Frustrated

I have posted a little on here but not in this thread. I have also been reading and lurking a lot. I am an extreme newbie to JAVA and I'm teaching myself.
I find that I enjoy learning it and would like to increase my salary in the near future. What makes me nervous is that if those with experience, certifications, and degrees can't get a job in JAVA, I wonder how I'm supposed too! I feel it is too little, too late. I haven't done anything with it in months. I figure "What's the point"? My dad says to keep at JAVA instead of maybe turning to another language like C/C++. However, all programming is extremely competitive recently and I have no way to be able to compete. Taking IT classes are out of the question because of finances. Should I just keep hanging in there? Any thoughts?

Theresa
I understand and sympathize with your doubts right now. It is pretty unnerving not knowing if your doing the right thing or not. The best advice I can give is to stay with it and learn the language as well as you can. There are still companies out there that are hiring, they just aren't doing it as fast or often as before. Work on your networking too, knowing someone who knows someone who knows of a company that is hiring is often the way people end up getting jobs.
And there will always be companies out there that will take someone with less experience and pay them less money. Then when you get experience you can move elsewhere.
The market isn't dead, in fact one of the bartenders just got a new job after not too long of time.
Dave
Also, I'm moving this to the jobs discussion forum.

I would be included to tell you to study C++ before Java, but what the hell do I know?
There are lots of ways of breaking into the field. It is common to get a job that is in someway related to programming and work towards the programming job. (Granted this is also much harder now that the economy is in a slump.)
As far as education - try to teach your self can be very painful. I have never found it easy to do. There lots of ways to learning without having to pay. One idea is to check in on your local institute of higer learning. If the class is full the professor may not mind you sitting in on the class. (If it is really full the professor may never notice you.)

It wouldn't hurt you to learn C++ and Java. Java is based on C++, so what you learn in one will help you in the other.
Also, its very important to keep an eye on anything up and coming. After all, Java has only been BIG for the last 5 years. So those who got in early had a jump start. Since Microsoft has created the .NET initiative, you would be starting with most everyone else in learning this technology.
I have taken the same approach over the past 20 years and it helped a lot.
Dan

Thanks for the ideas and pep talk!
I'll keep pecking away at it.