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- The compensation is great
- The number of jobs is projected to increase over the next several years
- Constantly evolving technology is giving software engineers new challenges to address, problems to solve, and specializations to pursue
- As is the case when we pursue any new career path, the road to becoming a software engineer may appear long, challenging, or ambiguous. You’ll need to do some research and soul-searching to understand where to start and which route to take. For this, we’ve prepared a roadmap to point you in the right direction.
Let’s get started!
We’ll cover: Steps to becoming a software engineer
Step 1: Make a career plan
Step 2: Get an education
Step 3: Get real-world experience
Step 4: Earn a certification (optional)
Step 5: Prepare for your job search
Step 6: Search for software engineer jobs
Step 1:Make a career plan
Your process will begin with research and planning. You can start figuring out how you want to arrive at your goal by asking yourself some questions:How do you want to get your education? Whether you pursue a computer science degree or take an alternate route, you’ll need to learn new skills and information to become a software engineer. Debating between a coding bootcamp vs a computer science (CS) degree? Many employers still prefer candidates with at least a bachelor’s degree in CS or a related field. But you don’t necessarily need such a degree to get a job. In addition to bootcamps, other employment avenues include earning a college certificate or studying independently.
Heads up: Alternative, non-degree paths will generally prepare you for more junior roles, such as junior/associate software engineer or computer programmer, and may not be sufficient for specializations like data engineering and machine learning.
What software engineering specializations interest you? In addition to the engineering roles we’ve already discussed, options include web development, DevOps, and computer systems. Keep in mind: You can’t really know whether you’ll like a chosen specialization until you’ve tried it. So if you have doubts after picking a specialty, don’t worry. Remember that software engineering roles share many basic competencies, and you can always adjust your route later.
We can’t estimate how long this process will take for you. You’ll want to do your due diligence while researching and planning. The decisions you make will determine how the rest of your roadmap unfolds, starting with the next step of the process: getting an education.