My boyfriend is trying to make a career switch after 10 years of working in logistics operations at UPS. He is currently learning C++ and will be learning other programming languages. How much of a pay cut should he expect to take when he is first starting out as he has no prior work experience and will need to be trained on the job? He is currently earning around 70k. A friend who made a similar career switch said she agreed to 50k for her first year as a developer.

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Echo the comments above. Why is he learning C++? He should be learning Python and get into logistics analytics.

If you showed me a resume for a logistics operations specialist with 10 years of experience who knows Python and logistics analytics, I would say that should easily fetch 100k.

Python is much easier to learn than C++ and a much hotter skill set.

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Great point D3,leverage the logistics experience and add software expertise..add some consulting skills,that way one doesn’t get boxed,have depth and breadth, can easily can make 150k in the longer run...

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Forget programming. He needs to stay in same field of logistics but leverage his experience and build on it by going into supply chain. Learn how system like SAP are used in supply chain then he can go into system implementations which requires technical know how that can be learned by doing.

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This is the right answer, transition into a specialty procurement software (Ariba, Ivalua, Coupa). The barriers to enter this type of consulting are much lower and he probably won’t have to take much if any pay cut.

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Python, Go, and Ruby are languages he should be looking at instead.

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May as well include Java & JavaScript in that lost

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C/C++ are great languages and one develops a good understanding of how OS work if one masters them. It makes sense for most developers to learn them. But, outside of embedded systems, kernel programming, higher end gaming, they are not widely used in the industry.
He will have an easier time mastering other languages once he masters C++. Or he could save some time and learn python, JS, and Java.
Regardless, I think depending on where is gets his break, he may not need to take a paycut. 70k seems about right for most entry level positions.

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Agree as well. Most C coding (with inline ASM) is done at the embedded systems level. If he was thinking about going for an EE degree, I would recommend it. Otherwise, Python.

The good news is that they are so similar there isn't much of a learning curve moving from C to Python. At it's basic level, structured programming is structured programming.

Keep encouraging him, though! It's great he's going down that path!

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There are plenty of jobs out there for C++ developers. You just haven't seen them. Basically all firmware and embedded systems are written in C or C++.

https://www.tiobe.com/tiobe-index/

http://pypl.github.io/PYPL.html

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There are lots of jobs in C++; however, most require CS-related degrees or lots of experience. Not to mention that as a working adult starting from scratch, C/C++ is a lot harder to learn & utilize in real-world applications.

Java seems a faster alternative if going through the embedded systems route.

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I went through a boot camp and learned Ruby on Rails and JavaScript. Got my first programming job with no prior experience at 80K.

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Always thought these didn’t work...kudos to you!

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Why would he be learning C++? Not much demand out there for that.

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Maybe just learning core dev concepts before moving on? Also, my nephew says game developers use that.

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Hello, thanks for all the advice. For all those who are asking about why C++, he is taking a online intro computer science that Harvard is offering. It covers multiple programming languages including python and SQL. C++ just happened to be the first one they covered.

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This is an excellent course, it starts with C for learning fundamental concepts but moves on to python and the next level courses don’t go back to C. Which track does he want to follow? The web services track definitely builds in demand skills

Depending on industry and region, $50K sounds reasonable - would suggest that he finds an internship as soon as he feels comfortable, and that should provide him with a good reference and springboard!

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It’s good to have computer science as a foundation, but we pay $4-$10hr for developers offshore. So that’s the competition. It drives prices down onshore and makes it tougher for onshore devs. So typically we look for something that’s not as easy to offshore. Most of our large customers use Java, some have moved to node.js which is basically JavaScript. All three have solid demand. Where he will break 6 figures is specializing in something with hot skills. Data science (analytics), User Experience(UX), project manager(PMP certification), integration (moving data from system to system). Those are all safe choices. Learning Python, C++, Golang, .net, etc are all very niche roles. Blockchain, AI and ML are hot words of the year but I don’t see customers asking for it 🤷‍♂️ I know a few management consultants applying AI at Microsoft to solve business problems and reduce labor. A customer will occasionally ask about it out of curiosity. I build teams for projects in Fortune 500 companies every day.

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What region? Work with federal agencies may have a need for C++, especially for legacy application sustainment

C++ is a good entry level object oriented language. Once he 'masters' this language, it becomes easier to tackle others like python, Java, Go, etc. Make sure he understands data structures, algorithms, systems operations as well. Finally, cracking the coding interview is a great book to prep for engineering roles.

Another idea is to attend a bootcamp. This isn't always a golden ticket, but if he's highly motivated and a self-learner this can be a great way to get started.

Get into web dev and he could find a junior position near same salary

Python would be my first choice; Data Science & Machine Learning are hot market now & in the near future.

JavaScript (and a couple frameworks) would be my second choice.

Mobile development would also be great choices, in which case, Swift & Android should be on his radar.

Data science might be tapped out, but ML is still very much alive; new use cases & applications are emerging daily for those who are capable.

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