Biggest Dangers When Career Changing Into Dev
Only two thirds of the people I met on my journey into software dev made it. Let’s unpack why.
And by “made it” I mean, got jobs as software developers and are still working as devs today. The other ones? Unfortunately they faced redundancies, had to switch back to their original career paths or swap into more support-focused roles.
So what was the difference between the two groups?
If you look at the post I sent out yesterday, most of the people who “made it” tried out coding projects on their own before deciding to career-switch or to go into coding bootcamps etc.
This proved to them that they got what coding was all about. It showed them the frustrations and hardships of coding.
Example: you’ve been stuck on the same problem for 3 days, none of the articles you found online are helping you and all you see is errors for days.
You need to be able to crawl out of that hole of hell all by yourself. If you can do it before going into a coding bootcamp or trying to career-switch then you’ll probably be fine.
I reiterate: do a code project that has no tutorial by yourself first.
If you enjoy it more than you hate it, then you’re probably ok.
Getting your first job as a dev will also be the hardest job you ever get as a dev. So set yourself up for success. Don’t just accept to the first job that is offered to you. Think in terms of your strengths and weaknesses.
Are you stronger in the front-end than in the back-end? Then don’t go into a full back-end role.
Harking back to one of my first posts, if you decided you want to go into software dev, do some research first and find what other people are saying about the journey into dev.
Today I gave you 2 observations that I saw in my journey into dev but there are many others. Think strategically, do some research, see how other people did it then chart your plan. The odds are in your favour so don’t be scared and get after it!
Vale!
If you want to get more posts about software development and tech then subscribe to my email newsletter: https://santiagochamon.beehiiv.com/subscribe
