Some small companies don't mind hiring people without degrees because they can pay them less and they know they will not jump ship any time soon. But having as many projects as possible to show is very helpful.

The real problem with C++ is that no one is going to sit there and look through a bunch of C++ code before they hire someone, if they themselves can even do anything with it.

Having projects where the end results SHOW is much better. I wrote some web applet coming on 20 years ago. It took me a few days and all it does is show some rendering off, not even in real time. After ALL THIS TIME that is (unbelievably) the thing that impresses people the most. They always mention it! And I have a LOT of stuff to show.

So if you make some projects that are easy to show off (maybe in java) and most especially something kinda related to their business, there's a great chance someone will hire you. I usually like to look at resumes that have a degree just to narrow it down but at the end of the day employers just care if you can get the job done, you are pleasant to work with, you won't immediately jump ship, and they can afford you.

I hope it works out for you. Best of luck.

I just graduated high school and my son was born a few weeks ago...
I would like to consider myself a decent programmer, but I tend to favor C++ ... I can create the simplest of applications in Java, C#, Visual Basic, etc, and that is pretty much it.
My question is now, how can I get a job w/o a degree and w/o knowing in depth many of the languages that are in demand right now? I've searched around everyone wants web developers from what I see on craigslist in my area. I also don't live in a big city so I don't believe there will be many programming opportunities around.

Renthalk, you have a problem. You are not mobile (unless your wife, assuming you're married, is willing to move), and you want a job you're not qualified for, even if there were game jobs in your area.
Assuming for the sake of discussion that there were several game companies within daily commuting distance of your home, they're surely looking for a degree and a portfolio, unless you're willing to take an entry level non-programming job such as QA for instance.

Today I took my summer class to visit Treyarch, where the company president and two producers who spoke to my class ALL started in entry-level non-programming jobs. I constantly hear people say "sure, it used to be that QA was a reasonable entry level pathway, but not any more," or "sure, QA can be a reasonable entry pathway, but only for Production." Not so. You can rise to any position you're well suited and prepared for, once you get your foot in the door.

You are not prepared for a game programming job with your current résumé. I recommend you first read this forum's FAQs (I moved your thread to the Game Industry Job Advice forum), then get to work on a portfolio. But if you must stay where you are, and if there are no game jobs near you, then your only recourse (in games) is indie.

Good luck.

I'm willing to take any job that would even remotely get my foot in the door. I'm in NE Ohio and from what I've found searching, there isn't too many jobs around that aren't residing in the major cities(Columbus, Cinincinatti, etc), and that simply wouldn't be a feasible daily commute. My best bet is probably doing what someone suggested above and creating my own website to showcase some of my applications. I'm working on a graphics / game engine right now that I've been working on for since last year and I've just now figured out how I want it to be structured. I'll scrap an entire project probably 30+ times before I like how it turns out. I'm really picky about how my code looks, so I tend to refractor a LOT. That tends to become a problem as you can probably imagine. :P But, again, thank you guys for the help. I'm just going to keep on coding (and pick up a few more languages) and hopefully in the near future someone will recognize my work.

Thanks all!

I've contemplated college, online colleges, tech. schools, etc, but I feel like I won't be able to pass the Gen. Ed. classes, so I'm not too sure about those yet

Why don’t you just go to a 2-year technical/vocational college?
I dropped out of high school, got a diploma (not a degree) from a basic college that focused only on programming (no time wasted on English, general education, etc.) and classes were night-time, in addition to being only 2 or 3 times per week (if I recall correctly) and only about $10,000 total.

With just that (nothing too fancy), several personal projects to show, and an ability to solve problems giving to me during an interview, I got the first job for which I ever applied fairly easily.

Personal projects matter more than papers, so you don’t really have to have much in terms of degrees/diplomas, but of course it is a cheap and easy way to increase your chances, so there is no real reason not to get some.

L. Spiro

The US tech industry has very brutal competition for jobs. In my opinion, it is a waste of time to try to try finding tech employment without any significant accomplishments - accomplishments that prove you are better than the competition that is trying take the same job opining away from you.

The US games industry has brutal competition for jobs. Most of the US tech industry has the opposite problem, there are not enough skilled people to fill the roles (even junior roles). Some parts of the US tech industry are in a worldwide talent drought, where there simply aren't enough people in the world to meet the demand, even if you could get visas for foreign workers.

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Why don’t you just go to a 2-year technical/vocational college?

I've considered that. I've been under the impression that those tech schools were a waste of money, but if they're not, then that is definitely an option. Honestly, here is my issue. I lack the knowledge of the theory behind it all. I know the syntax. I know how to code what I need my program to do. Do I know how exactly it's doing it beyond a basic level? Nope. Are they going to teach the theory at a tech shool?

Do I know how exactly it's doing it beyond a basic level? Nope. Are they going to teach the theory at a tech shool?

Depending on to what you are referring I am not sure they teach that at any school.
I guess you are talking about more than just understanding what loops are, etc., but without an example if have no clue how much more.

I learned everything on my own. No reason you can’t. I wouldn’t rely on a vocational college for anything more than papers, but if you aren’t going to go to one you are still in the same self-learning boat anyway, so either you figure it out on your own (via practice), or you figure it out on your own and get some papers/a diploma along the way.


L. Spiro

By theory I mean the basics building blocks of it all. For example, would you take a calculus course without first understanding the principles behind it? You'd want to know about what rate of change, derivatives, all that stuff is and how they work. The university around my area's courses have stuff like OS Architecture, Assembly, etc. That's what I mean by theory.

would you take a calculus course without first understanding the principles behind it?

• Of course. I skipped 4 years in science but only 2 in math. So I was about to start Physics but I hadn’t yet taken Algebra II or Trigonometry. Solution? Learn on the job. When I was presented with equations that involved cos or sin it became easier to learn what those meant (what geometric property they represented) because they actually had context. I could visualize them for the first time. I learned a large majority of basic math in Physics class.
• It doesn’t apply here anyway. In order to be a generally effective programmer you need to know how to program. Nothing else. You definitely don’t need assembly and computer architecture/OS architecture. Your early code and products will be simple (and crappy) not because you don’t know assembly but because you are a beginner. Knowing about how the operating system works or how the assembly will be generated won’t change how crappy your early code is, and in fact might make it worse—people who learn too quickly or in the wrong order tend to pick up bad habits.

The frank fact is that you have the orders wrong. Learn programming, then hone it by learning the underlying mechanisms. I started on a TI-81 calculator at 13 or 14 and made a 2-player spaceship game. How Windows® works or how x86/x64 assembly looks wouldn’t have helped at all. Then I moved to mIRC Script and made a wire-frame 3D “engine” (obviously very primitive). Still no knowledge of Windows®’s internals nor assembly. Then I made a Direct3D Final Fantasy VII screensaver. Still no knowledge of Windows®’s internals nor assembly.

Finally, at around 20 or 21 (after 7 years or so) I started looking at disassembling/assembling and OS internals seriously. How did I learn? By programming a hacking tool called MHS.


In order to program, you need to learn programming.
In order to program for a specific device you need to learn about that device.

At the start, you are only a programmer, and the best thing you can do is focus on programming. If you have an interest in the other topics, feel free to look into them on the side, but be warned that these usually come later in life for a reason. You could spend years learning about Windows® and x64 assembly only to be put on a job where you need to code ARM assembly for a mobile/handheld device.


L. Spiro