Am I Entry Level?

Posted: January 8th, 2008 | Author: Jamie Phelps | Filed under: All Posts | Tags: , , , | 2 Comments »

This might sound like a strange question, but I’m honestly interested in the answer.

Many who read this blog know a lot about my situation, but here is where I stand right now. I’m 27 years old working on a computer science degree at TCU. The way my prerequisites and course sequences work out, this spring is my last semester of full time work. I’ll graduate after two more half-time semesters in May 2009. My plan (and quite a common course for many here) is to work full time while I finish up my last year of school.1

I have been doing freelance web design for almost two years. I am largely self-taught in most everything having to do with computers, and as a result I’m often bored in my programming classes.2 I’m a very quick study. I consider myself above average in my programming skill and I’m well ahead of most of the others in my classes.

I’m currently an intern at Pier 1 Imports working in the data analysis/data warehousing group. It’s good experience so far, and I don’t think I would mind sticking around full time until I graduate. But that being said, I will be exploring my options starting sometime around spring break.

The question is this: Am I an entry level employee? Or to put it another way, when I’m looking for a job, which job titles should I not even bother with? Any more information you’d need to answer more cogently?

  1. The last year is Database Systems and Senior Design/Project Management in the fall and Database Administration and Senior Project in the spring. The database classes I don’t anticipate imparting any earth-shattering wisdom since I have messed with database systems on my own and my internship has been pretty database intensive. But I hope I’m wrong. I’d like to actually learn something. ↩

  2. For example, I took a class in the fall called Interface Design and Scripting Fundamentals. It’s a required class for my degree. There was no interface design discussion (Had there been, I might have learned something!) and the class focused almost exclusively on learning Perl, HTML, CSS, Javascript, and a little bit of PHP at the end for good measure and using scripting languages to interact with MySQL. I already knew almost everything we covered in that class. In fact, I gave a lecture on Script.aculo.us instead of doing one of the lab assignments. The second half of that course’s sequence is this spring and it’s called Web Technologies. I don’t anticipate learning a lot in there either. ↩

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Studiometry “Upgraded” to Version 5

Posted: September 14th, 2007 | Author: Jamie Phelps | Filed under: Around the Web, Business | Tags: , , | No Comments »

Oranged.net Software:

Oranged.net has released version 5 of their freelance business management software Studiometry. In version 5, it looks like they have added a new coat of paint and that’s about it. Oh, and they raised the price again. iCal synching, which they promised me would be implemented in Studiometry 4.1 has yet to see a proper implementation.

Someone should tell the Oranged folks that for Studiometry to continue to be viable, it is going to have to be rewritten from the ground up in Cocoa. The more I see from these guys, the more I want to chalk up my $169.95 (It costs $209.95 now.) to a learning experience and wash my hands of this wretched app.

P.S. iRatchet, Billings, if you had more robust invoice numbering ability, I would buy your app in a heartbeat. Look at the capabilities in Studiometry; it can’t be hard if they managed to do it.

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