In recent days, it’s been harder for newcomers to get into the Software development industry. Competition has grown, but the quality of engineers hasn’t changed much except those already in the industry increasing their skill levels.
I want to write this blog for those who want to get in quickly and stand out from the crowd. Another large shift in the industry is the increased use of AI to boost productivity. I understand that AI use may scare some developers, insisting that AI will take over their roles as time goes on.
However, I believe if we can understand and use AI and allow it to grow ourselves with its help we can stand out from the many that are wary of the technology.
That’s enough talk about that, we’ll target that aspect later in this post and in future articles, I’ll share with you all. Let’s move on to the first steps.
Decide what type of Software You want to Work on
This may seem like an easy decision, but I wholeheartedly believe that if you jump into something you’re not interested in, you will fall eventually. Maybe just not now. By fall I mean, you’ll stunt your growth and not reach a position you should reach in your career.
Let’s not avoid this touchy subject but more or less the reason many individuals want to be developers is not often because they love it, but because of the earning potential.
That can be a big flaw, yes it’s okay to want to earn a lot of money but people are quick to notice if you’re passionate or not about something. You will notice it, and then the job of a developer becomes boring and still. You’ll reach a ceiling because your ‘desire’ to progress will probably be stumped by the lack of enthusiasm you hold.
So all that aside, if you’re passionate about a specific subject and development. Pick your specialization whether it’s cyber-security, full-stack web engineering, or DevOps, the possibilities are many.
I suggest you stick with this, and start embracing the passion. Learn what best suits you, keep learning and having fun with it. You’ll find that once you find your intrigue it becomes easier to retain the topics you’re learning.
Build Your Hard Skills
As you learn to become a successful developer it’s best to start practicing and perfecting your craft. The best thing about Software Development is that it offers visual feedback as you write. You save, and run then voila the app is running!
With that, I urge you to keep practicing consistently, and while practicing try to create projects. I know others have said it many times, but it’s important.
If you’ve been procrastinating, it’s time to get to it. Start building your apps as you envision them. It will be challenging but worth it, if you decide to make your app more complex you will have something to speak about when you’re interviewing.
If you’re looking for some projects to work on try the following:
- Portfolio Website
- An e-commerce store
- A game engine
- A full stack weather app, with UI and backend to handle data requests from an API
Your imagination is the limit, so keep working and finding what suits you.
Build Your Soft Skills
This is a set of skills that is often overlooked, and the least solidified especially within the industry. While you will find talent that can speak tech, it’s harder to find talent that can speak human.
In a study[1] done in 2020, Italian researchers found that on average engineers had a harder time discerning the mood in the room, resulting in complexities of teamwork.
Not everyone in the Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC) is going to understand your tech jargon and that creates a problem. How do we as engineers send the message of what’s needed for our business to succeed?
I consider my work to be a self-employed sort of business, what I mean is I want to sell my work to my client (my employer, coworkers, etc) and I want to be able to sell what I need to be successful.
That’s why I consider it important to be able to communicate, operate, and think as a business person and not like an engineer. Try to avoid the use of jargon; use more visual cues, and practice your speaking pitch. Learn the basic rules of a business, and immerse yourself in the business domain.
Below is what I expect a decent engineer to inherit and practice on their own to become better at soft skills:
Managing Style
Can you manage a group of engineers to succeed? Are you fair and compassionate? Are you open to opportunity, creativity, and all ideas?
These are the basic questions I started with, and have been pivotal in my career. Because those you manage will show their loyalty to you if you are fair and objective, compassionate, and considerate.
Communication Style
How good are you at communicating the needs for a project? Do you mumble a lot? Are you typically at a loss for words? Are you clear and concise?
This set of questions is great for measuring your capacity to communicate with your team and others what “needs” need to be fulfilled. I believe it’s important to get enough practice for this skill as it creates trust with those around you. Communication is a way to show that you know what you’re doing.
Directing Style
Can you direct a team to lead a new effort?
Managing and Directing goes a bit hand-in-hand, but the difference for me is your ability to coordinate with multiple teams and to bring out the creativity.
As a beginning engineer, you may think you won’t encounter many things like this, but you’ll be surprised many managers are working to build your skill set, and having this skill ready for that time will be to your benefit.
Just think of a director for a movie, through his creative ideas leads the whole effort to create something new and different.
If you have more aptitude for this skill, others will take notice it’s hard not to see a director of your company and follow their directions because you trust that their style of directing aligns well with the company and its needs.
Marketing your Brand of Software Development
As an engineer, you need to be a diligent marketer. It would be best if you sold your brand of software development. How you do that is based on who you are and what you want as representation.
It would be best to show others that there is no other engineer like you, you’re the complete package. The key to success. As a fresher in the industry, you are no one unless you show that are someone.
I want you to write your key values: what can you bring to the table? A few simple bullet points can help. Given that we spoke about your soft skills, hard skills, and even passion for software development you have everything you need to start.
For instance, are you a polyglot who built large language models to learn your language of choice faster and teach you?
Are you an upcoming software engineer who takes time to craft high-quality software that meets high demand and has successfully brought projects to life?
Show off your stats, build your messaging and sure enough when the interview comes you’ll be fully ready to sell who you are to a future employer.
Following these steps can be crucial for getting into the industry, I believe if you can solidify your skills and have confidence you will win over your interviewer.
An equal demonstration of your hard and soft skills are crucial to landing the job. Further improvements to your organization, management and communication should be made to help you go farther.
If you like articles like these, check out why I think documenting work is important: https://draginto.com/opinion/why-documenting-work-is-so-important-as-a-software-engineer/
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