Need Advice on LabVIEW as career

[Naqqash]

Hi all my question is really simple. I enjoy doing LabVIEW and want to do more and more work because I enjoy working with it. Any suggestions please that how can develop my self more and more in it and what about doing it for living 🙂 ..I've been working on LabVIEW for 1 year now for my different university level projects. Is there any way other than this forum also where I can polish my LabVIEW skills more. Hope you people will guide me through.Thanks in advance.

[Mark_Yedinak]

One of the best ways to help you polish your skiils besides simply time and expereince would be to try and get certified. Through the certification process you are exposed to good programming styles and techniques that will help you become a better developer. Granted there are many good styles out there and NI is looking for the "NI" style but the certification process does get you thinking about how you program, what architecture you choose and overall what things make an application good.

[GregFreeman]

This doesn't directly answer your question on how to improve your skills but as far as the job search goes, have a look here 

or here

[Naqqash]

Thanks but im more intereted in building up my skills in LabVIEW at the moment inspite of seeking some job. It will be great if is there any way I can involve myself in some project as a freelances any advice for it. And for that certification part I'll be going to do it soon.

And Mark any particular advice for certification?

Message Edited by Naqqash_IIEE on 10-24-2009 02:24 PM

[jcarmody]

• I've learned a lot following this forum (and lavag.org) and coding solutions for questions people ask. Other developers will critique your submissions.
• Write and post solutions to the CLD practice exams and ask people to review them.
• Offer to help on openg.org.
• Offer to help a FIRST team.
• Write a plugin for the JKI Right-Click Framework.

Freelance would be interesting, especially if you get paid.  I can't suggest anything for that.

[Naqqash]

Thanks. Any links for CLD practice exams?

[GregFreeman]

GOOGLE IS A BEAUTIFUL THING!

see here

[jcarmody]

Security System, Traffic Light & Car Wash here:

http://search.ni.com/nisearch/app/main/p/bot/no/ps/10/ap/global/q/cld%20sample%20exam/

[Ben]

Although LAVA can be interseting in an achademic way, the traffic is too low to get any real pratcie working for that forum.

While you are still developing your skills the NI forum are a good place to do your prep work. After you get good and can answer all of the question on the NI side, then LAVA is the next step.

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Find a "Pet Project"

This should be a project that YOU really want and is beyond your current skill set. Work on it regulalry and post up if you get stuck. You can study all day and night but a real project is the best thing for my learning plans.

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How I suggest using the NI forum:

1) Get your basics together. Durring this phase you should gird-up your loins and let people beat you up. If someone honors you by posting your code to the Rube Goldberg thread, you will be getting specail attention. Durring this phase you should find thread that you know the answer and you should code up and POST AN IMAGE of your solution. If none of the frequent flyers jump on your, don't feel bad, you probalbly got it right. If they jump on you, listen to why and re-code as per the suggsetions.

Don't let the quesion already being answered stop you from coding and posting. This will help others by seeing the code and will let you check that you understood the ideas.

2) When you get past the basics start taking a chance on stuff that you are not sure about. Don't claim to have the answer but mention that you are just trying. Again watch for the experienced contributors to critique your code.

3) Start "teasing the bears" and review answer that you think you understand but your idea differs from that posted by the others. By knocking heads with the experieinced developers you will be helping them by keeping them honest, and maybe your idea will actually be better.

4) Write a Nugget. If your Nugget is well recieved, you are there!

5) Sign-up for LAVA and start all over again.

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PLEASE REMEMBER

The only persons ever "tar and feathered" on this forum were people that thought the new everything and communicated this fact regularly ("Those that think they know everything are particularly iritiating to those of us who do." Author unknown) So stay humble and hope someone beats you up.

Just trying to help,

Ben

PS: Please not I am NOT knocking LAVA. I am one of the active contributors there as well and post under the name "neBulus".

Message Edited by Ben on 10-26-2009 09:22 AM

[MichaelAivaliotis]

If you're still a student then you probably have a lot of time on your hands. A a lot more than all of us who have jobs.  

I would start by trying to answer questions on the forum (anywhere really doesn't matter, here or LAVA). However, I wouldn't post the answers. I would read the question, then go off, do my research and try to solve the problem. That could mean doing research in the help docs or coding up something (the more coding the better). I would try to answer as may questions as possible.

I would keep the answers to myself. I would then monitor the forums to see if others answer the question and then compare their answers to mine. As you do this you will do a lot of learning. I would probably do this for a few weeks or until I see that my answers start to match others. Then when I feel comfortable I would start making my answers public. Then I would keep answering questions.

Note, the above guide is also good for anyone that wants to be a forum expert.