Software engineering is amongst the most exciting, rigorous, and rewarding career fields for skillful and committed individuals in today’s rapidly changing world. This article will provide a comprehensive overview of the career of software engineers and a realistic step-by-step guide toward becoming one.

Software Engineering Definition [image by author]

The Basics

Who is a software engineer?

A software engineer, alternatively called a software developer, is someone who builds and maintains efficient and reliable software applications. However, software engineers also handle other responsibilities including planning and collaborating with team members on the software development process, analyzing the needs and requirements of users, producing proper documentation and articles for other engineers and end-users to understand more about the product, and other activities.

What are the skills and competencies needed to become a software engineer?

There are many interdisciplinary hard and soft skills that software engineers utilize in the actualization of their tasks and duties.

Hard Skills

Software Engineering Hard Skills [image by author]

Programming Fundamentals and Software Architecture

The fundamentals of data structures - storage systems for storing and organizing data, and algorithms - a set of instructions for performing tasks, are critical knowledge skills for would-be software engineers. Another key knowledge base is understanding the architecture of how software is built, its organizational elements, functions, and design principles.

Coding

Software engineers need to be well-grounded in the principles of writing clean, readable, and efficient code in the required programming language(Python, Javascript, Typescript, C, C++, Swift, Scala, SQL, etc.) and the ability to build projects and tools from scratch as well as modifying existing software.

Testing and Debugging

Evaluating the functionality and performance of software alongside identifying and resolving issues is a critical expertise for software engineers.

Soft Skills

Software Engineering Soft Skills [image by author]

Attention to Detail

Precision and paying close attention to details during coding, testing, debugging, and documentation is a highly essential skill set for software engineers, as minorly overlooked errors could be catastrophic for live projects.

Communication and Problem Solving

It is one thing to be efficient in coding. However, it is an entirely different thing to be able to communicate through written and verbal means, ideas, processes, and concepts to other individuals, especially non-technical audiences. Good communication is essential for software engineers as they constantly need to communicate and collaborate with cross-functional teams to achieve goals and objectives. The ability to quickly translate real-life problems into actionable solutions, alongside proffering solutions for anticipated problems, is also important.

Continuous Learning

Software engineers are life-long learners. This focus on continuous learning is essential for remaining relevant with a wide array of evolving programming languages, tools, processes, and technologies.

Time and Project Management

A well-organized time and project management focus is a crucial skill set for software engineers due to the need for prioritization in planning, scheduling, and executing handling multiple software projects, usually in short time frames.

What are the specializations for software engineers?

Software Engineering Specializations [image by author]

There are extensive specialization paths that software engineers can pursue. Some of these include:

Front-End Engineer

Front-end engineers specialize in the client or user-interacting side of software applications. They focus on the elemental design, aesthetics, and overall user-friendliness of websites and mobile applications using HTML, CSS, JavaScript, etc.

Back-End Engineer

Back-end engineers concentrate their efforts on server-side integrations, database management, and frameworks that enable the user-interacting aspect of software applications to function properly, using Python, Java, PHP, etc.

Full-Stack Engineer

Full-Stack engineers can actualize the competencies of both front-end and back-end engineers in creating user-friendly and fully functional software applications powered by complex systems.

DevOps Engineer

DevOps engineers are responsible for building the infrastructure for deploying and maintaining code and monitoring its usage. They also automate repetitive tasks and keep track of the software development life cycle - a cost-effective and time-efficient process of developing software applications.

Cyber-Security Engineer

Cyber-security engineers are responsible for creating and maintaining security policies for protecting software applications from potential vulnerabilities, which could cause attacks, malware, ransomware, and other kinds of intrusion. They utilize their programming knowledge alongside other competencies in information security in protecting software.

Quality Assurance Engineer

Quality Assurance engineers ensure software applications are built to the highest standards and specifications. They conduct performance testing, assess risks, document issues, participate in code reviews, and many other activities in this regard, using different programming languages and tools.

What are the key benefits of being a software engineer?

Benefits of being a software engineer [image by author]

High Demand

Nothing is wrong with a career in constant demand. The push for a more interconnected world has resulted in a huge demand for software engineers across multiple industries and sectors, with no signs of slowing down. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that the job outlook for software engineers will grow by 25% between 2022 and 2032, with over 150 thousand new vacancies per year.

High Salaries

An in-demand career path goes hand in hand with high salaries and benefits. Software engineers consistently earn above minimum wages in their respective jurisdictions, as well as, having better prospects and out-earning many of their counterparts in other positions.

Transferable Skills and Growth

Software engineers are easily able to switch sectors and industries while remaining relevant. With easily accessible tools and resources alongside newer technologies and frameworks, the life of a software engineer is one of constant learning, upskilling, and innovation.

Learning Approach

Software Engineering Learning Approaches [image by author]

There are different learning approaches toward becoming a software engineer. The utilization of these approaches is usually according to financial resources, skill level, commitment times, and access to tools and services.

Computer Science Degree

Enrolling in a university degree program in computer science is the most structured and widely accepted learning approach toward becoming a software engineer. This traditional approach is the most comprehensive method of learning, with a focus on the fundamentals and underlying principles of computer programming and the architecture of software technologies. A wide range of technologies, programming languages, and frameworks, alongside personality qualifications, are carefully taught to students.

Higher degree programs can help would-be software engineers have specialized knowledge of their desired technologies and services and prepare them for a path toward senior roles. Career fairs and employability summits are also organized to help ease students into employability. However, getting a computer science degree is the most expensive, time-consuming, and challenging pathway to becoming a software engineer. Degree program lengths range from 3 - 4 years for a standard bachelor's degree and an additional 1 - 4 years for specialized postgraduate degrees.

Certification Programs

Obtaining certificates is an increasingly-acceptable way of becoming a software engineer. It involves enrolling in cheaper and less time-constraining certification programs for a singular topic or a block of topics and passing the certification examinations. It is usually offered by universities and other technical institutes with a focus on in-demand skills and competencies in building projects rather than the underlying fundamentals. Certification program lengths range from 6 months to 1 year.

Bootcamps

Coding bootcamps focus on teaching programming languages, software development best practices, and other essential practical skills with a focus on getting people to build software applications as quickly as possible. Bootcamp program lengths usually range from 4 weeks to 6 months. However, additional learning and development are required upon completion of coding bootcamps to become job-ready.

Self-Study(Self-Taught)

The self-study approach is the most unstructured approach to becoming a software engineer. It is completely unguided, and flexible and involves the learner building competency by independently experimenting with technologies and frameworks and occasionally utilizing freely accessible online learning resources like Programwhiz, FreeCodeCamp, Khan Academy, etc. There is no defined time limit for the self-study to software engineer trajectory, as it depends heavily on the discipline and commitment of the learner. However, getting into specialized senior positions is extremely difficult for self-taught software engineers due to the lack of certified proof of study.

Building Experience

Building and maintaining experience is a key aspect of a software engineer’s journey. These experiences can be solidified through different means as contributory aspects of the learning focus.

Personal Projects and Portfolio

Solid personal projects and portfolio is a great way to showcase credibility, continuous learning, and ingenuity as a software engineer. They can put into practice all that they have learned and demonstrate their coding proficiency and problem-solving skills utilizing certain frameworks, tools, and services. It can showcase their personality and competencies, improve their visibility in their respective tech-focused communities, and expose them to other developers who could be looking to collaborate with them on different projects, as well as potential recruiters.

Open-Source Contributions

Ever since software development became mainstream, many developers have built and deployed software according to the open-source way - a set of principles focused on collaboration, transparency, freedom, and meritocracy in software development. Contributing to open-sourced software projects is highly essential for software developers. It helps in improving coding proficiency, becoming better at reading and debugging code written by others, building reputation and relationships with other developers in tech communities, and being part of a bigger agenda (e.g. “building for the next billion users”)

Hackathons and Events

Attending and participating in hackathons and events is an important aspect of a software engineer’s career. It gives an opportunity to learn about new and exciting technologies, compete with other developers, and build both friendships and professional connections.

Navigating the Employment Market

Seeking and eventually gaining employment is usually the crowning moment in the journey of a budding software engineer. However, it is not easy and could sometimes be the hardest part. It is important to know that recruiters don’t only hire for skill and technical competencies. Personality traits and the potential to fit into the culture of the company are also considered a high priority.

An added benefit of this career path is that the ubiquitous nature of software engineering makes job-hunting not specific to the tech industry alone. Companies in different industries require the services of software engineers to keep them competitive in offering quality services to their customers, and almost always have job openings for entry roles.

Applying to these jobs would require a carefully crafted and up-to-date, 1-2 paged CV/Resume, highlighting details of the applicant's overall experience and familiarity with the desired tools and frameworks. An accompanying cover letter is most times also required and is a great way for applicants to tell unique stories about themselves, give additional context to their experience as mentioned in the CV/Resume, and emphasize ways in which they could bring the role to life thus adding value to the team and the company as a whole. If these are satisfactory, the applicant is then invited for a series of interviews, which if successful would lead to the job offer.

Job-hunting

Job-hunting in the software engineering marketplace is a combination of different activities, depending on how intense, persistent, and determined a person is willing to be. These activities include reaching out to strangers and recruiters at virtual and physical industry events, conferences, and career fairs, making memorable and concise introductory conversations, whilst seeking referrals and potential job leads.

Utilizing social media and other online platforms like Twitter(X), LinkedIn, Slack, GitHub, etc., to connect and engage with people for guidance and mentorship, showcase skills and competencies, and maintain an online presence, is another great way of job hunting. Sending out cold emails to strategic people, monitoring job boards and online marketplaces like Glassdoor, Indeed, ZipRecruiter, Upwork, Fiverr, etc., and applying directly through the career sections of company websites, are also key focus points.

CV/Resume and Cover Letter

Applying for different positions with one CV/Resume and cover letter is an inefficient way of job hunting, as they have varying requirements. Tailoring application documents to meet the specific needs of the company is a better but much more time-consuming approach. It involves customizing application documents per application, and spotlighting projects, internships, certifications, and testimonials relevant to the role.

Interviews

Software Engineering Interviews [image by author]

Interview sessions for software engineering roles are dependent on the recruitment style of the hiring company and how substantial the role is expected to be. However, there are 2 main categories that usually guide the process.

Technical Interviews

Technical interviews verify the technical competencies and problem-solving abilities of applicants. It could include quizzes, core coding assessments, whiteboard challenges, and other tests focused on programming fundamentals and domain-specific knowledge.

Behavioral, Situational, and Culture-Fit Interviews

Behavioral, situational, and culture-fit interviews are structured to learn more about the personality, value systems, and decision-making approach of the applicant. Communication, conflict resolution, empathy, determination, proactiveness, the willingness to learn from and work with others, and decisions in different scenarios are key focus areas for questions in these interviews.

Sample questions in this interview session could be:

• “Describe a situation when you made a mistake, and what you learned from it”.

• “Tell me about a skill set that you observed in a peer or mentor that you want to develop in the next six months”

• “Talk about a time when you wanted to change something that was outside of your regular scope of work”

• “What motivates you to achieve your goals”

• “Tell me about a time when you wanted to change something that was outside of your regular scope of work”

• “What would you do if your direct line manager asked you to do something against the values of the company”.

These types of interviews evaluate the future performance of candidates and help the recruiters know which areas they should focus on if they want to get someone to fully align with their rules and principles.

The Step-by-Step Guide to Becoming a Software Engineer

Steps to become a Software Engineer [image by author]

This step-by-step guide can inform your decisions, thought processes, and development when you decide to go on this path.

Step 1: Introspection

It is important that you understand not only what a software engineering career is about but also why you want to do it. Are you doing it for the money, the relationships and connections to be made, to work for a great company, or are you just fascinated (or dissatisfied) with technologies and really want to build something your own way?

You also need to know your own capacity, e.g. strengths, competencies, availability, financial capacity, etc. Are you an analytical, logical, and dedicated person? Do you really enjoy solving problems? Do you have any minimal knowledge or experience with programming? Can you fully dedicate yourself to this?

With well-thought-out answers to these questions, you can then set ambitious goals and targets.

• “I want to work with Google as a software engineer”

• “I want to be a software engineer in the next XXX years”

• “I want to solve XXX problem with technology solutions”

You can choose to write these goals down, to look at them every day for motivation. Another cool thing to do is to write a letter to your future self, talking about where you expect yourself to be at that time in your software engineering journey. You can use platforms like FutureMe, TheSelfClub, LetterToYourself, etc.

Step 2: Choose a Learning Approach

The next thing is to decide your learning approach. Will you be enrolling for a traditional university degree program, certification course, coding bootcamp, or winging it out on your own with self-study? Deciding on your learning approach should be dependent on your time, lifestyle, financial ability, previous knowledge, and other factors that could either make your learning enjoyable or constraining.

Once you have decided, the next thing would be to figure out where to get the best knowledge. It could be by checking:

• Which universities have the best computer science or software engineering programs? What career services do they provide for students?

• Which certification course gives the best value for money? How solid is their teaching?

• Which bootcamp should I join? Is it in-person, online, or hybrid? Is their curriculum extensive enough? Have their students gotten good offers from reputable companies?

Making a decision on the learning approach will be critical in achieving your goals and as such should be done carefully and with proper guidance and a holistic research process.

Step 3: Pick a Specialization / Career Path

Although not required this early in the process, it could be helpful to have decided on the specialization/career path within software engineering that you wish to pursue. You could determine this either by choosing an area you like or an area that is not saturated or an area you have no clue about and as such motivated to learn about. However, full-stack engineering is one of the best paths to choose when starting, as you would work across multiple layers of software development, gain a lot of skills and competencies, and still be able to switch to any other one later on.

Similar to the previous steps, you could also determine your specialization through a careful examination of your domain-specific strengths and interests. It can be in this manner:

• Do you like the aesthetics, design, and interfaces of software products and services? Choose Front-End Engineering.

• Do you want to be behind the scenes ensuring that everything works as it should? Choose Back-End Engineering

• Do you want to keep systems safe and protected from intruders? Choose Cyber-Security Engineering

By knowing your specialization early on and aligning it with your interests and curiosity, you will not only find happiness and satisfaction but also be quickly on your way to becoming an expert in that field. It can also help you with determining elective courses, clubs, societies, or lecturers to reach out to if you decide on a university degree. It is applicable, as well, to certificate courses, coding bootcamps, and self-learning approaches with a focus on key areas of interest.

Step 4: Learn! Learn!! Learn!!!

No matter the learning approach and specialization you choose, you would still have to put considerable effort into learning and strengthening your learning. This learning must include the hard stuff, the complicated aspects, and deep fundamentals of frameworks, tools and technologies. You must understand encapsulation, abstraction, inheritance, and polymorphism object-oriented programming (OOP) concepts and the working processes of functions, variables, iterations, arguments, statements and errors in various programming languages. However, you should not take on different programming languages at the same time.

Comparing the syntax of different programming languages using the ProgramWhiz online compiler [image by author]

Python is the best to start with as it is a general-purpose, high-level language with an easier and much more straightforward syntax that can be used for doing basically everything in software engineering. Javascript and Java are equally great choices, you can move to after grasping Python. Get started easily with learning or supplementing your knowledge of Python and be on your way to becoming a master at it, with this learning path by Programwhiz PRO.

“Repetition is the mother of perfection - Thomas Keller”

You can strengthen your learning by constant daily practice, and utilizing healthy cognitive learning habits, like spaced repetition, active recall, and meditation, for stress management and to increase memory performance, focus, creativity, and alertness. Routines such as spaced repetition - repeatedly learning a concept at increasing time intervals, and active recall - making an effort to remember previously learned information, can be practiced with creative flashcard application tools like Anki and activerecall.

You must be completely immersed in and intentional about your learning and development. Although different learning approaches will have their own unique resources for you to learn from, you should also explore other options. Youtube channels, books, podcasts, blog posts, and articles are good resources for you to explore. Some of the best include FreeCodeCamp and ZeroToMastery YouTube channels, The Pragmatic Programmer and Code Complete books, CodingBlocks and LearnToCodeWithMe podcasts, as well as, GeeksForGeeks and W3Schools articles. Attending virtual and physical tech-focused conferences, events and seminars is also a good learning experience for you to explore.

If you get stuck on something, either an unfamiliar framework or continuous error messages while coding, do not despair or give up. Believe in your ability to solve problems. Reach out to people for help. Check Stackoverflow or the official documentation of the problematic tool. sensAI - a personalized coding mentor by Programwhiz PRO, is a collaborative AI tool you can also use for assistance. It can fix coding errors on the go and give proper explanations of the issue, helping you to push through difficult concepts and quickly improve your skills efficiently.

Becoming familiar with integrated development environments (IDEs) for writing code, the command-line interface (CLI) for managing and interacting with your computer, Git commands for version control, and pushing your code to GitHub is essential for collaboration with other engineers worldwide. In doing this, you will be accustomed to open-source contributions alongside reading and learning directly from other people’s code and initiating pull requests where necessary.

As you learn, you should implement as well by building your experience with personal projects to repeatedly check your coding proficiency and problem-solving skills and gauge your progress with more challenging projects. You should also seek ways of teaching others what you know as it is a great way of solidifying your knowledge and keeping you on your toes. You can consider opening a technical blog, a YouTube channel, or a group meetup with your peers, to share your knowledge. This will also help you build a wide range of technical and interpersonal skills like writing and communication.

Step 5: Build Interpersonal Skills

Relating with software products is relatively easy because technologies, frameworks, and services will do exactly what you have designed them to do. However, relating with other people has a lot of complexities and if you do not get it right, especially with other engineers, it will affect your growth and development as a software engineer.

You should be willing to learn about relating with others. Being emotionally intelligent, empathetic to the concerns of others and continuously improving on your communicative methods are excellent practices to imbibe. Enhancing your verbal and non-verbal communication, active listening, socialization, conflict resolution, and negotiation skills will be critical for you when working with interdisciplinary software development teams and communicating with non-technical audiences. Leadership and Communication Skills for Software Engineers on Pluralsight and Developing Interpersonal Skills on Coursera are good online course options for sharpening your interpersonal skills.

When you start building software products and services for diverse end-users, you need to be able to understand their unique pain points, and possible dissimilarities with your beliefs and customs, and truly see things from their perspective. If you are unable to properly explain your ideas, concepts, projects, and technical jargon to people, and accept and receive feedback and constructive criticisms, you will find it very difficult to succeed in your journey.

Step 6: Apply for internships and full-time entry roles

You should start applying for internships as well as full-time entry roles as soon as you have a good understanding of the fundamentals and architecture of computer programming, a compelling portfolio with some solid projects, and have developed your interpersonal skills. It would be better to have internship experience before applying for full-time roles, as you would be able to receive guidance, learn from your mistakes, and slowly ease into building live products. However, if you feel confident enough in your abilities or are provided with a unique opportunity, you should start outright with full-time role applications.

Many aspiring software engineers would usually learn as much as they can before they begin to search for jobs. Whereas a more practical approach is to walk backward to search for jobs while learning and paying close attention to the job descriptions and requirements of potential roles you could be interested in. This will help you to be in line with the times and to concentrate your efforts on the skills and competencies required for your desired role.

A good way to approach applying for roles is to be very strategic and calculative. You shouldn’t apply for jobs that have been posted on job boards over a month ago as there is a tendency that your application would not be seen due to the high number of applications. You can also set goals and targets, e.g. “apply for 5 jobs a day for 30 days”, “speak to at least 5 recruiters per event you attend for job recommendations”, etc.

Getting a referral is the best way to go in the job application process. This is because job applications at different companies are increasingly handled by automated applicant tracking systems (ATS). These systems usually do almost everything at the initial stages including checking CVs and Cover Letters, hence the importance of establishing human connections through referrals before and after job applications. You ask for referrals by sending out emails or utilizing Twitter(X) or LinkedIn to reach out to people.

Since you have to apply for multiple roles continuously with application documents tailored to the role, it would be better if you efficiently did with the services of AI-powered and ATS-friendly job-application platforms. These platforms can help you with ideas on structuring your CV and Cover Letter or writing everything for you if you wish. Some of the best include Rezi, Jasper, KickResume, etc. The Tech Interview Handbook is a comprehensive guide with everything you need to about software engineering job applications, from applying to jobs to preparing for technical and behavioral assessments to salary negotiations. Platforms like Leetcode, Hackerrank, CodeForces, and CodeSignal also provide great resources, but mainly for technical interview preparation.

HackerRank and LeetCode Interview Preparation Kit

You must embrace this job search period as a learning process. This is because there is no guaranteed approach to getting software engineering jobs. It could take between 1 - 4 months (or more) to get positive responses from recruiters, participate in multiple rounds of assessments and interviews, and then get final offers from some companies. You will need to stay motivated, improving your applications with every rejection you get (and there will be many, like Sophia who was rejected 357 times), and eventually, you will be selected for a role.

Step 7: Evaluate Offers

As you have been intentional and strategic about your learning and development, networking, putting yourself out there, and applying for roles, you should also do the same when evaluating job offers. The internship or entry role you accept should be in line with your interests, long-term goals, and ambitions.

Properly guiding yourself in this stage will be critical for your growth prospects. You can evaluate offers by conducting a lot of research into the company offering you a position, and focus on these areas:

• Does the company have opportunities for continuous professional development?

• Does the company’s values, mission, and culture align with yours?

• How flexible is the role, will you have the latitude to do other things?

• Do software engineers that you admire and have great reverence for, work there?

• Is the pay commensurate with the role? Are there other employee benefits?

Reading employee reviews on Glassdoor, customer reviews on Twitter(X) and Reddit, public announcements and insights on Wired, Crunchbase, etc., and monitoring the website and social media pages are great ways of researching companies to help you make an informed decision when evaluating offers.

You would have to decide if you want to work with a startup or a big company when starting and receiving offers. In software engineering, working for either a startup or a big company could sometimes be the difference between going for a job or a career. This is because you could enjoy the fluidity of contributing to multiple projects within shorter time frames and develop yourself faster working with startups compared to working for established companies where you would substantially earn more but might not develop your skills at a fast pace due to their structural and hierarchical systems.

Advice for aspiring software engineers

The software engineering journey is a marathon and not a sprint. It will take grit, determination, curiosity, and consistency to go from zero to competent in this field. You must master the tools and services you use in learning; your IDE, CLI, and collaboration, learning, and note-taking platforms to be efficient in your activities.

Writing is important. You should write a lot as you learn. Even if you don’t plan on writing for public consumption, you should write for your personal viewing. Write about things you learn, every day. Keep continuously updated detailed notes about your approach to solving problems to monitor your progress.

Constantly updating yourself, solving newer problems, and expanding your skills is the way to grow and succeed. What you start out doing might be obsolete in 5 years as there will always be new technologies and tools. Be prepared to welcome and embrace these changes to avoid getting left out.

If you decide to go through the self-study approach, you should work intensively to be job-ready within 1 year. This is because the flexibility of self-learning allows you to be relaxed, occasionally inattentive about your development, and get sucked into tutorial hell. However, setting an achievable target will keep you grounded and focused. You could decide to learn and perfect your understanding of new concepts every month and work your way up to building projects and applying for jobs.

Boldly get things done. Reach out to people with questions and inquiries, show up to events and conferences with an aura of confidence, and be prepared for anything. When doing personal projects, assume that you are building something that millions of people across the world will use, and operate with the professionalism of someone who currently does that.

Closing

The road to becoming a software engineer is a challenging yet equally rewarding adventure. If you are hardworking, persistent, and enthusiastic about technology and solving problems, then a career in software engineering might be an excellent fit for you. This article has enlightened you on how to go about it, with unique strategies to take and pitfalls to avoid. Enjoy the journey. Best of luck!

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Notes from the Author:

I am posting this article on my Hashnode blog for storage and additional dissemination purposes. I wrote this piece as a sample article for ProgramWhizPRO, which rightly incorporates many services and tools offered by ProgramWhiz and ProgramWhizPRO. Please check them out for engaging and interactive programming learning resources.

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