When thinking about how to start your career, it can seem like an incredibly daunting prospect. After all, a career needs significant amounts of time and energy invested into it, and will dictate how you spend most of your time for a considerable number of years.
For many, it can be a case of not identifying their chosen career until they are three years into their current job, as experience was required to decide which direction they wanted to go in; whereas others know exactly what they want to do from a young age.
Depending on which of these situations applies to you, the path you take into a software development career could look distinctly different when compared to other people who are also entering the field.
However, no matter your age, previous career, or historical interest in the subject, it’s never a bad idea to pursue a profession that brings you joy and satisfaction, in replacement for a job that serves to simply bring the money in.
If you’re looking to begin a career in software development, read on to find out more about the steps that you can take to make that happen; from preliminary familiarization to degrees and further education.
Learn a programming language
The first (and essential) step in becoming a software developer is learning a programming language. In the case of all software, programming language is required in order for the hardware to complete the correct instruction, and serves as the mechanism for user inputs to be translated into the correct actions on the computer screen.
Even the first software ever created in 1948 had an early version of a programming language, and these languages expanded throughout the following decades to form the basis of software development as we know it today.
Modern programming languages are plentiful, with each being used for particular qualities that make it strong in specific computing areas. Some popular examples are Java, Python, and C++.
Evaluate your desired role
In the modern day, the software development industry is comprehensive in size, spanning every perceivable industry and trade. By its very nature, software can be created to serve any purpose or function, meaning that a role in software development could be drastically different depending on which direction you want to take.
If you’ve always been interested in tech such as phones, computers, and gaming consoles, then your future could lie in app development or software that hosts games; while if you have roots in medicine and/or mental health, you could work on producing software that is used to help patients with their health and wellbeing.
New sectors are emerging all the time, too, with roles such as an AWS certified solutions architect existing as a result of cloud computing technology rising to the fore.
Pursue further education
Once you know a little bit about programming, and have a good idea of which niche you’d like to occupy as a software developer, looking into education options is the next viable step. If you’re still in school, you may be lucky enough to have lessons covering the subject, but if not, seek out after-school or extracurricular clubs to help hone your skills.
While you don’t always need a degree to get into software development, over 65% of survey participants said they had at least a bachelors qualification when asked, and it is a great opportunity to truly learn everything you need to know while specializing in a particular field.