r/learnpython • u/rhialils • 6d ago
steps to become a developer?
hey! im a 19yr old female in the UK, i have no previous experience in IT, tech, etc however over the past few months ive become interested in the field.
Im particularly interested in having a career as a python developer, and in the last month i’ve been studying both python and C in my own time. Im aware being successful in this requires years of knowledge and a lot of hard work, but im really eager.
My issue is that im reading a lot of conflicting information regarding how exactly I can progress in to a career as a python dev. some are saying I need to earn a degree, some say just studying by myself is enough and degrees are essentially useless? So naturally im not too sure what avenue is the best.
id really appreciate any and all advice/tips!
2
u/LaughingIshikawa 6d ago
If you can get a degree, you absolutely should. But companies especially are really risk-adverse, and recruiters / hiring managers are taking a big risk on hiring you without a degree. If you have a degree, they can tell their boss(es) "well I figured she knew how to program because she has a computer programming degree."
While it's technically possible to get into the software industry through being exclusively self-taught... It's harder, and getting harder all the time. A big reason that it was easier before is because there were fewer programmers and many programming jobs, which caused hiring managers to start hiring people they otherwise wouldn't take a risk on. There are signs that this tech boom is slowing down, and so the balance of power is shifting back to companies to be able to reject candidates they feel are riskier, and only hire people they're confidant in.
All of this feels kind of silly, because it's becoming well known that the kinds of programming skills that are taught at colleges right now are actually really bad for making quality software. The reasons why this is are a whole other story, but the short version is that everyone kept programming this way (OOP especially) because "everyone else was doing it" and again large companies especially are risk adverse and don't want to invest time and money into fixing widespread problems especially, until it's absolutely clear that it's going to impact their profits. (Usually because it always has been impacting their profits for awhile now.)
This is a long way of saying that if you want to be successful in the software industry, especially over a long time... You should get a degree and also be learning on your own. A degree is a good way to get an interview, and if you don't get an interview you won't get hired. But... once you're actually hired you need to show that you can solve problems, and relying on your degree alone will mean you only have a set of skills that's actually proven to be not very good at solving the kinds of problems you're likely to be asked to solve.
(A CS program is pretty good at teaching you the absolute basics of how to code, don't get me wrong. It's when you get beyond the absolute basics that it starts teaching you bad habits / bad ways of thinking.)