Coming in from the cold: Routes to becoming a software engineer

As more people consider career switches and opportunities in tech, three of the newest Guardian developers chart their own unorthodox routes into the industry.

Anne Byrne, Calum Campbell, Kate Whalen

Published on Friday, 24 June 2016

Computing   Digital Fellowship Scheme   Programming   Work & careers  

Polar bear mother (Ursus maritimus) and twin cubs of the year hunting on the pack ice, Svalbard Archipelago, Arctic Norway
Polar bear mother (Ursus maritimus) and twin cubs of the year hunting on the pack ice, Svalbard Archipelago, Arctic Norway Photograph: All Canada Photos / Alamy/Alamy

Inspired by the upcoming digital networking event, the latest cohort of the Guardian Digital Fellowship reflect on how they became developers.

Kate Whalen

While I have always been interested in computers and technology, I had never tried programming until a couple of years ago. One weekend, I helped a friend build and program a small circuit board of flashing LEDs. He insisted that I would be great at programming, I didn’t believe him - but I was still hooked.

My background is in microbiology and I quickly found a fantastic parallel between genetic code and computer code. Even better, you can meddle with the latter without an ethics committee getting involved; programming became my favourite hobby.

It was going to be a big change; I had doubts about whether I had an aptitude for software

I started considering how I could switch careers and become a software engineer. I read articles, looked at courses and asked my friends in the software industry for advice. Their encouragement helped convince me.

It was going to be a big change; I had doubts about whether I had an aptitude for software and whether I would still enjoy it - even when everything breaks. I used free online resources to slowly tackle increasingly challenging programming tasks. The fun of building things and solving problems never faded and I decided to resign from my job to focus on teaching myself. So, after gathering some savings together, I handed in my notice.

Over the following months I worked on online courses, such as CS50x, codecademy and Code School, as well as my own projects. I installed Linux on an old laptop so I could attend hackathons and tech events, which introduced me to the London software community.

It has been a long road as an aspiring developer. However, I am so delighted that taking a gamble and pursuing my dreams has led to such a rewarding career.

Calum Campbell

I never really thought I could make the career jump to software engineering - coding was a far cry from working on oil rigs in Africa. Coding also seemed like a bit of a mysterious and inaccessible field, my image of programmers was a bit MI5 computer genius.

Heading to the pub with friends after a day of dealing with bugs is a great remedy.

I wanted to obtain a skill that would allow me to work in an environment where I got to solve problems and could lead to working in a company that had values that resonated with my own, so I started to look into learning to code.

When my previous role came to an end I decided to take the plunge and applied for the General Assembly coding bootcamp in London. I had no prior experience of coding, so it was daunting to take up the 12 week intensive course.

However, the experience of learning with a group of likeminded people was incredibly fun and rewarding. There were times when it seemed completely impossible and overwhelming, but heading to the pub with friends after a day of dealing with bugs is always a great remedy.

The change of career may have been a difficult decision - which had some tough moments, but it led to me being able to work in a totally new environment, for a company that I really believe in and doing something that I find rewarding.

Anne Byrne

I never had a sudden epiphany that I wanted to work in tech. Rather a slow, gradual realisation that I was allowed to be interested in becoming a developer.

I was in the midst of my first real job and miserable. Working as a developer interested me but I was scared of investing in a whim. I then joined Amazon in a commercial role to buy time financially whilst starting a course with Code First: Girls.

You can switch careers without taking a financial risk

Over the six week course, I learnt front-end basics and a technical career became a tangible possibility. However, my knowledge was limited and I couldn’t afford a bootcamp or to take some time off work.

Turning to my course instructors for advice resulted in me gaining a mentor. The sessions ranged from learning Ruby, test-driven development, technical writing and working on side-projects. My aim was to apply for a conversion MSc Computer Science and save towards it whilst working.

During this time I was upfront with my manager about my ambitions. She helped me identify ways to improve my technical skills in my current role and internal jobs that could be a good interim step in my career.

I often felt I would never meet the hiring bar. That I was asking for the impossible in seeking a role that interested me. However, I didn’t let these doubts prevent me from applying. I approached every interview as a learning experience. My time spent wrangling with Ruby testing frameworks paid off when it came to my first pair-programming exercise.

You can switch careers without taking a financial risk and there is often a lot to learn in the interim. My commercial experience has been invaluable in my role at the Guardian, and being open with my manager meant I had greater support.

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