Coders are Lifelong Learners

We hate to break it to your kid, but high school graduation marks just the beginning of her academic career if she wants to code for a living.  That’s the message that appendTo is telling everyone. Even if your child has a remarkable handle on coding through coding classes, computer science courses in high school, and self-taught wizardry with computers, she can expect to continue learning throughout her career. While on-going professional training is necessary for nearly all jobs, it is imperative for coders.

Coders have to stay updated on the latest programming languages and other forms of technology so they are positioned to work well in the field of computing. Your child probably has a solid understanding of this fact because he has spent a lot of time teaching himself the latest coding techniques and languages. However, if he doesn’t, you might explain some of the benefits of staying in the field and continual training.

For example, Greg Pollack, the CEO and founder of Code School, wrote in 2014 for Tech Crunch, “By learning new technologies and languages, I was able to maintain a competitive advantage as a developer and make successful career moves.” He eventually started his own business that teaches the latest in IT to others.

Furthermore, knowing more programming languages equates to earning more money. By knowing several coding languages and having a diverse set of coding skills under her belt, your budding coder can make herself indispensable to organizations in just about any industry.

Continuing education is so important to information technology companies that some of them provide funding for employees to learn new skills. For instance, Pollack’s company foots the bill for employees to attend one local and one remote conference annually. Furthermore, the company also allows for a day each month for employees to improve their computing skills, which might involve reading a book or taking a class on a particular skill. If coding companies are willing to pay for continuing education for its coders, it’s a definite sign that your child will need to continue to learn coding skills well after she graduates high school.