Is a Software Engineering Career Right for You?

Decisions about what you want to do with your life are based on a number of factors. The Japanese have a concept known as Shokunin Kansei, which refers to one's commitment and dedication to their craft. This can be a valuable consideration when exploring career paths, including software engineering.

The Right Career Path?

Do you enjoy solving complex problems through structured planning and implementation? Do you like understanding how things work, especially digital services and software, and aim to enhance them? Are you someone who enjoys coding?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, a career in software engineering might be right for you. Throughout your journey, you'll find out if it's truly the right path for you. For instance, near the start of your program, when you take courses such as data structures or data communications, you'll likely gain a clearer understanding of the field.

My Path to Software Engineering

Starting circa 2012, I was two years into a civil engineering career and found it lacking in personal and professional growth, along with a disappointing salary and uninteresting work. I kept reading about the exciting developments in software engineering and decided to make the switch.

I began with Codecademy, their "Learn to Code - for Free" course. I completed a series of beginner-level courses in languages such as PHP, Python, Java, Ruby, HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. These courses weren't deep enough to land a job, but they were enough to get started.

I understood the concepts and found the work engaging, so I moved on to courses and ebooks on data structures and algorithms, databases, mobile development with Swift and Ruby on Rails from platforms like Coursera and Udemy. Despite getting stuck at times, I remained curious and kept pushing forward.

I returned to school in 2013 and pursued a software engineering degree, which I completed in three years. I had some credits from my previous degree and interned at Amazon, starting my full-time career at 30. I rose to almost L6 from L4, and at 34, I joined Facebook two months ago.

If you're considering a career in software engineering, it's a good idea to start small and gradually invest more time and resources into it. Conduct research, engage in trial and error, and be willing to spend money on courses and materials. You'll quickly learn whether you're self-driven and curious enough to succeed in this field.

Self-Assessment Questions

Here are some questions that can help you determine if you might be cut out for a software engineering career:

Do you enjoy tinkering with things and figuring out how they work? Do you find the internet a mystical creation that you want to understand? Do you wonder how it came to be? Are you a video game enthusiast who wonders 'how the hell can we even have this!' and 'What are graphics made out of? I must know!' Were you the kid that always asked ‘but WHY’ to every question that got answered?

Clearly, there's a common theme here. If you answered yes to most or all of these questions, you might be in the making of a software engineer!

On a more serious note, these are just the qualities that I associate with my interest and subsequent career in software engineering. There are likely many other indicators of aptitude for this field. However, I'd say this is true for most engineer-types: they have a deep-seated desire to understand how things work.

Embarking on a software engineering career requires more than just technical skills; it demands a passion for learning and an insatiable curiosity. Are you ready to embrace the challenge?