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Programming from the Humanities

4 points by fizzbucket ↗ HN
I'm finishing an Oxbridge doctorate in the humanities, just in time for the entire academic job market to disappear. Meanwhile, I've written a novel which is about to be published with a fairly substantial advance into a post-COVID environment where books aren't really selling.

For many years I've been programming as a hobby, a way to think logically and clearly which isn't stuck in the ambiguities of my day jobs. But now it's starting to feel like my best chance of a career is in programming. What do people reckon is the best way to move in to this new field quickly, given that I don't have any more than a few months job experience in computing to offer and am old enough that I really don't want to do yet another degree, especially since I've been spending my free time on non-computing things, where I've succeeded but not in a way which helps me get jobs in a new field?

I'm confident that I can write decent clean code with a basic awareness of algorithms and complexity in a handful of languages, and have code to prove it if asked, but don't really know how to get to the stage where hirers might ask.

3 comments

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sloaken
To help you refine, are you looking at how to become a programmer / developer, or

Are you looking to get a job to pay the bills?

Or are you looking for something related to IT.

I assume a degree in humanities involves a lot of reading and writing.

There are plenty of places where your more social degree of humanities would be a great fit, but are not SW development. When I read your post and see in your spare time you are on 'not-computing things'. Most people who are really good at SW development, or any profession, find its something they do in their free time.

AnimalMuppet
Technical writing might be an option to consider.
brudgers
The only way to have a career as a programmer is to find a job as one. Without a network that includes programmers, that's hard. Good luck.