Hi Im New Here, Need Advice
 

Hello, I just recently joined this forum, because I am looking for a little advice. I just finished my degree in Computer Science in December. I am in a situation where I will not be able to look for a new job until July 2012. I would really like some advice on how to keep my skills sharp, and/or make myself more desirable in an interview. I have coded mostly in Java, but I have used MatLab, Scheme, Python, C++, and HTML. I am by no means a master of any of these languages though. I hope to get an entry level job as a software developer, but I worked full time throughout college to support my family, so I was unable to do an internship. How can I best use these next 4 months to help me achieve my goals?

Improve your skills, and make some programs.

Take on small projects

I would take on some small jobs. I would consider try doing some freelance work. It will give some experience of programming, dealing with customers, establish yourself and make some money. Start out small and only 1 project at time. You don't want to get overwhelmed. It is also a good idea to be very selective about what jobs you chose.

I agree with richjr... Try some freelance jobs... They should give you some income as well as some experience and contacts

hello, i also think that as a freelancer you can start work on projects individually at home and in this way you can get experience.

advice
 

its better to you keep practicing and polish your skills up till you found your self enough confident to do any job which throw towards you by any one then you can start freelancing

I will be honest as hell here, as a uni leaver you are going to find it very hard to get a job in programming without experience. You may have passed your exams, but it's like driving, you know nothing of programming, problem solving and solution building until you have a few years under your belt.

You will find as you gain experience your whole thought patter will change, you will be able to vision programs before you write them, design them better and code them faster and tighter.

Its a hard road, it took me years to get my first programming job, now I am a genius! lol

Good luck, and just be warned that you will get knocked back time and time again, as an example i got my last job for a huge european company with no degree...and i was against 5 others with degrees; my advantage was my experience and how i proved I knew what i was talking about :)