A career in software
by Barry Cranford
1. Junior BA
1.1. Mid level BA
1.1.1. Project Manager
1.1.1.1. Senior Manager
1.1.1.1.1. IT Director
2. Penetration/Security Tester
3. Craftsman
3.1. Apprentice
3.1.1. Journeyman
3.1.1.1. Master
3.2. A new movement has begun in the development industry known as the "software craftsmanship". It was set up to create awareness for the problems that exist within the industry
3.2.1. Though the ultimate goal is to create software the craftsman movement uses different job titles to distinguish themselves
3.2.2. For more information visit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_Craftsmanship
4. conferences
4.1. Devoxx
5. User Groups
5.1. How to find them
5.1.1. Skills Matter
5.1.2. Meetup.com
5.2. JavaWUG
5.3. LJC
6. Podcasts
6.1. independent
6.1.1. The Java Posse
6.1.2. Software Engineering Radio
6.1.3. Stack Overflow
6.2. associated with one of the communities below
7. Technical Community
7.1. Professional Bodies
7.1.1. BCS
7.1.1.1. Website and Mailing List etc.
7.1.1.2. Journals and Publications
7.1.1.3. Members Events
7.1.1.4. Specialist Groups
7.1.2. ACM
7.1.3. IET
7.2. Online
7.2.1. Career/Role Specific Sites/Communities
7.2.1.1. Programming / Development
7.2.1.2. Testing
7.2.1.3. Architecture
7.2.2. Blogs and RSS Feeds
7.2.2.1. javablogs.com
7.2.3. Technology Specific Sites/communities
7.2.3.1. The Server Side
7.2.3.2. InfoQ
7.2.4. Domain Specific Sites/Communities
7.2.5. General Computing/IT Sites/Communities
7.2.5.1. Learning
7.2.5.1.1. DZone
7.2.5.1.2. Parleys.com
7.2.5.2. Problem Solving / Q&A
7.2.5.2.1. Stack Overflow
7.2.6. Social Networking
7.2.6.1. LinkedIn
7.2.6.1.1. Groups
7.2.6.2. Twitter
7.2.6.3. Facebook
7.2.7. Does anyone know anymore?
7.2.8. Programming Language Specific Sites/Communities
7.2.8.1. JavaRanch
7.3. email mailing lists
8. What I am hoping to create is a tree diagram instead of a mindmap but this seems the best place to start. I am basically hoping to understand the different routes available to people within software. This is to help Grads and people coming in to the industry to firstly gain an understand of the options currently available to them, and secondly to gain an idea where those options may lead. I hope to eventually use this map or a similar one to be a starting point to much more information on each discipline
9. READ ME
9.1. What to do from here
9.1.1. Add branches to the tree
9.2. What is this
10. A career in software
10.1. School
10.1.1. College
10.1.1.1. University
10.1.1.1.1. Programming
10.1.1.1.2. Testing
10.1.1.1.3. Business + Technical
10.1.1.1.4. Junior Technical analyst
10.1.1.1.5. Supporting software
10.1.1.1.6. R&D
10.1.1.1.7. Consultant
11. Types of companies
11.1. Product/Solution companies
11.1.1. Product is most important thing
11.1.2. Work will involve developing a product for the company to sell
11.1.3. Time to market is key
11.1.4. Marketing is mandatory
11.2. Non-IT Companies
11.2.1. e.g. Where the core business is not technology but needs technology to survive
11.2.2. e.g.
11.2.2.1. Financial
11.2.2.2. Media
11.2.2.3. Travel
11.2.3. Work will involve developing systems to improve the companies core business
11.3. Consultancies
11.3.1. Will work on different projects and industries
11.3.2. If there are no projects you are put "on the bench"
11.3.3. Generally have high levels of expectation
11.3.4. Money is high
11.3.5. Can involve lots of travel and working in various locations
11.3.6. Level of commitment to high quality solutions is a make or break
11.3.7. Good reputation is mandatory
11.4. Small Business
11.4.1. Do bits of lots of jobs. Not all IT-related
11.4.2. Need to get on *very* well with colleagues
11.5. One-Person or Self Employued
11.5.1. Responsible for everything from strategy to toilets
11.5.2. Often sell services such as consulting
11.5.3. Money sometimes good, sometimes non-existent. Can be tricky to ensure continuity of income
11.5.4. If you are ill you don't earn
11.5.5. May want to grow into a larger business
12. Understanding the industry
12.1. Open Source Software
12.1.1. Open Source Central
12.1.2. Source forge
12.1.3. GitHub
12.1.4. What Is Open Source Software
12.1.4.1. Open source software (OSS) is computer software for which the source code and certain other rights normally reserved for copyright holders are provided under a software license that meets the Open Source Definition or that is in the public domain.
12.1.4.2. Projects created where there is not a perfect solution
12.1.4.3. Economic Model
12.1.4.3.1. Some projects are run as part time projects, people work in their spare time on them
12.1.4.3.2. Many companies support their developers to work on OSS projects that will be beneficial to their company
12.1.4.4. Politics
12.1.4.4.1. Licenses
12.2. Movements
12.2.1. Software Craftsmanship Movement
12.2.2. Agile Development Movement