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How I successfully became a software engineer in 3 months

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Re: How I successfully became a software engineer in 3 months

#41

Post by [deleted] »

sktrdie wrote: post #26
DogLover_ wrote: post #20

Must admit I find it discouraging that I spend years in university years ago when people now just finish some self-learned material in a matter of a few months. It is only getting simpler every year. I don't see the future being bright for this discipline if the sentiment is that that is all it takes.

Not sure why you find it discouraging. Having a degree means you probably went through a more formal process and were exposed to a more academic-way of studying things which can benefit your career as well as your personal life. Knowledge is always good!

[deleted]

Re: How I successfully became a software engineer in 3 months

#42

Post by huimang »

HidyBush wrote: post #27

"How I successfully became a civil engineer in 3 months" Brrrrr. Why the hell this is allowed when talking about software is beyond me.

Because the term [junior/senior] software engineer doesn't mean anything.

If you have a laptop, congrats you're now a software engineer.

Re: How I successfully became a software engineer in 3 months

#43

Post by ChrisMarshallNY »

OrangeMonkey wrote: post #2

I truly love success stories like this. We can make fun of bootcamps, but the people going into them are by-and-large trying to make themselves better than they are. Its the human condition and should be our goal.

I would never make fun of bootcamps (my own journey has been ... "non-linear" ...), but I think that it is very important that people that attend them, have a mindset of "This is just the first rung of a very long ladder." I don't really appreciate recent bootcamp grads, lecturing me on how "I'm doing it wrong." The fault for this, usually falls on the bootcamp teachers, who present their information as "The One, True Way, and All Others Are Heathens that Will Burn In Hell." It's a great way to get the students pumped up and engaged, but has ... drawbacks, when in the work world.

It depends on the mindset that we take with us, to our first job, and our eagerness to learn. I feel that bootcamps usually filter for people that are serious about bettering themselves, and also enforce a certain level of Discipline. My own schooling was at a "redneck" EET school. It was exactly the kind of thing that popped up in droves, after Vietnam, to mine the GI Bill, and folded, not too long, after. The school, itself, was no great shakes, but it taught me Discipline, and enforced a work ethic that still pays dividends, to this day, 40 years later.

Welcome to Hell, kid. The learning never stops.

Welcome to Heaven, kid. The learning never stops.

Re: How I successfully became a software engineer in 3 months

#44

Post by jriggs »

otras wrote: post #22

The most important part is missing from the article: how they found and got accepted for the first job. The hardest part of switching isn’t attending the bootcamp, it’s finding a company that is willing to take a chance on your lack of experience and future growth potential. Doubly so for switching into the industry during Q3 of 2020 and fully remote. Did they get extremely lucky? Did they go to school with the hirin…

True. I have experience working as an instructor at a bootcamp. I've had the opportunity to learn more about bootcamps as an industry....The best bootcamps (highest placement rates) without fail offer a career services portion as well.

That gives you interview prep, LinkedIn support, resume building and most importantly networking with hiring partners. I have no doubt someone can become a dev in from no experience in 3 months, because I've seen it happen personally hundreds of times. But without the career services it is far more difficult to break in.

Re: How I successfully became a software engineer in 3 months

#46

Post by philote »

digdugdirk wrote: post #12
Kalanos wrote: post #3

you should probably avoid the term engineer and use "developer" instead, and "junior"

As a non-computer "real" engineer - what is the actual designation between these two terms in the CS world? In my experience the title "Engineer" is a legally protected one, and those using it without proper licensure can suffer penalty - take a look at the Strongtowns case for one example. But those in the programming world seem to be able to throw around the title on a whim. Any discussion/history/insight would be…

It's a very fuzzy distinction now, but for me I feel a software engineer is someone with enough experience and low-level knowledge to be able to understand and design complex systems, troubleshoot them, and have a good understanding of the tools they use and why. Whereas a software developer more so just writes code. They make simple systems but don't design bigger, more complex ones. They may use cloud technologies and other systems to help scale their projects, but won't have a great understanding of the tools they're using. They also likely won't know what metrics to gather, or which to look at to see where issues may lie, or which to use to design new features.

Re: How I successfully became a software engineer in 3 months

#47

Post by commandlinefan »

halfmatthalfcat wrote: post #14

> In 3 short months, we learned everything necessary to become software engineers. I felt like I could achieve anything I put my mind to. Am I the only one who cringed at this? Dunning-Kruger would like a word. I've been developing for near a decade and am just realizing what it means to become a software engineer; and it's a whole lot more than just hands on keyboards.

> In 3 short months, we learned everything

I've met, and worked with, people who thought like this - they always had a mind-boggling blind spot for their own failures. If they actually encountered something they were unable to do, or made a mistake, their brains would just seemingly erase any memory of the experience.

Re: How I successfully became a software engineer in 3 months

#49

Post by johnthewise »

ichbinlegion wrote: post #29

I don't have formal CS education, but I've been working as a developer for 25 years. In the firm I've been in that last 15 years, only developers with 10+ years of experience actually make a difference. Others are either still learning, or just doing menial work. It makes me a bit sad this trend of "become a developer in 3 months". It's just a dream.

There are plenty of web dev work around and you don't need 10+ years of experience to do it.

Re: How I successfully became a software engineer in 3 months

#50

Post by huimang »

DogLover_ wrote: post #20

Must admit I find it discouraging that I spend years in university years ago when people now just finish some self-learned material in a matter of a few months. It is only getting simpler every year. I don't see the future being bright for this discipline if the sentiment is that that is all it takes.

Code monkeys are different than programmers (or "software engineers").

Nobody is learning, actually learning, all these topics in a condensed 3-month program.

Good programmers are always going to have work, because there simply aren't enough good programmers.

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