want to make a career shift to java/php from c++( 2yrs exp)?

Question

hi all,
I've completed my B.tech(EE) in 2011 & have worked on c++,unix,db2 and a little bit of javascript,html for 2 years in an IT telecom company.
Then I had to take a break from job(due to family reasons)..its 4 months+ now.
Now that I'm in a position to get back to work, it's getting hard to secure a job purely in c++ domain.Moreover, c++ is not completely of my interest(i'm not strong enough in a few imp concepts like pointers :-( ). I'm a person with a great knack of logic and methodical & organised work practise.

So, based on the above info, pls provide some guidance on the following points:
1) Is it a good idea to shift to JAVA or PHP or Software testing? If yes, then which one is the most suggested one and why?
2) How to get myself prepared enough to secure a job in the option suggested in (1) ?
3) Whether any training /certification is required in support of (2) at the present moment or self-study is just sufficient to bag a job?
4) When i search through the job portals, should I be applying for the fresher jobs pertaining to (1) above or the ones asking for 2yrs exp?

N.B. serious suggestions pls..as I'm really on a lookout for a job

Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

Most jobs want 3-5 years in the field, but 2 would get you there if you have a degree. From looking at your skill set the primary useful ones is.



- Unix

- DB2

- HTML



What you should learn is

- XML

- XSLT



The core of information sciences is standardization of data processing and transactions. XML is highly applicable to this. An example based on your experience is XML data being stored in a DB2 table and using XSLT you can transform that XML into HTML or some other format. To do the DB2 extraction, that can easily be done with a simple unix bash script, or simple PHP/JAVA (whatever, they all support databases).



At my current IT Job is in implementation which requires a lot of XSLT and XML programming. Unix is helpful for automation likewise with very basic php scripts.



My suggestion is to grab a few APress books on XSLT and XML. Get really strong in that area. Java would be a big plus too, even a basic understanding, you don't have to become an elite programmer, just be familiar with being able to write simple apps to automate something. Such as reports. I code java apps (running on unix) to query sql databases specified in an XML document, export the XML configs from the socket server's db, (again, using a script) run it through an XSLT spreadsheet to generate an HTML document (or a CSV Spreadsheet). All automated and saves SO much time for a lot of tasks.



There's my serious advice for you.

Answer 2

There is danger in generalizing too much but these days C/C++ tend to be prevalent in more computer science oriented companies and java/c# is much more common in typical IT departments. Switching to java/c# has less to do with learning the language than becoming familiar with the almost endless set of technologies that go along with them e.g. j2ee, tomcat, yada yada yada. On the other hand, if you have been working with embedded devices already, and like that kind of work, there is a fair amount of development of various mobile devices in the java arena. You might be able to leverage your embedded experience into a java job by learning the language and selling yourself that way.

Answer 3

Web Designing