Skill set for an average Java Job

After 6 years working on a job that has little to do with coding, I face the possibility of redundancy :frowning: As I start actively searching for a Java related Job, I feel there is no way to getting in to this industry with my current skill set.

For example a typical Java developer adv says you must have experience in:

  • Spring MCV
  • Hibernate
  • JSP, Jquery, Json
  • MySql

Among the technologies listed above I only had limited experience in JSP, MySql and JQuery (mostly from doing assignment when I was at Uni). Any suggestion on how I might pickup the missing skill set within the shortest amount of time?

Thanks in Advance!

I don’t know about any of the things you listed, but sqlite (similar to mysql I believe, but stored in 1 file) was incredibly easy for me to pick up.
My point being that you could probably pick these other things up relatively easily, but it’s gonna mean nothing to nobody because you haven’t had like 20 years experience with it or whateverD:

Hibernate is relatively trivial to learn. Hibernate and any form of SQL are probably the two most useful features on your CV other than Java. If you’re looking for a permanent position then it’d really be quite a daft employer expecting to find an employee with the precise list of skills they want (that’s what contractors are for).

Cas :slight_smile:

These are all standard libraries/frameworks that are used in a large fraction of the Java market, the only thing I would add is JUnit (unless that was implied in your list) and possibly Maven and GIT as the most ubiquitous build and source-control tools. (it’s MVC, model-view-controller btw :wink: )

Getting a basic understanding of these technologies is perhaps not as daunting as it looks if you have the time and patience to invest in a little self-learning. There are plenty of online and free resources out there that will get you started - a quick Google search for ‘Spring Hibernate tutorial’ for example returns plenty of ‘hello world’ examples, e.g. http://www.mkyong.com/spring/maven-spring-hibernate-mysql-example/ I would suggest following one of those tutorials and/or use them as a template for a simple project of your own - this would give you a decent background in most of the technologies you listed.

If you have any spare cash available then it might also be worth buying a few books, but in my experience you won’t learn anything that you wouldn’t from resources available on t’internet.

Then I’d suggest you look for junior or graduate Java developer roles with that skill-set, hopefully by that point you will have sufficient understanding of those skills so you could deal with questions and problems put to you in an interview. Your 6 years in employment will also be a plus point (i.e. you have experience of a real-life role, working with others, etc) even if it was in a completely different field, so don’t be afraid to emphasise that.

I have a friend-of-a-friend in my local pub that has followed this approach never having any IT related work and now has an ‘entry level’ full-time Java developer job that she enjoys, is getting experience all the time, has clocked up almost a year on her CV, and has every prospect of progressing her career - so it can be done.

Good luck!

  • stride

I can’t offer much advice, but I certainly know what you are going through. I lost my forestry job in February after 7 years. I’m now trying for a career change, but lack the experience required for most advertised positions. I’ve since enrolled in a computer science degree; I’m hoping this will enable me to get my foot in the door and expand my knowledge. Not to mention launching applications for every junior role I can find.

It’s not a nice position to be in, so I wish you the best of luck. I too will be watching responses to this thread with interest.

Give yourself a project, or start contributing to open-source projects that use those libraries. That way you can say “I’ve used this technology, AND HERE’S HOW”. Saying “I taught myself this” doesn’t really mean anything if you can’t back it up with specific examples.

Getting into your developer carreer later in life (ha! say, 22) is certainly walking the narrow path. You are more expensive and less capable than your competition.

On a side note: be careful what you wish for. That enterprise job will pay the bills, but will suck your soul right out of you.

Many thanks for all the advice. :slight_smile: I guess I have no choice but to learn these core technologies if I want a job in Java market. Following tutorials on the Internet seems like a good start…

[quote]On a side note: be careful what you wish for. That enterprise job will pay the bills, but will suck your soul right out of you.
[/quote]
How bad could it be?

It turns out I am not on HR’s black list after all ;D I have been appointed to a similar position after the restructure of our company. This means more oxygen to fuel my game development hobby! 8)

Have you ever read stories from http://thedailywtf.com/ ?
After you read some of these stories, you will know how bad it can be.
(Be aware that some stories are fake/untrue/overdone-jokes)