Determining whether Software Development is The Right Career Path for You

I have seen lots of people who are interested in software development but are not sure whether it is the right choice for them considering the time and effort needed to get in. Some people aspire to get into the field but they are not sure if they are software development material. So, for those wondering whether they are a right fit, this article is tailored for you.

The Misconceptions

Before we begin, let us take a look at the common misconceptions about software developers,

• Super Intelligence

Most people believe that to excel as a software developer/engineer, you need to be super intelligent and because of that, they are not really optimistic about their chances of being competitive in the field. Well, the good news is that is just plain wrong and while you need to have some level of intelligence, people with average IQs succeed in the field quite well.

• Introverted

People generally perceive software engineers as introverted geeks (or nerds) that spend all their time in their mother’s basement playing with their computers. Well, all these are just stereotypes and normal or extroverts can do well in the field if they are dedicated enough to go through the learning process. 

Desirable Qualities

Some of the desirable qualities a person should possess are highlighted below and thankfully they do not include “superintelligence”.

• Dedication to Learning

Dedication to learn, unlearn and relearn new things will make or break or career. The thing is the software development job is unlike other jobs where you just learn once and you can go on to work for a really long time since things change quite rapidly and new technologies come out daily. So your ability to pick up a new technology and learn on them makes all the difference and the importance of this cannot be overemphasized.

• An Affinity for Solving Problems

Coding and building software is mostly about solving problems and your ability to identify and stick with problems until they are resolved no matter how long it takes not just in your code but also in your surrounding and building software solutions to tackle those problems is an essential skill for an engineer.

• Ability to Work in a Team

Software development usually involves teamwork and sometimes it doesn’t really matter whether you are a freelancer or working in an organisation you would have to collaborate with other developers and maybe some project managers and graphic designers as well. Teamwork usually involves communication and maybe the use of some collaborating applications. While you can learn to communicate more effectively to make you work better in a team, there are people who absolutely prefer working alone and if you are one of them, then maybe software development is not the right fit for you.

• Attention to Detail

Coding by nature basically tests your attention to detail because that will come into play when you are trying to debug code as trying to find a buggy line of code is one of the most time-consuming aspects of coding. Also, as mentioned earlier in a previous point, your ability to identify and solve problems will greatly depend on your attention to details.

Conclusion

If you possess most or all of the above-mentioned qualities and you are interested in software development then you are highly likely to succeed in the field regardless of common misconceptions. The main thing you might need to overcome is probably your fears and the only way to do that is to just get in and get started.