they know the theory well, but do not feel able to write even complex programs themselves. They can read lines of code and understand their meaning, but lack the ability to design, code, and debug software from the initial characters to the final version.
Some, like No-Instruction-2395, express their concerns in another thread on Reddit, about being unable to work:
I feel like I haven’t learned anything at all and certainly don’t know enough to get a job in the industry.
Especially the many online courses during the pandemic, according to reports, led to a significant lack of practical experience. It was mostly about the “how,” but rarely a solid approach was taught on how to achieve a desired result. Often, learners simply worked through tutorials, as several report.
What does Reddit recommend?
Several seemingly experienced programmers offer advice. In the comments, there are many links to resources for those seeking help, as well as complete guides on which programming language is best learned for what purposes and what to do with it as practice to showcase to an employer. User connorjpg lists in a Reddit post a comprehensive guide for everyone who wants to delve into web development.
What trouble errors in software can cause for employees in everyday life was once experienced by an IT technician. This is not unusual, but how he dealt with the bug in the then-current Office version is rather special and has become a true mini-legend in the industry: When an IT technician wrote a furious email about a bug in Office to Microsoft CEO Bill Gates personally – and saved his job
