Okay, I might not have years of experience in tech, but here’s what I know.

Newcomers would make more strides in the tech industry if they are more intentional about what they wanted.

To highlight this, I would share lessons from my journey in tech.

Getting Started

I recently graduated from a 6-months software engineering boot camp, where I studied and interned as a full-stack software engineer.

The immersive program exposed me to both seasoned and upcoming software engineers, and I noticed that with time came confidence in the role.

It’s something newbies have a hard time understanding. It’s one thing to learn a concept, and another to gain an in-depth understanding of that concept to deduce its application when identifying and solving problems.

Here’s what I mean, you might study and commit to memory the usage of props in react, but until you’ve come across similar problems well enough to build on patterns, you would continue to feel insufficient when you have to seek help when implementing props.

Now, I ran a LinkedIn poll last week, and the results showed what I suspected. Besides that, based on the queries I have been getting, a lot more people are looking to transition to tech, but have no way of going about it.

They know tech is one way to earn well in a booming field of work, but they need the handholding.

The thing is, the key to making solid long-term career development plans is knowing your “why.”

You can always get the job you want, but you don’t want to do that at the expense of your mental health.

I say this because there is a growing trend of software engineers over-inflating their qualifications to get as much from tech as soon as possible.

While it might seem like the smart thing to do now, it might come around and bite you in the leg.

I hear you when you say, "no one pays attention to the underdog."

And you’re right.

No one wants to give chances to the beginning. It’s always about you proving your worth.

But you understand that jumping the gun did no one good.

It’s fine that you wouldn’t get that savory, perk-filed gig now. But I bet if you are intentional about your development, you can get a better one in the next 6-18months.

Intentionality.

A year… two years… is a long time in retrospect, but you should know that time flies.

I recently had an interview with a company I was fascinated with, but I was told I didn’t have enough experience.

That’s understandable.

There are a million ways I could have reacted, but here’s the thing. I know I am on the right track.

There is no rush.

For those asking to get into tech, here is my advice:

You should be open to internships and unpaid open-source contributions.

The first year is brutal.

Unless you have no responsibility, dedicate time to learning a programming language before you make a career switch to software engineering.

Don’t make the mistake of pursuing pressured learning.

Learning is a process. With programming, you have to do it every day for a prolonged period.

Forget grass-to-grace stories on social media. Most of the people living the developer life you want have years of “undocumented practice.”

Choose a path and make a switch only when you are growing

I have seen programmers switch programming languages within a brief span of learning them.

If you have heard of the “shiny object syndrome,” the software engineering field is one field that can consume you with it.

There are a lot of great technologies and you don’t want to miss out on the next best thing, understandable.

However, as a beginner, start with a single stack, get your first job, and earn from that. And when required, make a move to the next stack.

That route keeps you on an active learning streak.

If you learn to program with no direction, you would waste a lot of valuable time language-hopping.

Join Developer communities

A good developer community is a great place to learn and grow as a developer.

It's a place where you can talk to other developers about your challenges, share your code with others, or even just ask questions about how things work. Other reasons are:

1. You can learn from what other developers are doing.
2. It's a way to find out about companies you may want to work for in the future.
3. You gain experience communicating and working in teams.
4. It helps you to increase your social skills, which is important when you're communicating with clients or coworkers.

That said, here is my personal roadmap for the next 6 months.

My career interest is in Developer Advocacy, which is an intersection of my past working experience and skills from my recent foray into the tech world. The path might differ from yours, but it’s about the same template.

Step 1: Build with related technologies.

Most people go through the route of building conventional portfolio projects or doing a code along - which is fine, but I rather build something that actively contributes to causes I believe in.

I intend to build, iterate, and improve a personal project that means a lot to me. This would keep in check on days I feel nothing is working.

Step 2: Build a community.

My motto is to “Live, Love, and Create.” For years, I wondered about the essence of life if we all had to work, procreate, and die.

But last year, it made sense that we live to make life easier for others. And that entails becoming the best version of yourself because you can only give what you have.

I find fulfillment through content creation, and I intend to pursue that part consistently.

Step 3: Contribute to Open source projects.

I only apply for roles in companies with products I have a genuine interest in, and in between my current internship and next placement, I would research open source projects with aligned interests and contribute to them.

Step 4: Read Books.

As much as I enjoy creating, I am reminding myself to take a break from screens and get back to my roots -nature and the wonders of books.

It’s not news that the best way to learn to write is to read. I would dedicate the next months to reading both fiction and non-fiction books.

I have a lot on my plate with a software engineering internship, my freelance work, and resettlement on hands, but this is something I would like to do during my spare time.

So, I would schedule them as a bedtime and weekend routine, cutting off some Instagram and WhatsApp screen time for the good of my eyes and mind.

With this roadmap, I hope to stay on track with becoming a better person in the grand scheme of tech life.

This was first published in my newsletter (linkedin.com/newsletters/the-developer-pilg..), but I am new here and would love to hear your thoughts or questions.