Advice Millwright to Software Developer

[Muis95]

I'm a first year Millwright apprentice (we do mechanical and electrical maintenance/troubleshooting) I'm 25. When I finished school I didn't really know what to do as a career and there was no funds for university anyway and all my friends were going into the trades so went to TVET college and got certs in mechanical engineering. With millwrighting I can get to a stage where I specialize in PLC programming(programmable Logic Controllers) or I can study further and become a Mechanical/Electrical/Electronic Engineer but becoming an engineer doesn't really interest me and PLC programming while more leaning on the tech side of things I'll have to spend my life in factories.

My pay isn't bad and I'm able to start paying for better education part-time. I'm specifically interested in software development and had a look at getting a Comp sci degree from UNISA. The only problem is I don't think I'll really have the time for that this early in my apprenticeship as I have to go back to TVET to get my electrical certs that will take about 1 year.

My apprenticeship will take about 3-4 years do you guys have any advice on how to pivot my career in that direction. I have heard of Mech/Electrical Engineers become software developers and going the engineering route is the natural path after getting a trade but engineering seems tedious to me.

My plan so far is to do the CS50: Introduction to Computer Science course which is free and I can do it on my own time so it won't interfere with electrical certs and see if I actually enjoy software development and then in year 3 - 4 start on my Comp Sci degree or maybe I should just get my Electrical Engineering degree which will be easier in my working conditions since it's inline with what I'm doing now.

Here is the CS50 course just to get my feet wet.

CS50: Introduction to Computer Science

An introduction to the intellectual enterprises of computer science and the art of programming.

online-learning.harvard.edu

 

[Messugga]

I'm a first year Millwright apprentice (we do mechanical and electrical maintenance/troubleshooting) I'm 25. When I finished school I didn't really know what to do as a career and there was no funds for university anyway and all my friends were going into the trades so went to TVET college and got certs in mechanical engineering. With millwrighting I can get to a stage where I specialize in PLC programming(programmable Logic Controllers) or I can study further and become a Mechanical/Electrical/Electronic Engineer but becoming an engineer doesn't really interest me and PLC programming while more leaning on the tech side of things I'll have to spend my life in factories.

My pay isn't bad and I'm able to start paying for better education part-time. I'm specifically interested in software development and had a look at getting a Comp sci degree from UNISA. The only problem is I don't think I'll really have the time for that this early in my apprenticeship as I have to go back to TVET to get my electrical certs that will take about 1 year.

My apprenticeship will take about 3-4 years do you guys have any advice on how to pivot my career in that direction. I have heard of Mech/Electrical Engineers become software developers and going the engineering route is the natural path after getting a trade but engineering seems tedious to me.

My plan so far is to do the CS50: Introduction to Computer Science course which is free and I can do it on my own time so it won't interfere with electrical certs and see if I actually enjoy software development and then in year 3 - 4 start on my Comp Sci degree or maybe I should just get my Electrical Engineering degree which will be easier in my working conditions since it's inline with what I'm doing now.

Here is the CS50 course just to get my feet wet.

CS50: Introduction to Computer Science

An introduction to the intellectual enterprises of computer science and the art of programming.

online-learning.harvard.edu

You don't need to do a formal qualification to learn how to code. So learn how to code, then get a job which requires you to know how to code.

 

[Muis95]

You don't need to do a formal qualification to learn how to code. So learn how to code, then get a job which requires you to know how to code.

I've seen people talking about this and a lot of people argue that self taught programmers lack fundamentals and getting that first job without the degree is really hard. How hard would the self taught route be with South African companies ?

 

[Drifter]

Just remember the "H" in Software Development stands for happiness.

 

[The_Ogre]

Since you have no longer any interest in what you're currently doing, it's pointless doing the apprenticeship.

 

[animal531]

If you're a good developer you won't have too much of a problem finding work. BUT having a degree definitely helps.

Do the intro course and then see how you feel about it.

 

[Muis95]

Just remember the "H" in Software Development stands for happiness.

hmm you regret going that route ?

 

[Muis95]

Since you have no longer any interest in what you're currently doing, it's pointless doing the apprenticeship.

I want to complete it as a backup.

 

[Muis95]

If you're a good developer you won't have too much of a problem finding work. BUT having a degree definitely helps.

Do the intro course and then see how you feel about it.

I'll do that. Any recommendations on what to do making finding a job easier until I'm able to complete a degree ?

 

[cguy]

As said, you can learn to code without doing a degree, and even find some work, but a software engineer with a degree can typical do a different type of development (one that requires all those fundamentals). The latter is typically better both career wise and in terms of “challenging” problems, however, it’s not for everyone. If your inclination was to do an engineering degree though, it probably does make sense for you.

 

[_kabal_]

It has been way too long since the last degree vs no degree thread

If you want to code, start coding.

Some of us plebs with no degree are extremely happy/fulfilled with what we do.

 

[Drifter]

hmm you regret going that route ?

I have a few decades in software development, and when people ask me whart is what, I suggest they avoid it. IT is not the glamorous job people think it is.

 

[Muis95]

As said, you can learn to code without doing a degree, and even find some work, but a software engineer with a degree can typical do a different type of development (one that requires all those fundamentals). The latter is typically better both career wise and in terms of “challenging” problems, however, it’s not for everyone. If your inclination was to do an engineering degree though, it probably does make sense for you.

My original plan was qualifying as a millwright as backup and getting a comp sci degree part time but I think that would impractical. So with the answers I got in this thread I'm thinking about going the self taught route until I qualify as a millwright then I'll hopefully find something in software development with my self taught knowledge and start my comp sci degree part time.

 

[Muis95]

It has been way too long since the last degree vs no degree thread

If you want to code, start coding.

Some of us plebs with no degree are extremely happy/fulfilled with what we do.

haha so you went that route? Mind expanding on how you did it, what were your study sources/languages/short courses etc ?

 

[Muis95]

I have a few decades in software development, and when people ask me whart is what, I suggest they avoid it. IT is not the glamorous job people think it is.

Thanks for the advice I'll definitely take it into consideration as I'm still on the fence

 

[_kabal_]

haha so you went that route? Mind expanding on how you did it, what were your study sources/languages/short courses etc ?

A friend's older brother was working as a software developer in the UK.
He managed to get some side work and asked if I wanted to do become a developer, I said yes.

He was a great mentor, and we did tons of code reviews and discussions. This was in 2000, so it was the wild wild west.

 

[Muis95]

A friend's older brother was working as a software developer in the UK.
He managed to get some side work and asked if I wanted to do become a developer, I said yes.

He was a great mentor, and we did tons of code reviews and discussions. This was in 2000, so it was the wild wild west.

ahh okay from what I gathered online it was a bit easier without the degree back then cause it was still a relatively new field

 

[Johnatan56]

I've seen people talking about this and a lot of people argue that self taught programmers lack fundamentals and getting that first job without the degree is really hard. How hard would the self taught route be with South African companies ?

How long is a piece of string?
You can get a job without a degree, the degree just really helps getting a foot in the door and increases the glass ceiling and allows to work on some interesting problems you won't be able to without. You'll also never be able to get into some companies without a degree, mostly due to either specialized work or because company doesn't understand what they actually need.

That said, if you land a job and you demonstrate being good at it, you'll generally be able to keep getting better jobs via word of mouth and generally after a few years your history at companies will be more important.

Again, "software dev" is very broad, you could be doing front-end stuff that's UI, that's easy to get into with a good portfolio and salary is all-right mostly, same for mobile dev; it's more back-end systems where you'll have issues without a degree, so you need to decide where you want to go. All of them are quite different, and it's very dependent on you, your team, and the project you're working on in regards to enjoyment. At the end of the day, a job is a job, you don't need to love it all the time, you just need to not hate it, finding someone who truly loves their job is rare. I'd find it strange if any of my colleagues would tell me they love coding, they don't, they like the problem solving that goes into it.

 

[Muis95]

How long is a piece of string?
You can get a job without a degree, the degree just really helps getting a foot in the door and increases the glass ceiling and allows to work on some interesting problems you won't be able to without. You'll also never be able to get into some companies without a degree, mostly due to either specialized work or because company doesn't understand what they actually need.

That said, if you land a job and you demonstrate being good at it, you'll generally be able to keep getting better jobs via word of mouth and generally after a few years your history at companies will be more important.

Again, "software dev" is very broad, you could be doing front-end stuff that's UI, that's easy to get into with a good portfolio and salary is all-right mostly, same for mobile dev; it's more back-end systems where you'll have issues without a degree, so you need to decide where you want to go. All of them are quite different, and it's very dependent on you, your team, and the project you're working on in regards to enjoyment. At the end of the day, a job is a job, you don't need to love it all the time, you just need to not hate it, finding someone who truly loves their job is rare. I'd find it strange if any of my colleagues would tell me they love coding, they don't, they like the problem solving that goes into it.

Thanks this was a great reply I'll be honest I haven't done much research into the specifics of "software dev" in regards to specific roles within the field like back-end & front-end development and have more so looked at it broadly as a field I'm interested in and started learning python and programming micro controllers which is related to my field. I have always been interested programming as something to do as a career but never really took action towards getting into it as a career and what it entails specifically until now

 

[Barbarian Conan]

The people who I know who became software developers (or even QA) without a qualification are those who had a contact who could help them get a foot in the door.

It can be done though, but if I were you I would:
1. Get some sort of qualification, even if it is just a diploma.
2. Do online courses.
3. Have a github with at least one working project.