Son 14 into coding - help (reflection on old post)

Imnoexpert_2

In 2017 I posted on this site asking for help on what we coild do to enhance sons love of coding.

Thanks to some great guys on here (they were all guys) I got tons of really helpful advice about languages, and about career options. I wanted to update you and add my reflections.

It all started with 'Minecraft'. That got him access to open source code.And mods. In this case hours in his bedroom computer gaming paid dividends. Games aren't evil!

Doing freelance work as a teenager improved his confidence no end. Doing jobs where he interacted with other peoples code taught him the importance of documenting stuff and being systematic. Learning nerw languages was useful, and getting a raspberry pi was too.

Sadly he never found a local group or club or friends to join to talk 'coding' but he started answering queries on websites and making online friends all over the world, many of whom he is still in contact with. I know that using the internet to meet fellow minded people brings (well publicised) dangers but he seems to avoided them. Again I bet this is true for the vast majority.

Some of you suggested formal qualifications were unnecessary. In a way that's true, he would have got jobs and a career without. However he loves learning, and 'status and we are very pro University. So from a local Comp. he got very good GCSEs and from a grammar A levels He went to a leading University. He didn't have the socilal confidence to try for Oxford or Cambridge ( I hope that's changing).

University helped him grow up and for the first time meet 'his tribe' people who were interested in what he was interested in, and came from all over the world. Even some he had corresponded with over the internet. That was a big benefit he woudn't have got without going.

I don't know what he learnt but even with Covid and not having lectures for a year he did learn lots of stuff ( of course he was used to remote learning) and did well academically. By then programmig had become coding and that became software engineering!

Some big differences nowadays which made Uni in London so good was that he took part in 'Hackathons' where he and his group ( which included inernet friends from other Unis) solved problems and sometimes won competitions judged by leading industry companies, they also did projects for industry. The big one though is Internships. Each summer he worked (and earned good money) as an intern for the likes of google and others.

He's now 22 and 3 months into his first job. A big finance company (thay areQuant Traders) is paying him lots of money (and I do mean lots).He wouldn't have got in if he hadn't gone to Uni. He works hard, loves it, and has wonderful benefits. He has  a great lifestyle and is happy doing what he loves. I met one of thei bosses ((shorts T shirt and flip flops at work) and he said as a kid he liked solving maths puzzles, writing computer programmes and playing games. And now he gets to do it for a living!

This has turned into an essay, but for anyone with a teenage coder - encourage them, let them follow what they enjoy and be sure that there are endless opportunities.

Farway

Thanks for the update, and so nice to hear it has turned out well.

I'm hoping my grandson is on a similar route, games, Raspberry Pi, built his own gaming PC etc.

I'm not sure what it is he is studying, but he is on some internship while continuing studies, he tells me what it is, but I fail to grasp it!

Something similar by the sounds of it, security & coding is involved, and he is hoping to go to Bath for PHd in whatever it is this Autumn

DullGreyGuy

Glad its worked out for him!

Everyone talks about the piece of paper you get from university and whilst I would agree it is fairly worthless when you've gotten 3+ years work experience behind your belt in the UK university isnt just about the piece of paper. Sounds like he'd benefited from that secondary aspect as much, if not more, than the actual BSc itself. 

Other countries arent the same as the UK, in the US you are much more likely to need formal qualifications. I often deal with those from the US and they are all amazed I do what I do without an MBA and then even more surprised that I dont even have an ACCA or other accounting qualification. May never need it but having it may open other opportunities and certainly parts of the US are big in the Finance space even if its a more introverted market than the UK. 

Never dealt with those doing computer based trading but have had the misfortune of dealing traditional investment banker types. Would say to be careful of burnout and be sensible with the great money... some manage to sustain it and grow it; others decide to move on over time but have been spending what they earned and struggle to readjust to more regular incomes.