About a month ago I was talking to a webinar where the topic was “How to become a Software Engineer”. The targeted audiences was for sure those currently in University/College (or even high school?) and those who’s already working in other field but has passion and interested to move to software engineering. In this article I changed the title a bit to Software Development to be more abroad so we are limit ourselves only to the engineering part.
Why Software Development?
It’s really high in demand right now. It was already high in demand before COVID-19 situation and it’s going to stay high in demand now and in the future, because in the future – some people like to use the term “new normal” – it’s all about digital and contactless. Companies are forced to innovate otherwise they will lose the battle and be obsolete, and the key to it is technology in general and software development in more particular.
What’s good anyway about working in software development field?
You are solving people’s problem with your product.
Well, OK… There are some perks of course like (relatively) higher range of salary compare to other fields, remote and flexible working hours (depends on company’s policy), even popularity, but what’s good about it if you don’t solve people’s problem with your skills, right? 😉
And this is the right time to become one (to work in software development field), because:
- There are so many problems in the world that needs to be solved, including the impact of “new normal”
- We have INTERNET now. You can literally learn and work anytime and anywhere
- So many online learning platforms available
- So many groups, communities, and MeetUps
- Open source and shared coding materials and repositories
- Etc.
What do you need to be able to work in software development? Well, the good thing is there are so many roles and areas available in software development that you can choose, from Product, UI/UX, Engineering, Data Science, and many more. Means that software development is not only for those from engineering or computer science background. What you need are:
- You need to have good logical thinking
- You need to be problem solver
- You need to be an explorer
- You need to be persistent
- You need to always learn something new
- You need to be open minded
- You need to share your knowledge with others because what’s good about having knowledge if it is not shared.
So you think yo have all those I listed above, what next? How to start and excel in your software development career?
- First, you need to be clear on your career goals in this industry. Set the career target that you want to achieve in 5 years, 10 years, up until the ultimate goal.
- Focus on problem solving
- Keep yourself up-to-date with the current and emerging technologies
- Find supportive communities and mentors
- Keep on learning and sharing
- Keep your attitude and mindset positive
- Last but definitely not least, learn other things outside of your software development world, such as soft skills like communication, stakeholder management, business acumen, etc. This skills will help you to achieve the career goals that you have set in the beginning.
Hope this encourages you to work in this industry. The choice is yours, enjoy!
