How to become a self taught software developer

Software Engineers aka Software developers are in demand, and you dont need a college degree to become a software developer. Also you can grab this opportunity at any moment of your life!

But what is a Software Engineer ?

A software developer is a person who writes code behind software products, be it games,apps, webpages,operating systems or even robots.
But are the terms software engineer and developer actually different. No,its not. They are pretty much the same thing.So whenever you are looking up for anything related to programming make sure to search for both the terms.

Now, this 9 step guide will pave your way to your destined job and without a CS degree!

Figure Out Your End Goal

  • Work for a big company,startup,freelance?
  • Web development (frontend/backend), gaming, data science, mobile apps ?
  • What are you naturally good at?
  • Check payscales,job security,etc for different types of dev jobs.

Choose a Programming Language

  • Figure out which language you want to learn for your required job profile.
  • Learn Fundamentals first, frameworks and other things later.
  • Choose a text editor/ IDE and get comfortable with it.
  • You can always switch or learn another language.

Find Resources and Build a Curriculum

  • Books - Great for learning language fundamentals
  • Documentation - Best used for references
  • Resource websites
  • Online Bootcamps
  • Challenge websites

Find A Community

  • Having people to tak to and learn from is very beneficial
  • Find a mentor
  • Join an online community
  • Try to attend seminars or meetups

Create your own Projects

  • Following only courses is just half the battle.
  • Your projects need not be from the scratch.
  • Try to add new features.
  • Analyse other people's code.

Create your Portfolio

  • Create an attractive but simple portfolio
  • Showcase your source code

Contribute to Open Source

  • Gives you experience with real life projects
  • Collaborate with other developers
  • Something for your resume
  • Learn to use Github

Create an Online Presence

  • Extremely important for self taught devs
  • Upload your work to Github and keep it well documented
  • Write articles, tutorials, videos,etc
  • The more your visibility on the web, the better

Prepare and Apply to Jobs

  • Prepare for interviews, practice algorithms, create a resume, cover letter, etc 
  • Search for jobs in your area
  • Apply even if it says degree required!
Thank You
Yours Jarvis
Keep Coding 😉

Comments

Post a Comment