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starting?
As I grow older I've found that pleasing everyone is impossible but pissing everyone off is a piece of cake.
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Sounds like somebody got stood up recently.
Jeremy Falcon
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Well, the reason they see more UFOs in Alaska is because electricity use is pretty sparse, so anything resembling an electric light is automatically interpreted as other-worldly... or magic.
".45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly" - JSOP, 2010
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You can never have too much ammo - unless you're swimming, or on fire. - JSOP, 2010
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When you pry the gun from my cold dead hands, be careful - the barrel will be very hot. - JSOP, 2013
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Those Alaskan! 
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I've gone through my story here a couple times. I graduated with a Bachelors in Computer Information Systems close to 3 years ago. Unfortunately, I did no internships or networking while in college. In terms of finding work, it's been rough. I had a junior programmer job at a printing company 7 months out of college, but got laid off 10 months ago. Since then, I've been looking for work and learning languages. I have only 2 projects on Github, but I'm looking to put more up later. I've had a few interviews, but nothing panned out.
My main issue is that I don't have enough experience. Though I'm aiming for programming positions, I only got in a year and a half at my previous job. That was in an obscure language called FoxPro. Also, my degree was CIS. I didn't appreciate the difference between CS/CIS in college. I knew fairly early I wanted to program, but after transferring from Community College, a CS degree would have taken way longer and cost way more at that point. Now that I'm trying to learn all this extra stuff on my own, I feel I should have taken that hit and switched majors. Now I don't have the cash to go back (and don't want to take on more loans).*
The second issue is that I live in Flint, Michigan. Aside from topping "worst crime in Michigan" lists every year, there's not a lot here in terms of programming work that I haven't already applied to. Heck, I've been applying to places 3-10 cities over since the start of my hunt, and not getting many bites. Due to meager savings post-layoff and my closeness to my relatives, I didn't want to move at first. Now I recognize I have to at some point. I was thinking of Lansing, because I see plenty of job postings coming from there and I've had relatives who lived there before and say it's nice. Any spot in MI where entry-level programmers are in demand will do though. I'll probably find some temp jobs to save up the money.
However, there's still the main issue. I don't have much work experience in programming. I also have a 10+ month gap on my resume. These things will still be true, even if I was able to move tomorrow. So, does it matter if I move? I think I can get temp work and save money, but the cost of moving will still be huge, and I don't want to take the gamble of moving if the move is ineffective. I'm going to save money either way if I can find "stepping-stone" work, as well as put up projects. But should I move as soon as I have enough money, or wait until I have an offer from a company? The offer doesn't have to include relocation; I'd move on my own dime if the salary was decent enough. I'm not moving out of Michigan anyway.
*Please note I don't mean to start any war between CIS and CS majors here. I just feel I should have taken the CS degree.
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If you have the means to support yourself (or relatives you can stay with until you get on your feet), then moving to where there are more job opportunities makes a lot of sense.
Don't fret about the 10 month gap on your resume... Apply for junior/entry level positions and explain the 10 month gap. In the meantime, I hope you've been doing *something* with your time? Volunteer work? Anything? Mention that to them when talking about your 10 month gap.
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I've only been learning new things. I put up a couple projects on Github, which is already on my resume. I admittedly haven't tried as hard as I perhaps should have to find volunteer work. I called around to a couple nonprofits and got in contact with professors at my school to see if they knew of anyone who had any volunteer work in the programming field. There's been nothing though.
How do you suggest I look?
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Volunteer at your local old person's home, deliver meals to the homeless, take cancer kids away for a weekend (through your local cancer kids charity of course)... not necessarily programming, just getting out there and contributing to society...
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Right...
And when I'm comparing two resumes, one with the volunteer points, and one without, I'll choose the one without.
If I give a good community citizen a job, they'll stop volunteering.
Won't anyone else think of the old, the homeless or the kids with cancer.
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Interesting... attempted sarcasm I hope.
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I found a lousy job (programming, but not something I would like to do for longer time...) just after my Bachelors degree. Stayed there a bit longer than you - for 3 years. That was my "gain the commercial experience" period.
Then I looked around and in my area there was 6 job adverts. In the area I live now - there was >50.
Moving? Yes. But consider this advice (it was given to me by my fried when I was looking for the change):
0. Never move if you have no prospect for job there.
1. Try to find job in area you have someone (relatives, friends) - they may help you with accommodation, they may know the company, living costs, etc.
2. If this is very distant try to set few interviews in a row. It's hard, but gets you more chances for small cost per interview.
3. Have a backup plan - if you will not find the place to stay, if you (or the company) will change mind in 2-3 months, etc.
4. Never try to move into highest pay (and living cost) area without secured contract and place to stay
But today the world is a bit different. Did you try remote work? Freelancing? Work as subcontractor? For most companies this counts as experience.
You may for example fry hamburgers in the day and customize Joomla modules for someone in the night. 
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Now you tell me. 
I think I've violated each of those more than once over the past 20+ years. 
You'll never get very far if all you do is follow instructions.
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I don't think you'll find anyone that really cares about the difference between a CS and a CIS degree. Academic programming and real-world programming are so far off from each other that your degree usually makes little difference, unless you are going into a really specialized field.
I would focus on building your resume with universal development skills from your current job. Admit that FoxPro is a dead end and you don't want to do any more of that, but focus on difficult problems you solved in spite of it, requirements gathering, integrating your changes into an existing code base, testing, finding problems and clearly communicating them while working to find a solution. Those are the skills that make a good developer and are more important than the language you work with.
When looking at new areas, different cities seem to have a focus on technologies based on the dominant companies in that area. Some have more .net positions, some have more java, etc. Look at that as well. If you land a .net job in a predominantly java area, you'll probably have to move again to find another job.
When interviewing for a job, I tend to memorize syntax and and specific language details because a lot of places, especially for entry level jobs focus on those kinds of questions. I'd also build something (a photo sharing app in the latest MVC framework for example) both to show you are keeping yourself current and to have examples fresh in your mind to talk about.
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hehe... Drive past Yass from time to time when I do the esCarpade...
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And yet it is Burger King that says Have it your way.
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Is that a Coldplay album?
=========================================================
I'm an optoholic - my glass is always half full of vodka.
=========================================================
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It's spam.
What do you get when you cross a joke with a rhetorical question?
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There is a thing you can attach to a standard bicycle to turn it into an exercise (static) bike - any idea what this is called?
(I wish to buy one but am unable to google it without knowing its name)
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A bicycle trainer. My wife has a magnetic one that is supposed to be better than the ones based on air resistance.
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A "hill". You place it under the bike and then pedal until you reach the top.
- I would love to change the world, but they won’t give me the source code.
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Google Fu
"convert bicycle to exercise bike"
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