Software Engineering is one of the most lucrative careers right now and it’s not difficult to see why. With a higher salary than the average occupation along with the ability to work remotely, it seems almost too good to be true to make money from your own room (sometimes I have a hard time believing it as well!) Is it hard to become a Software Engineer? I became a Software Engineer without a degree and I’d like to share what I have learned throughout my journey.
Can you become a Software Engineer without a degree?
I have a strong belief that you can become anything that you want to.
Can you become a Software Engineer with no degree? Absolutely. There’re tons of free to affordable resources online that can help you get started programming. At this day and age, anyone can become a Software Engineer with the amount of information you have access to at the tip of your fingers.
That’s not to say that you won’t face difficulties along the way.
You’ll begin to doubt yourself after a while. This doubt can set in after a while and will at times discourage you from continuing your journey.
You’ll find certain concepts of programming difficult to grasp. Your program won’t work perfectly as you imagined it. The program you wrote will sometimes error out for
Learning how to program requires a consistent dedication to first understand coding. Learning to program isn’t like traditional learning: there’s no test at the end of the course to test your knowledge. You are not required to attend any classes while learning how to code. You have the freedom to learn whenever you want.
This freedom comes at cost.
There won’t be an instructor to remind you to do your coursework. There won’t be deadlines or assignment due dates to keep you on your toes.
The amount you learn and how far you’ll go as a software engineer all depends on you. The more you put into your career, the more you get out of it. You truly are a software engineer if you want to.
You have to have good time management
Becoming a software engineer requires you to have good time management, more so if you have a full time job.
After graduating from college with a degree in Biology, I decided that while I was applying for medical school, I was going to learn how to program. Being unemployed and having lots of time on my hands, I had all the time to completely immerse myself into coding.
Perhaps your situation is different from mine.
You may be a college student who has a ton of down time during your summer break. Or you’re a parent who needs to work a full time job. Whatever you situation may be, there is no question that learning to code will need time and commitment on your part no matter how busy you might be. If you really want to have a career in programming, you’d find a way to make it work.
Is it hard to get a Software Engineer Job?
Becoming a Software Engineer, in my opinion, is not hard given the amount of information you have access to online. With time and patience, you can work your way up to becoming a full-time Software Engineer.
Becoming a Software Engineer isn’t hard. Becoming a good Software Engineer is.
Getting the first position isn’t as difficult as it may seem. Rather than thinking that there are a ton of entry level engineers to think with, think about what value you can bring to the company based on your skills you’ve gained from your projects.
If you’re willing to work at an entry level position early in your career, you have the opportunity to learn and grow from other developers, and get paid for it as well.
Bao