Why I Decided to Pursue A Career in Software Engineering

Posted by Vanessa Fotso on January 18, 2020

Until now, I have been working in a nontechnical role as an inventory specialist in a pharmacy, logging and verifying data in a very effective software that manage the pharmacy inventory system by tracking every single transaction, build reports and red flags discrepancies. Working with this software made me realize that I like to work with data, analyze and solve problems. However, I was also intrigue by how people came up with such a great software, bringing ideas to live with every single update.

Although I have considered a career in data analysis and enrolled in master program in Data Analytics, my search on google somehow open my eyes on software engineering. After reading several articles and stories and joining tech communities like Career Karma, this career path became more and more appealing to me.

Software engineering offers plenty of opportunities, great salaries and has low barrier to entry. It is a discipline that allows you to take on any idea, built it and bring it live. It seemed like a perfect fit. Diving into it, I started learning some skills through free online resources and there are plenty of those. Some I have used so far (in the past 3 months since I have started) are ‘freeCodeCamp’, ‘Udemy’, ‘Skillcrush’, and ‘Watch and Code’. In just a month or less, I was able to build a non-responsive website from scratch. Great right?

I have read a lot of stories of people successfully teaching themselves and learning it all on their own using online resources. I believe it is definitely possible to do so if you are a very (self) committed and focused person. Working full time and being a part time student, I decided to attend a bootcamp for more structure, commitment and focused. Plus, I will certainly benefit from the networking and career advice provided by a bootcamp. Career karma helped me navigate through bootcamps and select the ones that mostly aligned with my interests. Through this community, I was able to easily track my applications process . I have been accepted to three bootcamps and I decided to continue this journey with Flatiron School.

My session starts in three days from now (Jan. 21st, 2020) and I am very excited to meet my fellow cohorts, learn, struggle and enjoy the rewards with them.

Until then I am working on a strategy that works for me and will me through this journey.

Let’s break in!