See below for the major categories:. Thanks to the prevalence of open-source-everything, aspiring developers have no shortage of ways to obtain these skills. College is perhaps the most straightforward and traditional route towards landing a fulfilling role in software development.
A college education has its benefits. For one, you can trust an undergraduate program to be comprehensive; rather than focus solely on practical skills, college programs often take a deep dive into the theoretical concepts that underlie coding practice. Students learn to think like programmers and are often compelled by their curricula to create projects for their professional portfolios. A comprehensive education in coding languages, algorithms, and data structures equips students with insight into how computers operate under the hood.
Moreover, college students often have easy access to the resources they need to develop industry connections, land internships, and, in some cases, land entry-level jobs immediately after graduation. If you have yet to achieve a degree, we recommend aiming for majors that can successfully prep you for a coding career.
Which majors should you choose? Well, according to Stack Overflow, the most popular majors for professional devs are as follows :.
You might want to consider a coding boot camp. Boot camps are fast-paced training programs that equip learners with in-demand, marketable programming skills. These programs generally cover a wide range of subjects, including algorithms, design principles, server-based coding languages, version control, and database management.
However, specific coursework will differ significantly between different boot camps. Moreover, a whopping 33, learners graduated from boot camps in that year alone. Why are boot camps so popular? The lower cost and faster pace probably play a role. Not only are boot camps a whole magnitude less expensive than a traditional college program, but they can also be completed within three to six months. While college programs put a heavy focus on coding theory, boot camps focus specifically on what employers want developers to do on the job.
Boot camps are also much more flexible than conventional degrees. Depending on your needs, a program can be conducted online, in-person, or part-time. Boot camps have made it easier for those who might not otherwise have the time or money to attend a full-time, four-year program to get their footing in the industry.
Part of the reason software development is such a great career path is that the field welcomes candidates from a wide variety of educational backgrounds. If you are unable to commit to a structured program, you can, in theory, receive all the necessary training by studying online tutorials, online courses, and books. In fact, according to Stack Overflow , only We do suggest looking over learner reviews before you commit to a self-directed course.
You can waste a lot of time wading through confusing or unstructured content on the web. If you work in isolation, it can be challenging to stay on top of your self-defined workload. While it requires discipline, self-study can be very low-cost or free if you do it right. There is no right or wrong way to learn software development. While you consider your options, make sure to keep your priorities and goals in mind. Ask yourself these questions as you gauge your options:. Answering these questions may help you make the best determination for your educational pathway.
Once you have the training, you can take the next step on your software developer career path. Navigating the software developer career roadmap can be tricky as a newly-minted developer. We suggest pursuing a software engineering internship to help show your relevant experience. Interns get industry experience in documenting, testing new applications, assessing ideas, and developing solutions to company problems.
Internships also provide learners with the opportunity to collaborate with senior software engineers and shadow seasoned professionals. Guard the bank to get bank, son. DevOps engineers introduce processes, tools, and methodologies to balance needs throughout the software development life cycle, from coding and deployment to maintenance and updates. These engineers are responsible for the design, development, production, testing, and maintenance of embedded systems.
Embedded software is used to control machines and programs that run on embedded software systems cars, appliances, etc. A Quality Assurance QA engineer focuses on improving software development processes and performs testing to ensure things run seamlessly without any defects. They plan tests, run risk assessments, and analyse test results to improve systems. The career path you follow will depend on how you start and navigate your career, but here is the most common route you can expect.
With limited experience, you can expect to start with an entry-level position. You will report to the team lead who will likely serve as your mentor, so listen up and learn as much as you can.
This role requires learning new programming languages and the ability to handle software development cycles in your sleep almost. You may also be required to mentor juniors in your team but not necessarily lead them. This stage will see you being more exposed to project budgets and certain business strategies. This involves leading a team, reporting progress to stakeholders, and providing input in decision-making processes.
Team manager roles for those with strong leadership skills and a keen eye for getting the best out of people. You will be responsible for the wellbeing of your entire team, managing issues relating to their work, and overseeing their career progression. Technical architects specialise in logistical software systems. They design, implement and maintain IT systems and inspect the structure of new technology systems.
They are also responsible for collaborating with the software development team to create and maintain these systems. For most, the CTO position is the ultimate career goal. As a CTO, you will have real clout in a company as you will be responsible for guiding your company to reach its objectives through tech. Your main responsibility will be to predict the types of technology your company will need to adapt to the changing landscapes of the future.
Depending on which area of software development you choose to specialise in, your career path will likely lead to a crossroads where you will have to decide whether you want to pursue a people management or a systems management role.
Some choose a career in software development primarily to work less with people and more with systems engineering. These people rarely want to progress into people management, instead preferring to manage systems rather than people. Positions such as a staff engineer, senior staff engineer, and eventually principal staff engineer are excellent career zeniths to pursue.
Others want to implement their agile programming methodologies into team management positions that oversee development teams without too much focus on systems engineering. If you want to migrate from systems management to engage with people, becoming a technical lead or engineering manager is a great career option, with the ultimate goal to become a CTO. The route you choose depends on your personality and career goals.
Software engineers have extensive career growth opportunities as the world rapidly adopts digitisation. As competition increases, it is important to continue to upskill and stay on top of the latest trends and innovations to remain competitive. Set out career goals depending on which route of software development you want to embark on. Sharpening both your hard and soft skills is necessary to stay ahead of the game.
If you are wanting to become a CTO one day, then developing your team management and communications skills is crucial, over and above the hard skills required to lead a team. Alternatively, if systems management is more aligned with your career objectives then focussing more on your hard skills is important.
As you gain more experience and build your career, you could also consider alternative options as a software developer if you decide to branch out. Software engineering can be a highly rewarding career option, both financially and professionally. You'll also have to train others, lead teams, and communicate with other departments. So plan to lean on these nifty soft kills, too. If you manage to excel in a few of these areas, you'll become a key part of any engineering team - and a highly coveted employee.
You'll need to go above and beyond in a few key areas in order to stand out to employers, and achieve your highest earning potential. That's a lot faster than average growth. That demand is driven largely by the fact that almost any company needs an online presence, and has growing tech needs. Software engineers have the skills to build the pages, apps, and other tech tools that businesses rely on to be competitive.
These unprecedented demands have translated into lucrative compensation packages as tech firms jostle to secure top talent. A software engineer in the U.
If you're entering this field, you can be confident that there will be growing demand over the next decade and beyond. As long as you develop a strong work ethic, are committed to the field, and continue to learn as you go, then you'll have plenty of job prospects in any city or industry across the U. A degree in software engineering or computer science is the traditional approach taken by many students.
But with tuition fees rising and a typical bachelors course lasting 4 years, some are seeking alternative forms of education. Software engineering bootcamps are becoming increasingly popular.
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