How to become a Software Developer without a university degree
Sigma School
20th August 2023
As the tech industry continues to boom, more and more people are making career changes due to the appealing opportunities and high salaries the industry offers. Although some of those who are transitioning already have a background in tech or software, a high number of people are breaking into the tech industry as beginners who have undergone trainings and courses without getting a university degree in computer science. Most people especially if you want to make a career change, do not have the time to sit through four years of classes to learn computer science. And not to mention, the fees of university degrees are a hefty amount to fork out.
But the good news is that it does not matter if you do not have a university degree! In a recent survey, 72% of hiring managers think that coders who have passed online coding courses perform just as well as coders who have university degrees.
Learn More: Coding Bootcamp vs. Degree in Computer Science
If you want to become a software developer without going to university, follow these tips:
Software developers need to have a solid grasp on coding fundamentals in order to be able to solve complex problems. Understanding the core fundamentals will allow you to write code more effectively, solve problems faster and essentially will make you a better developer. This is an important aspect when learning coding – especially if you want to become a software developer.
If you do not have any traditional work experiences in the software field, then you should focus on building coding projects to showcase your knowledge and experience on your resume. Choose projects that will show your skills, such as creating mobile apps, understanding full-stack development, and using standard frameworks and libraries that top tech companies are using. It does not matter what project and what programming languages you use in your projects as long as you show how you used them.
Every software developer out there has a personal website portfolio or a GitHub profile to show employers their skills and the projects they have built. Having a portfolio is as essential as having a resume to establish credibility. You can even expand and talk about how the projects you have built impacted your passions in software development as these are important aspects that potential hiring managers will look for to evaluate you as a candidate. Hiring managers want to know how interested and passionate alongside how well you do the job just by looking at your portfolio – so make sure you show that to them!
Getting an internship or other related jobs in the field will help you gain experience. This way, you will be able to apply your skills and learn more. Interning or getting an entry-level job will allow you to meet new people and make new connections within the industry. You can also take a side freelancing job to gain exposure and earn money while learning to code! By building your experience, you can learn what the “real world” experience is like before getting a full-time job as a software developer.
Joining a course or bootcamp is a recommended path if you are interested in becoming a software developer without a degree. Online courses and bootcamps will help you learn how to code without the headache of not knowing what to learn especially with an abundance of free resources on the internet. This is also a great way for you to meet new people, learn from others and get to be involved in a community of like-minded individuals.
If you are interested in becoming a software developer, join our Complete Software Development Programme where you will be able to learn coding fundamentals, frontend, backend and mobile app development. Our course will equip you with all the skills you need to become a software developer to land remote jobs globally.
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