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Samuel Webb
25,370 PointsPython Jobs
So I've done all the current Python courses and on my own I also do some reading, learning and small command line program building, but at what point would I be qualified to get a job working with Python? What would that job even look like? I'm not sure what I would do with a company involving Python.
Yes I know that there are a few large web applications (like YouTube) using Python in their back-end, but that's a minority. I just can't foresee that becoming a more popular choice than something like Ruby on Rails or PHP in the future. As someone who's not currently in the business, I could be very wrong about that though.
Basically I'm asking this: What kind of Python jobs are out there? AND Which ones would someone with very limited experience reasonably be looking to get?
Tagging Kenneth Love since you're the Python teacher and you seem to have a long history with Python programming.
4 Answers
Kenneth Love
Treehouse Guest TeacherSo YouTube was originally all Python. Instagram is all Python (Django). Reddit is Python. Pinterest is Python. IIRC, Uber uses a lot of Python. Intel uses Python. Apple and Google both use Python. Disney uses Python. LucasFilm uses Python. Facebook uses Python even outside of Instagram.
Python programmers work in sysops a lot using things like Ansible and Saltstack, not to mention Fabric and other general purpose maintenance scripts, so there's that.
Python is used extensively in the scientific computer and journalism fields for parsing and understanding data sets, natural language processing, and tons of other applications.
Basically, Python is everywhere.
Now, whether or not the courses here on Treehouse (as they currently exist) could get you a job at any of these places, I don't know yet. I personally think they could, at least a junior-level position. Especially paired up with some learning done on your own (learn testing, learn testing, learn testing) and lots of experimentation. What I do know, though, is that I'm going to keep bringing you Python stuff and someday I'm going to have a student write to me and say "Hey, thanks. I got a Python job due to your courses."
And then I'll come edit this answer :)
Ken Alger
Treehouse TeacherSamuel;
I am sure Mr. Love will have some great input. Having said that searching for "Python" within 30 miles of San Francisco, CA (where your website states you reside) yielded over 225 jobs. Granted many of them are for Senior Developers, but I think it shows that there are jobs out there and that Python is not a fly-by-night development language.
In terms of entry level positions, yes those are more of a challenge, only like 8 hits came up for "junior python". There was a similar discussion (linked here) a while back that may provide some thoughts.
Best of luck and keep us posted how it all pans out.
Ken
Samuel Webb
25,370 PointsKen,
Thanks a lot. I actually don't currently live in California, or the US for that matter. I'm currently in the US Navy and I'll be in Australia for the next year. I plan to get out and get into the web dev and/or programming career fields. My website says I'm from the Bay Area because that's where I was raised, but I do plan to move back to California when I start down my new career path. That's obviously very flexible.
Also, thank you for the link. That was very helpful to me.
Ken Alger
Treehouse TeacherSamuel;
First and foremost, Thank You for your service and I wish you a very Happy Holiday while you are stationed overseas.
If you have that type of time frame to work on honing your programming skills I would say to work on your own projects to build your portfolio and highlight what you enjoy doing with development/programming. Do a few things that stretch your skill set. Create your own CMS in Python. Add in a member/admin component. How about a database that tracks all of the tools/reports/inventory/ships what have you at work? It need not be highly secure (although that could be useful and educational as well), but something to show your future employer that you know more than how to print "Hello World" in Python.
Best of luck, and thanks again for all you do!
Ken
Samuel Webb
25,370 PointsKen,
Thank you again and it's my pleasure to serve.
I really like the idea of making a CMS. For some reason it never crossed my mind. That print thing you said pretty much sums it up though about how I feel about my skills. I mean, obviously a bit more than just print but along those lines. Its like I know how to make all these classes, lists, dictionaries, functions and I know how to use them and have them separated to make modules and so on, but that just seems to be basic Python knowledge and I haven't really figured out how to use that knowledge when making something like a YouTube or Sublime Text Editor.
Like I was saying earlier, I can do all these command line programs, but my expertise is pretty much limited to that. I think setting my mind towards a goal like building a CMS would help me expand my theoretical Python knowledge into a more practical application knowledge.
Samuel Webb
25,370 PointsI guess my big goal is that I want to be able to mix my front-end development skills with my Python(or just programming in general) skills to do useful things.
Ken Alger
Treehouse TeacherSamuel;
There are a multitude of resources out there for "how to build a CMS in [insert programming language here]". I have gone through several in PHP and JavaScript and some are better than others. Some don't work based on what the tutorial says to do, some are out dated and are designed for folks using very old versions of languages. All that being said, in the real world you are not always dealing with the most current version, the latest and greatest tools, etc. There are still folks using IE7 for example. So, being able to take bad code and make it work, or improve on it, I find to be a very educational and almost real world example of a work environment.
As I am sure you know, Treehouse is a great resource should you get stuck on an issue. How do you get Python to sync with Billy-Bob's database? How do you grab the necessary data from an array? Where is my syntax error here? All great questions to put up on the forum as you are working through your personal project(s).
Anyway, I wish you the best and please let everyone know how you progress and share some of your work.
Ken
Shannon Gold
4,426 PointsHey Kenneth. I'd sure love to see a python testing course here on treehouse.
Kenneth Love
Treehouse Guest TeacherWe'll get there eventually! I plan on doing testing once I have Django stuff out. That way I can do a Python Testing course, then build off of it for Testing Flask and Testing Django.
Samuel Webb
25,370 PointsI like the way this sounds. Things seem to be headed in a great direction for Python on this site.
Log Nath
Courses Plus Student 2,159 PointsHey Samuel Webb, search for local Python meetups on Meetup and attend PyCon. There you find people wanting to recruit developers.
Samuel Webb
25,370 PointsSamuel Webb
25,370 PointsUnless I edit it first saying, "Hey Kenneth, I got a job because of your Python courses." Which is a goal of mine :)
And thank you. I was just ignorant to the fact that so many companies use Python, but that list was definitely what I was hoping to hear. I'm also extremely happy about the Flask course since I did the Front End Web Development track before I got into Python. This course should really get the ball rolling on rounding out my web dev skills.