Getting into Software Engineering and Tech without a Degree - Willing to Put in The Work but Want to Insight and Guidance

EM36 on 25/08/2022 - 14:15
Last edited 25/08/2022 - 14:39 by 1 other user

Hello

Im quite interested in building my skills to increase my salary
I am not currently working in tech or anything related to CS

However i have the desire and work ethics to push myself to learn coding

I am wondering if anyone could provide any information or if they have done it already to provide some insights into the process, tips or advice.

I would appreciate if anyone has transitioned into SWE from a non tech background if they were able to provide information into their journey

Thank you very much

Education & Work

Comments

  • dust on 25/08/2022 - 14:17
    +3

    Is CS computer science or cyber security? (Or something else?)

    What do you do at the moment? And do you want to become a developer or just work in tech? There are plenty of non-technical (non coding) jobs in tech.

    • EM36 on 25/08/2022 - 15:02

      I currently work in healthcare with a side gige that is automotive related

    • Jimothy Wongingtons on 25/08/2022 - 15:51
      +11

      something else

      Counter strike (1.6)

  • Hybroid on 25/08/2022 - 14:23
    +1

    Worth noting that part of your thinking & researching this needs to be from an employers perspective. Why would they want to prefer you over someone else with a tech background and experience already. What's your unique selling point to choose you, instead of one of the thousands that graduate from CS every year. There's definitely an answer out there and a niche to focus on. That's what I would suggest thinking about. CyberSecurity for example is a niche with high demand right now. General "coders" are a dime a dozen.

  • sid4frnds on 25/08/2022 - 14:26
    +5

    Learn Salesforce!
    You can do it all by yourself. I work in the Salesforce ecosystem and transitioned from SAP to SF. The best part about Salesforce is that it provides all the learning tools free of cost - Help documents, full fledged instances to practice etc. Join local SF groups, get a few certifications and get in touch with recruiters in this space. Getting your foot in the door might not be a cakewalk but you can target small consulting companies, where the entry barrier is not that stringent. DM me if you want to have a chat.
    Start here - https://trailhead.salesforce.com/

    • subywagon on 25/08/2022 - 14:36

      I've been thinking about Salesforce. Would love to know more. What's the pay like? Many WFH options?

      • sid4frnds on 25/08/2022 - 14:53

        Devs get the paid really well (I am not a dev) but other roles are not bad either. Lots of WFH options too.

  • netjock on 25/08/2022 - 14:27

    Get an internship.

    • EM36 on 25/08/2022 - 15:03

      like bootcamp?

      • netjock on 25/08/2022 - 15:04
        +2

        CyberCX has an intake where they will pay and train you.
        NAB has a technology intern program who wants a career change or return to work.

        If you look around plenty of internships going on. Helps if you are of a specific gender, or minority, or orientation.

        • EM36 on 25/08/2022 - 15:05

          Really appreciate it ill look into it

  • fullmetal on 25/08/2022 - 14:30
    -1

    Ask your friend to recommend you in. You can start up as a secruity guard to get NV1 status (gov proj has lots of budget) then buy a degree to get your foot in. Once you are in promise everything can be delivered then spout some technical jargons when delayed.Ran out of words hop on to the next IT job.

    • boomramada on 25/08/2022 - 15:07

      Personal experience? šŸ¤£

    • whatwasherproblem on 25/08/2022 - 16:19
      +1

      Once you are in promise everything can be delivered then spout some technical jargons when delayed.

      Unrelated (probably) but has anyone heard from /ourboy/ @rektrading at all lately? I haven't seen that fella around.

      • cookie2 on 25/08/2022 - 18:08

        No, haven't seen anywhere actually.

  • tabz on 25/08/2022 - 14:38
    +7

    Having a related degree really just helps get a foot in the door, so you might have a harder time landing a role compared to recent grads or juniors with a couple years of industry experience.

    If you're still really keen, then I'd suggest having a look at this list from one of Zach Wilson's posts on LinkedIn:

    If I were going to start over in full-stack #softwareengineering again, Iā€™d learn these things, mostly in order:

    • learn Git
      ā€” create a GitHub account
      ā€” learn how to commit and save code locally and remotely
      ā€” learn how to merge others code into yours
      ā€” learn how to create a pull request to get feedback on your changes

    • learn JavaScript
      ā€” learn loops, control statements, data structures like array and object
      ā€” learn asynchronous programming, Promises, async/await, the event loop

    • learn internet fundamentals
      ā€” learn HTTP vs HTTPS
      ā€” learn HTML and CSS
      ā€” learn REST standards. Especially methods GET, POST, PUT, and DELETE
      ā€” learn DNS and domains

    • learn a backend framework
      ā€” learn NodeJS
      ā€” learn about ExpressJS servers and middleware stacking
      ā€” learn about ORMs (Mongoose is one of my favorites) and how to get a server to talk to a database
      ā€” learn about server techniques to mitigate XSS, CSRF and SQL injection attacks
      ā€” check out GraphQL paradigm vs REST paradigm on the server

    • learn a front end framework
      ā€” implement a simple ReactJS app
      ā€” learn about component design and higher-order components
      ā€” learn React hooks for state change management
      ā€” learn NextJS to try out server-side rendering

    • optimize your code
      ā€” learn data structures: stacks, queues, lists, maps and trees
      ā€” learn algorithms: breadth-first search, depth-first search, binary search, recursion
      ā€” try out LeetCode to build your interview confidence
      ā€” learn TypeScript to make your code even better

    The only other thing i'd add in there is to also learn Python.

  • archieduh on 25/08/2022 - 14:48
    +3
    • SQL
    • Shell Scripting
    • Python
      I am not in this industry but I have friends who said it is the easiest to get started with and helps you start having a coding mindset.
      SQL is easy to get started with, Then use Mac or install linux on Windows machine and start shell scripting. Once you are comfortable, start a language, easiest being python.
  • afoveht on 25/08/2022 - 14:54
    +1

    SWE is so broad. Some comments above are very specific - for example, in embedded SWE most of those mean little.

    OP should say what they want to get into specifically for meaningful responses.

    • SF3 on 25/08/2022 - 16:10

      OP should say what they want to get into specifically for meaningful responses.

      OP's goal is "increase my salary".

      Seek reckon, The average salary of a Software Developer in Australia is between $80000 and $120000.

      Once OP is in SWE, it may not necessary pay better than :

      I currently work in healthcare with a side gige that is automotive related

      OP, you've not disclosed anything else, so you might even earn more by staying healthcare, but then again healthcare is broad like SWE………….

      For comparison

      How much does Healthcare Australia in Australia pay?
      The average Healthcare Australia salary ranges from approximately $53,062 per year for Caregiver to $172,449 per year for Psychiatrist. Average Healthcare Australia hourly pay ranges from approximately $30.60 per hour for Care Worker to $150 per hour for Senior Registrar.

  • EM36 on 25/08/2022 - 15:04

    Was wondering if anyone been to any bootcamps or recommend any bootcamps in AUS? Are they helpful?

  • EM36 on 25/08/2022 - 15:06

    Lets say you start your coding journey, with no degree and you have alot of knowledge

    Whats the steps to getting your first job? go through internships? bootcamp or just apply directly?

    • Quantumcat on 25/08/2022 - 15:22
      +1

      Have an extensive portfolio and apply for entry level/graduate jobs.

      You will have to convince employers you know what you're doing and are able to learn quickly. I notice that people without computer science degrees don't follow conventions, and so do things in inefficient ways that mean someone needs to come along behind them and fix their code to make it work properly. It will take a lot longer for someone without a degree to learn these things (having made the mistake a few times and having it explained to them why it is wrong instead of someone just fixing it and then making the same mistake again later), than just doing the degree where you learn them explicitly.

    • tabz on 25/08/2022 - 15:29
      +3

      Take this with a grain of salt as I'm just a random on the internet, but in my opinion, since you'll be competing with others that do have a degree, you might want to be prepared and have some other things ready to help build the prospective employers' confidence in you just in case and to perhaps give you an advantage over applicants that do have degrees. To name a few things:

      • GitHub account to your code repositories so they can see what you've built and the quality of your code
      • Portfolio of any freelance work you may have done
      • Evidence of any open source projects you have contributed to

      Apply directly. Most likely you will need to do a technical interview (or several) anyway, and if you know your stuff you should ace it. I would highly recommend trying for consulting roles as you will learn a lot since they will place you in many different types of projects in different industry types and just to help you build a strong professional network.

  • Ryanek on 25/08/2022 - 15:41

    Check out https://leetcode.com/problemset/all/ and try a few questions to see if you actually enjoy coding and the challenges that it brings

    • NatoTomato on 25/08/2022 - 15:55
      +2

      (profanity) no… leetcode problems are a grind. Building a product versus solving some arbitrary problem are two completely different things, which is why so many developers have issues with modern interview processes.

  • GordonD on 25/08/2022 - 15:59
    +2

    If you are trying to jump into software engineering from a completely different area of expertise, you need to look for a way to leverage the area of expertise you have. No one's going to take you on in software in a completely different area of expertise with no IT qualifications or experience. You haven't proven you've got anything they want. But if you can show you can pick up software, you've got a chance of being taken on doing software in you own area of expertise. Health care uses lots of software. You've got a chance there. That's the one I'd try to exploit if I were you. I'm sure there are lots of health care places that wish their IT people knew a lot more about health care. Automotive, in an Australia where no-one builds cars, is only a maybe if you can find a niche area where they are doing software development in Australia.

    You're not going to get there though if you are trying to get into software to increase your salary, and say that. Wanting a bigger income isn't an indicator that you have what an employer wants. Skills. Talent. Interest. Enthusiasm.

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