Welcome! I’m Will 👋 and I’ve been a software engineering professional for 10+ years. During that time and in my role as Head of Engineering at Attest (at time of writing), I’ve supported engineers from a wide variety of backgrounds to establish a career and progress within software engineering.
This article intends to provide guidance to those who are unsure which career they might like to embark on, and highlight the many routes available, whilst talking about some of my personal experiences along the way.
Choices, choices, choices..
Where to start? Choosing a career is undoubtedly of the hardest things you can do. But before you give yourself a headache, consider the following:
Embrace the excitement!
With all the choices and options out there, It’s easy to feel daunted or scared, but if you’ve started thinking about which career is best for you, than you’re already embarked on a super exciting and rewarding journey, embrace that and enjoy the ride 🚀
You’re not locked in.
Life, fortunately, isn’t a gameshow and you don’t have to lock in your answer.
Experienced gained is always positive. Sometimes because you can rule out what doesn’t work for you, and it’s never too late to search for a new career. Employers will look favourably on your past experience whether the skillset is directly transferrable or not. In fact, switching careers gives you the chance to reason and articulate about the decisions you’ve made so far, and proves that you care deeply about what you do, which is highly desirable.
That’s great, but how can you choose what kind of career could be right for you right now?
Start by writing down what you already know.
What are your goals, your interests, what have you liked or disliked in previous jobs or projects? Perhaps you already have an idea about the kind of industry you’d like to work in, or a social cause you’re passionate about. ✍
Try online career site questionnaires.
There are plenty of sites that offer an indication of what you might enjoy, given a few questions about yourself. You won’t get a definitive answer of course but it can add some options or some fuel to get your imagination going. Here are a couple to get started. UCAS Careers Quiz and National Careers Service Assessment .
Talk to family and friends.
Learn about their own experiences and ask how they got to where they are now. It’s often easy to become tunnel visioned with your thoughts and a fresh perspective can be eye opening.
Reach out and network.
You’d be surprised how willing established professionals are when it comes to giving advice to those seeking a first step in and you can gain an idea of what it’s like to work in their field of expertise. I would highly recommend reaching out to some folk in an industry or two you’re interested in, and simply asking for a chat or some advice. LinkedIn is a great way to find potential people to reach out to, you can filter professionals by location, industry, company, etc.
You could also consider going to recruitment fairs or industry events, whether they are physically based or virtual, and starting up a conversation with people there.
These are a simple set of steps, but of course you have to start somewhere and hopefully these tips can you help you begin on your journey to reach your goals. Good luck!
If you’re interested in starting a career in software engineering, without the traditional background of a Computer Science degree, then check out my next piece, How to Break into Software Engineering Without a Degree , where I talk about how you can do just that.