Tarek Chaaban

Few years ago , i launched my “free service” where you can send a question and i answer it on my blog …. here is the last question i received .

The Questions :

So i hear that you’re a computer programmer and i have a couple of questions if you don’t mind…

Cecilia~

Hello Cecilia … and welcome to my site .

Do you like what you do?

Of Course … no one should do something that he doesn’t like …

What do you do?

Currently I’m Programmer Analyst at DTI (Digital Technology International)

What courses are necessary in high school?

I didn’t do my High School in Canada , but i know you need (Math , Physics) maybe there is few more …

What’s your typical day like?

This is what the official task are: Analyze, design, code, test, document and maintain the advertising applications systems and provide tech. support and guidance to staff

but what i really do :

- Install new software on both Windows and Linux + Configuration
- Test Them
- Debug Codes
- Write Codes
- Learning new coding languages
- Meetings (a lot of them)
- Web Programming
- a lot of reading
- a lot of researches
- etc …

How well do you get paid? [lol i don't need real details, but an estimate perhaps?]

It Depends , if you have a lot of experience and knowledge you will have success but usually they will ask for work experience .

1-5 years of experience will get you (35k$ -> 50k$)
5+ years of experience (50k$ -> 75$k)

Pros and Cons about being a computer programmer

Hummm ,

Pros : Everyday you learn something new
Pros : You can work from home !
Pros : It’s not for anyone , you need to be a good thinker …

Cons : You need to always keep updated on what’s happening in the word
Cons : A lot of competition from the “poor world” (India , Pakistan.) sometimes Indians are better than us in the field (they are humans) and they take much less than us (their hourly rate can be 2-3$/hr)

it’s changing now … but still when you are online it’s a different world .

How much did it cost to get your degree?

Hummm i really don’t know , in Montreal it doesn’t cost a lot to study , you can expect to pay approximately 1000-1500$/ semester . (6 semesters for the whole Bachelor in Computer Science) … so between 6000$ and 9000$

How big is the field?

More than Huge , if i were to study for the next 10 years full time , i wont have enough time to cover all the fields … it’s really Huuuuge !!

It can be programming to database to Algorithms to Computer Architecture , Bioinformatics , web development , etc …

i think I’ll be fine with those answers. Thank you sooo mucchh!!!

Cecilia~

You’re welcome ! let me know if you have more questions .