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Mateusz Charytoniuk
Mateusz Charytoniuk

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How to Find a Software Career Path?

Okay, you've finished your bachelor's degree, just left boot camp, or gained skills on a self-taught path. You have some knowledge of a variety of topics. What next? What should you focus on?

By definition, the college or any coding school doesn't teach the most modern or cutting-edge skills. They must wait until the dust settles, prepare their curriculums, prepare the cadres, and start teaching the topic. Sometimes, it takes years. So, while everyone is jumping on the AI wagon, you are learning how webdev was done several years ago.

Do not panic! It has always been like that. Fifteen years ago, when webdev was a hot topic, they still taught us Assembly language and C and almost nothing about webdev. So that's constant and normal.

What to do then? Where to find a path?

I think it's worth considering an alternative approach:

  1. Do not hoard the knowledge for the sake of hoarding it. Invert that process instead. Think about how you can help others with software or any other CS-related product, then learn the skills necessary to make that a reality.
  2. Try not to overthink "what niche to take" or "what career to take" - everything changes every several years anyway. Try to figure out what technology is helpful to others - it works out much better in the long run and helps prevent spending time on overhyped solutions. You can also stay true to yourself, which is good for your mental health.

In my experience, colleges teach the basics of a wide variety of topics (at least a bachelor's) so you can orient yourself, but what to focus is on you. If you concentrate on what is truly useful, or if you try to come up with something new that may help others, you will certainly have both a marketable skill and something you want to do.

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