Introduction
Past few years I've been reading a lot of social media postings and news articles about the shortage of developers. My opinion is that there is no shortage of developers. There is just a shortage of senior developers that can solve almost any given problem efficiently, and the headhunters of wealthy companies and unicorn startups are looking for these developers to bring the most profit to their company.
In late 2022, we started to see waves of mass layoffs in many of these companies that previously hired top talent with high salaries. The software industry became more volatile, and now these top-level developers are released to the market, making it even harder for new developers to get a job.
The reason for the elevated difficulty is that junior developers (mostly) are not profiting the companies immediately. This is because companies usually have to train their junior developers, which means they have to allocate senior developers' time for that, reducing the productivity of senior developers. During the recession, companies want the workforce to be fully capable of bringing profit, and if there are developers with experience from Google or Meta, they will hire that developer instead of a junior without question. However, there are many companies willing to take less experienced developers and teach them about the industry.
How did I do it?
I started breaking into the software industry in late 2019. Until that point, I was working as a full-time Paramedic and had no prior professional experience in building any production software. What I had, though, was long experience with computers as a hobbyist, in fact, over 20 years at that point. So I already knew a lot of people in the industry and had built contacts through events. I also knew the fundamentals of computer science. For me, it was relatively easy to land my first job, and I was thinking about why it was so.
At the first job, the factor was connections and the mentality to learn everything at hand. Getting the second job was harder but still relatively easy; this time, the weight was more on references, soft and hard skills, but also the mentality to learn new things.
If you are interested in how to break into the field, I have a few tips for you to look after. You can also add me on LinkedIn if that helps you build a network of software developers and influencers.
5 Tips to Break into the Software Developer Industry
1. Learn the fundamentals of your new craft
It is important to have a solid foundation in computer science (and I mean, you don't necessarily need a degree, just learn the basics) and programming concepts. This will not only help you understand the tools and technologies you will be working with, but it will also give you the problem-solving skills needed to succeed.
There are many resources available for learning programming, including online courses, textbooks, and open-source projects that you can contribute to, just to name a few. One great way to learn is by participating in hackathons; I participated in multiple hackathons just to get to know other developers. Just remember when learning coding, don't get in the loop of online or YouTube courses but try to solve problems yourself. YouTube videos are a great source of information, but only following the video doesn't help you alone.
2. Build a portfolio
This is heavily opinionated; I didn't have any type of portfolio. Just recently, I started showing off what I've been working with, and I didn't have anything to show for companies I applied to. But the thing is that, at the beginning of your career, you may not have a lot of professional experience to show off. However, you can still demonstrate your skills by building a portfolio of personal projects.
Personal projects could be anything from a simple app fetching data from an open API to a complex web application with a user interface and authentication logic. The important thing is to showcase your abilities and demonstrate your commitment but also the ability to complete what you start. There are a lot of projects that are never done. When you start building something, define what your goal is with that project and achieve that goal.
3. Network and make connections
This is an important one; I know many developers who never got into a job because they just didn't know the right people. You can get the job without networking too, but it is much easier if you have connections inside the company you would like to work in.
The software development industry is all about networking and building relationships. Attend industry events, join online communities, and reach out to other professionals to learn more about the industry and get advice. You never know who might be able to introduce you to a potential employer or mentor.
4. Do things you enjoy and you don't have to work a day
I know, it's cliché but hold up.
You can find all kinds of articles on top languages to learn, and usually, they use sources like Stack Overflow (and I don't mean it is a bad source, it is very interesting, and you can learn a lot from it). You will also hear all kinds of things like "learn Python, don't touch Java". The key thing is that if you start learning something you don't feel like doing, you won't enjoy it a lot. What I would tell you to do is explore all kinds of languages, Java, C#, TypeScript, JavaScript, whatever you think you would like to work with. Explore back-end, front-end, full-stack, try things in your own small projects.
Once you find one that fits you the best, learn that more and get comfortable with the language. You will find a job if you know almost any language because once you are comfortable with the basics, almost all languages follow the same patterns. Even PHP, Java, and whatever developer community tells you not to learn. My advice is that relatively easy languages to begin with are languages such as JavaScript or Python, and I predict they will keep up with their popularity in 2023 too.
Myself, I started coding with Visual Basic back in 1996. Over the years, I've been using all kinds of languages like PHP, Java, C#, TypeScript, JavaScript, C++, C, Dart, and Lua, just to name a few. Currently, I'm working with TypeScript and .NET (C#) because I'm a full-stack web developer consulting with Microsoft technologies.
5. Be persistent
Breaking into the software industry is a challenging task, especially if you are just starting out and don't already have a bunch of contacts and not piles of projects to show off. However, it is important to remain persistent. Keep learning and improving your skills, and eventually, you will be able to get your first job.
You will currently find a bunch of YouTube videos telling that ChatGPT and other Artificial Intelligence assistants are going to take over the software development jobs. Let me tell you - they are not going to do that for a while. There is much more than just writing code in this industry; AI might be able to write the code, but you have to understand what the written code is doing to make it any useful. Just learn AI and the tools but don't blindly trust what they offer you.
Summary
Getting into the software industry is a lot of work, and I predict it is going to be more difficult in 2023 because of the ongoing recession and volatility in the market. Just keep the focus on your goal; if you can't get the job during increasing market volatility, focus on improving your skills and researching the field, try to get connections, and you will make it.