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Mithra Perera
Mithra Perera

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[Road to Job] #1 Electrical to Software Eng

Hello...I am new to doing stuff like this but I figured that I would document my journey to help others that may be in a similar situation.

Let me start by setting the scene. I'm in my last year of Electrical Eng, Eng Management and Entrepreneurship degree and have worked internships in the electromechanical industry and power/telecom construction. However, much of my degree and my work experience left me feeling unfulfilled.

I grew up never knowing what I liked and felt lost as to where I wanted to go with my career until I did a hackathon with some friends and found my love for coding!

So here I am, in my last year, middle of a pandemic and looking to follow my passion and get into backend or software dev by the time I graduate in the summer.

Relevant work experience: None...unless Access Databases count lol
Coding Languages and Technologies: C...that I had a course in and have done some Arduino projects with
Determination: Through the roof!

If you are interested, my next post will lay out my plan of action and I would love to get your feedback.

NOTE: I have already started as of writing this so this isn't Day 1. Also, I work part time and am in full time school so I will be doing my best to keep up with my goal and try to keep 2-3 hours a day at minimum.

Top comments (12)

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sfritsch09 profile image
Sebastian Fritsch

Hey, Iβ€˜m on the same road! I did my degree in physical engineering and now I learned so much about javascript, css, react.js just in a couple of months. What I can recommend you is to check out cleverprogrammer on youtube. They will motivate you to go further with web development πŸš€

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geobrodas profile image
Georgey • Edited

I'm also studying electrical engineering and I have also got this thought sometimes that if I had a chance (I wish I had) I would leave it and go for web development because there's so much I have learned during this ample time in the pandemic ....I just became a Full-Stack Web Developer can you believe it...like I just grew so much love in coding that I just enrolled up in a course and almost 90% completed it. I mean Damn!

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sfritsch09 profile image
Sebastian Fritsch

I'm with you here, it is so much fun to learn code and to see right on screen what you achieved with some complex but logical programms. In the moment as you understand more of web dev you see there is much more to learn with upcoming new technologies. In physics you don't have that. You just rely on old theories and your highlight at the end of the day is that you were allowed to solder something :D
Don't get me wrong, I love physics and watch astro docus about the universe like "One Strange Rock", but coding is so much more fun :P

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mithraperera profile image
Mithra Perera

LOOOL couldn't have said it better myself

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mithraperera profile image
Mithra Perera

Eyy nice man! I had to make the switch because I wanted to do something I'm passionate about for my career. Also, knowing how to code will make you a valuable asset even in EE jobs! Stand out in your company by creating mini software solutions for themπŸ‘ŠπŸΎπŸ˜

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mithraperera profile image
Mithra Perera

Eyyy goodluck! We can do this!
Check out my next post about my plan to self learn through some good resources I found.
You might like it but seems like you are already on a good track haha

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myleftshoe profile image
myleftshoe

An electrical engineering degree, whether you end up working in the field or not, is a valuable "piece of paper" to have. It proves you can problem solve - the essence of software engineering.

Although it is a difficult degree, it awards your hard work with self-learning skills - you'll pick up software no problems. And if you like to think, which you must to get through EE, you'll find your brain in the same deep state of thought.

EE does indeed allow you to cross professional boundaries.

With an EE degree only and no experience, my first job in IT was as an Oracle developer after which I moved to London, set up my own company and worked 8 years for a global financial institution.

One EE alumni became a lawyer, another a financial quant (also with no other qualifications)

The only problem you face is the same problem every developer faces - getting your first job.

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mithraperera profile image
Mithra Perera

Wow thats awesome to hear!...makes me feel like i didn't waste my time after all lol
Thanks myleftshoeπŸ€—

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j_mplourde profile image
Jean-Michel Plourde

I am a senior student in computer engineering. I have knowledge of the electrical engineering curriculum. If you have questions, send mme a DM and I'll try to help as best as I can. Cheers and good luck on this great adventure!

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mithraperera profile image
Mithra Perera

Oh wow that's much appreciated bro! πŸ’š

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khaliedmuhamad profile image
khaliedmuhamad

I am studing mechanical engineering and I want to do same thingπŸ˜‚

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mithraperera profile image
Mithra Perera

Check out my next post! I did a bunch of research and found a good structured path I think of how I am going to learn! See what you think and maybe you can follow it too! 😁