Jay Dave was no stranger to technology. He already had a bachelor’s degree in IT as well as hands-on experience in the field. But when he decided he wanted to learn more about programming specifically, he looked around for training options—and settled on Herzing’s online programmer analyst diploma.

Jay finished the course and his three-month internship in April 2022 and soon landed a job as a junior developer at a software company in Montreal.

We caught up with Jay recently to see how he found the training experience and what advice he would give other potential students.

Here’s what he had to say.

Updated January 2023

In the information technology industry, the line between different jobs can be very blurry.

Such is the case with programmers, developers, and software engineers.

They all create computer programs, right? So what’s the difference between these roles?

The answer largely depends on who you ask. Every company defines the positions slightly differently, and some use the job titles interchangeably.

However, there can be important distinctions between these three roles.

In this post, we show you how the roles of programmers, developers, and software engineers compare. You’ll see how these three jobs stack up in terms of tasks, salaries, training requirements, and more.

Let’s get to it.

Updated December 2022

Considering a career as a computer programmer? Wondering what kinds of jobs are out there and how much you can expect to earn?

Programmer salaries can vary depending on what area you focus on, what company you work for, and even what part of the country you live in.

To get to the bottom of programmer salaries, we reviewed the latest government wage reports plus dozens of real job postings.

This gave us a good idea of how much different programming roles pay in Montreal and across Canada.

Read on for all the details, including info on demand for programmers and how to get started with training.

Updated December 2022

Thinking about a career in programming? Before you decide if this path is right for you, take some time to understand where you can work and how much you can earn.

You've probably heard there's strong demand for programmers and a lot of different job options out there. But exactly what kinds of programmer jobs can you get as a total beginner? And what salary will you make just starting out?

It can be tricky to get a clear picture of entry-level programming jobs. Employers have very different ideas about what skills a beginner should have, depending on the clients they serve and the projects they work on.

To make things easier, we analyzed dozens of programmer job postings on sites like Indeed, Monster, and LinkedIn. From there, we identified the four most common entry-level programmer careers.

In this post, we describe each role, including the average salary for candidates with little-to-no experience (based on data from sites like PayScale and Glassdoor).

Here's everything you need to know about starting a career in programming.

The short answer is yes. You can become a programmer without earning a university degree in computer science or software engineering. 

The longer answer is a bit more complicated. Starting your career without a degree will mean doing quite a bit of self-study and self-training. You need to be a hard worker and highly motivated to succeed. 

The truth is, this field is big (there are hundreds of programming languages!) and it’s changing all the time. Even with a degree, you’ll spend a lot of time studying new tech and teaching yourself new skills. 

So this begs the question: If you don’t want to go to university, what’s the best way to get your programming career off the ground?