Is software development a good career move for me?

I don’t know if it would be a good career move for you or not. I do not know you or your strengths and weaknesses. Nor do I know your interests.

As with any job, a lot of people can do them to one degree or another, but those who are really good do it so much better than others, it makes it hard for “nonprofessionals” to compete with professionals for jobs. 

Think of it like being a musician. Many people can sing or play the guitar or piano. But those who get paid to do so have musical strengths that the rest of us can only dream of. Yes, you can put in 10,000 hours of practicing and performing and get much better than you are, but if music is not your strength, you would be much better off putting those 10,000 hours into improving what are your strengths.

I developed new software for a while. But it was pretty apparent that I was not going to be a professional programmer/developer. I have a certain set of strengths and weaknesses and sitting for 8 to 10 hours a day in front of a computer, keeping track of lots of little details, just isn’t my strength. I have never typed well, and it was difficult to get all the syntax of the language correct. I spent far more time fixing and debugging than I should have, just fixing stupid errors.

So find out what your strengths are and those things that you want to get out of work. I took the assessment in the book StrengthsFinder 2.0 by Gallup and Tom Rath. The web site is https://www.gallupstrengthscenter.com/home/en-us/strengthsfinder I did not get a lot out of this. I got a lot more out of the WOWI.

Through a career resource center associated with my church, I took the World of Work Inventory (WOWI) (https://www.wowi.com/. The WOWI is an assessment that can help you find out what types of work you will be best at. It measures a lot of things including those listed below. This is copied from their website (https://www.wowi.com/learn/jsi.php).

·        Versatile - How many projects do you want to have going on at any point in time?

·        Adaptable to Repetitive Work - What is your preferred task cycling rate? These people like a regular routine.

·        Adapt. to Perform. under Specific Instructions - How much direct supervision do you prefer?

·        Dominant - To what extent do you like to control‚ direct‚ organize and be responsible for your own work and the work of others?

·        Gregarious - Do you find that working with people facilitates a positive work environment?

·        Isolative - Do you need to regulate your privacy?

·        Influencing - Do you like to discuss‚ persuade‚ convince‚ and even argue with others?

·        Self-controlled - Do you like to procrastinate? Prefer to work under pressure? Need deadlines in order to be motivated to work?

·        Valuative - Do you like making gut level, intuitive decisions based on your impressions and feelings?

·        Objective - Do you like making decisions based on externally verifiable facts and data?

·        Subjective - Do you like to express yourself as unique in the way work is done? Are you territorial with respect to your personal space & objects? How willing are you to conform to others’ standards of style and taste?

·        Rigorous - Do you like to pay attention to detail or the bottom line and the big picture?

Best of luck and don’t be afraid to change majors if you discover that software development is not for you. I worked for close to 30 years in the wrong types of jobs. I wish the WOWI was around when I was just starting in school. It would have saved me from years of frustration.

Hi Kiera- Yes yes yes!!! Software development is definitely a good career choice.

Now whatever site that you browse for finding answers, shopping, banking, even career choices, it's all software. Software development not just involve coding, but also the following:

1. Design
2. Code development
3. Code Review
4. Testing
5. Deploying to multiple environments (development, staging and production)
6. Bug fixing
7. Support
8. Administering, and even more.

Next step is to find the right programming language for you and start learning.

All the best for your career.

As long as it seems like something you would enjoy, then absolutely. You get to work on interesting problems every day, learn constantly, be challenged, and generally are well compensated for it. There is also a huge demand for software engineers currently.

Yes it is good, and also learn programing and AI

Hi Kiera,

Software development is a great career choice! I am a software engineer and really enjoy my job. Additionally, you do not necessarily need a lot of schooling . Programming is something you can self-learn.

Start by learning a language such as Java or Javascript.

Best of luck!

yes it can be, work hard and do not waver and listen to others, listen to your heart.

Be Humble and work hard, sky is the limit.

Hey Kiera,

First of all great question! I'm also a software engineer and I believe software development is a great career to be in right now. Not only is it lucrative, but the opportunities available are also very high. There aren't that many industries that are untouched by software development and it is totally self-teachable. This allows you to learn at your own pace and make the switch when you feel ready.