#CScareer #coding #CSstudent #careerchange #aspiringSWE
As an aspiring CS career transitioner, you may be facing the dilemma of whether you genuinely enjoy coding and computer science as a career or if it’s just the excitement of learning a new skill. This uncertainty can be daunting, especially when contemplating a major career shift.
## Signs you’ll enjoy a CS career:
### 1. Passionate Learning:
– If you find yourself eagerly diving into coding challenges and projects for hours on end without feeling burnt out, it could be a sign that you have a genuine interest in computer science.
### 2. Problem-Solving Thrill:
– Enjoying the process of debugging code, troubleshooting errors, and finding solutions to complex problems indicates a natural affinity for the analytical and logical aspects of a CS career.
### 3. Real-Life Application:
– When you can envision how the coding skills you’re learning can be applied in real-world scenarios and industries, it shows a practical interest in utilizing your knowledge in a meaningful way.
## Testing the Waters:
If you’re unsure about committing to a CS career path, consider the following steps to gain insight and clarity:
### 1. Internship Opportunities:
– Seek out internships or entry-level positions in software development, data analysis, or related fields to experience the day-to-day responsibilities of a CS professional firsthand.
### 2. Networking:
– Connect with professionals in the CS industry through online platforms, career fairs, and meetups to gain insights into different career paths within the field and gather advice on transitioning into a CS career.
### 3. Continued Learning:
– Pursue online courses, workshops, and certifications in different areas of computer science to explore your interests and strengths before committing to a formal CS education.
Remember, it’s normal to have doubts and uncertainties when considering a career change. By exploring your interests, gaining hands-on experience, and connecting with industry professionals, you can gain valuable insights into whether a CS career aligns with your passions and aspirations. Trust your instincts and take the necessary steps to truly understand if a career in computer science is the right fit for you. 🚀💻 #CSaspirations #careertransition #codingjourney
best software engineers i’ve worked with had no formal training in programming – vast majority of them were math and music majors which is unsurprising. if you like programming, test yourself by learning computer architecture and internals first. if your interest still hasn’t waned, then you should learn programming languages, formally or otherwise. there have been so many junior level programmers that didn’t survive the first 5 years because they neither possessed aptitude nor attitude.
>I can easily spend 3-4 hours locked in to solving a code challenge without wanting to take a break
Goes to 10-12h at times for me.
But the main benefit of this job is you can do it from home and often decide when exactly (day, night, move to a different day etc) as long as you’ve worked a required number of hours.
The hype for this new (for you) thing will run out eventually tho. But as long as you don’t hate this – you’ll be fine probably.
coding is for you if you find high school math/physics naturally easy than challenging. coding is different from the usual math but it requires the same intelligence/IQ
See programming language is just like a tool
To implement your logic digital format, most of the people misunderstand programming as the important skill , see it is just a tool, like every other tool , each language will give you power to express your logic in a convenient way, you just have to choose the language where you can express your logic in comfort, once you understand this , you will eventually take interest in this field, programming language does not represent you but your logic does…., so work on imp things I know still you have to master the tool to express yourself in best version but it comes after logical thinking
The market is really competitive right now, but if you can get into med school, you can probably outcompete most people. The issue, though, is that outcompeting people for jobs usually means out working them in your prep, so it’s more of a time sink now, then at any time I’ve experienced, to get hired.
That said, if you like writing code for 8 hours a day, you’re at least ready to start looking at getting a job as a junior engineer. The weird thing about CS, is that the work is often a lot different than personal projects. For personal projects, it’s relatively simple to figure out the “right” thing to do, and you can do it by yourself. The difficult thing, IMO, about programming for pay is dealing with all the ambiguity and team dynamics.
Lots of people like coding, or tech, but don’t like doing it for a living. It’s a much different job than medicine, in the sense that medicine is entirely about people: meeting them, solving their problems, and doing that all day. While people are a critical aspect of software, you really do spend most of your day worried about getting the thing to do the thing.
And regarding jobs you will eventually find your own way when you will figure out above things, so first work on basics
I have this same question/dilemma for myself and the responses are less than helpful
Part of enjoying working in software is liking to learn, so if learning gets you this fired up sounds like you’d like the part people usually hate about being in software so very good marker right off the bat haha
In the same boat here with cybersecurity. Not sure if I actually like the security functions or if I just like IT/programming and also the idea of “hacking”. Have to pick my major this summer, so I’m trying to throw myself into as many topics as possible.
3-4hrs i can go for 16hr benders
Are you able to concentrate on small details for hours on end? Do you get joy from just making things ordered?
Make something that is more than just a coding exercise. Most industry jobs are about solving problems and providing value. If you can make something simple that meets a specific need you have, like automating part of your life, and you feel fulfilled by it, it might be something you enjoy.
You don’t know if you like things until you try them
I have been a software engineer for 4 years now and I can tell you my work is not really like school at all
As someone who’s constantly learning but who almost immediately loses interest as soon as I’ve learnt a new skill – usually because I find a shinier second skill which is more exciting than applying the first skill – I think I understand the concern of is “this actually for me or is it just a nice change of pace?”.
I moved from structural engineering into web development in 2022, and on a positive note employers do seem to have a lot of time for people with previous STEM experience. The caveat there being that whilst many people were already saying that the easy hiring days of covid were over when I secured my first role, I do think the market was generally a little bit better than it is now and it’s easier to stand out when you’ve got a bit of mileage. My route into it was over a year of self-directed learning before attending a bootcamp, which was a great way to round out my knowledge and was honestly worth it for the jobs board / industry connections alone.
All that waffling aside, on the “do I really want to code for a job” front, in my limited experience coding is only 25-50% of the role and is usually a wonderful break from all the other tasks like writing docs, slightly-too-regular meetings and constant attempts to balance business requirements against good development ideas / best practices. The only time I’ve been annoyed when having to code is when I’ve had to re-solve an already solved problem due to internal politics, it really is quite enjoyable most of the time, can just be a battle to get there.
On the STEM experience side that I alluded to above, there definitely seems to room for developers who already have extensive domain knowledge in other areas as my latest role is exactly that. I’ve heard that’s a bit more common in data science than it is in web development, but in an area as broad as medicine I’m sure there’s a tonne you can bring to the table that a more traditional developer might not be interested in learning. My teams so far have been a mix – and thankfully all round lovely people – which balances quite nicely too.