Is Software Development for me?

Liam Farrell, Head of Tech at _nology, shares his personal experiences about his job as a Software Developer and why he enjoys it. Could it be a career path for you?

Written by Nology Team - 02.06.20

Something I am often asked - is Software Development for me? So I thought I would write a short article for those who are considering a change of career and are looking at a future in Software.

The great news is that there are lots of software development jobs out there, and a lot of them pay well, but if you find sitting at a computer for 40 plus hours a week tedious then it may not be for you. Some initial questions to ask yourself when you are looking at software development as a career path are:

Do you like always learning something new?

As a developer, you are often using more than one programming language, as well as a host of tools and frameworks. These are constantly being updated and improved, you will need to keep on top of this and will never stop learning new technologies.

Are you a problem solver?

A developer is a professional problem solver that uses code to solve those problems. Do you enjoy the high of solving a puzzle after spending hours (or sometimes days) working on it, while not getting too lost in the lows?#

Can you play well with others?

While some TV programmes show developers as reclusive types that don’t enjoy interacting with others, this is very far from the case. If you want to get anything substantial done you are going to need to work with others, both in a physical office and remotely. You will need to be highly coordinated with the rest of your team.

You will notice that I haven’t mentioned anything about maths, logic or technical ability. These can be learnt, and depending on what kind of development you are going into, are needed in varying degrees. It is a lot harder to learn how to enjoy problem solving or getting along with others than it is to learn technical skills.

In my experience, if you are a friendly problem solver that loves to learn, you will do well. In fact, I would have you on my team any day of the week over a technically skilled lone wolf that is stuck in their ways!

If you think that software development could be the career for you, get in touch with _nology today to learn how you can learn the skills to launch a thriving new career in coding.

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