How to start to be a software engineer

Finding your life’s calling again is often all it takes to switch careers.

Yet, let’s be honest. It’s not easy to transition into a new career as a software developer.

A career change into software engineering might be intimidating, but the payoff is great.

Listed below are some suggestions to get you started.

Tip 1: Choose how you want to learn how to make software.

To begin a career in computer programming, you need a solid following and a clear grasp of how software is made.

There is no one way to start your education that works for everyone. Which learning path you choose depends on you, your work style, how much time you have, and how much money you have.

The three most widely used ways to teach software engineering, in no specific sequence, are:

• Bootcamps
• College
• Self-Teaching

These are not methods that can’t be used together. Many people also find that a combination of all three works well. Let’s talk about what each choice means.

Bootcamps

Coding bootcamps are a mix of classes taught by an instructor and self-study. Overall, it’s a way of working together. You can expect to have homework and group projects just like in school. Depending on the program you choose, you can take classes in person, online, or a mix of both.

Bootcamps are great if you want to learn a lot quickly in a short amount of time. Also, your classmates will be people like you who want to become software engineers. Get the most out of your bootcamp by meeting other people and making connections with them.

But coding bootcamps don’t come for free. Still, bootcamps can cost anywhere from $5,000 to $20,000 or more, which is less than most college options.

Things to think about:

There’s a reason why they’re called “boot camps.” Expect to spend a lot of time on it.

Bootcamps are a great way to build a portfolio if you don’t have one yet.

Some software engineering programs do require students to know how to code at a basic level. Here, a little bit of self-study can go a long way.

Self-Teaching

You can also start your transition into programming by teaching yourself. In fact, a lot of successful software engineers learned on their own.

This is a great choice for people who want to learn at their own pace and on a budget. There seem to be a lot of ways to learn new skills, build things, and work together on the internet. One of the best things about teaching yourself is that you can make your own lessons and set your own schedule. You can change how you learn to code based on what kind of job you want to do.

College

A conventional computer science degree is still the most prevalent route to entering a career as a software engineer, despite the growing popularity of bootcamps and self-learning. StackOverflow polled developers from all over the world, and 75% of those who answered had at least a bachelor’s degree. But only 9.8% of the people who took the survey said that a formal education in coding was “critically necessary” to their success at work.

Getting a bachelor’s degree is probably the most expensive and time-consuming way to get into programming. The good thing about taking four years to get a degree in computer science, though, is that you have plenty of time to learn a lot and try out different kinds of programming.

Tip 2. Have Career Clarity

When you mention that you want to be a programmer, please be more specific. Determine what sort of programming profession would be most suitable for you by concentrating on your areas of interest and taking stock of your own skills and shortcomings as a programmer.

Love mobile communication with the chance to start your own business? Try your hand at making apps for mobile devices.

More interested in making things easy for users? Then you might be better off getting a job in front-end development.

Do you think the Boston Dynamics robot dog is interesting instead of scary? You might use AI (artificial intelligence) in the future.

The following is a collection of typical career pathways. This is by no means an exhaustive list of all the possible occupations for a professional programmer, but it serves as a solid introduction.

• Web Developer
• Backend Developer
• Frontend Developer
• Full Stack Developers:
• Web3 Developer
• Developer of language/compilers
• Embedded System Developer
• Operating systems Developer
• Data Scientist
• Artificial Intelligence Developer
• Video Game Developer
• Construction and Building
• Desktop Developer
• Developer of Mobile Apps

Tip 3: Showcase your work.

Making a portfolio is a great method to stand out to a hiring manager. Maintaining an up-to-date portfolio is an important work habit to adopt and stick to. Those who are just beginning out in the field of computer programming might benefit greatly by enlisting the aid of coding bootcamps and university courses. You probably already have projects that you can put in your portfolio. Don’t worry if you taught yourself. There are also many ways to show what you can do. 

Make sure to include projects that have to do with your dream job. A better strategy would be to select three or four projects out of ten that are relevant to the position you’re applying for. Quantity is less significant than quality.

Hosting a Portfolio

When it comes to where to host your portfolio, you have a few options. You can make your own domain as one option. By showing that you can make a website, you’ve already done a lot to show off your skills. To finish, just paste in a link to your preferred works.

Not everyone needs their own domain to promote their work. It’s important to join sites like Github and Bitbucket that host repositories. Often, people in charge of hiring will ask for links to your profiles.

Final Word: It’s clichéd but true that you should always be open to new knowledge. 

Beginning a career in software engineering is like beginning a lifelong learning journey. These pointers will get you off to a good start, but if there’s one last piece of advice, it would be to get involved in a coding community. Codewars, GitHub, Stack Overflow, HackerNews, Hackernoon, Hashnode, freeCodeCamp, and Women Who Code are just a handful of the resources I endorse. When possible, it’s always best to get advice from those who have been where you are. Best of luck!