I am a (female) software engineer - AMA

[IWriteCode]

(namechanged)

Computer programmer, software developer, coder...really not that interesting, but since there are a few other threads about careers...AMA!

What learning methods did you use to become good at coding? It fries my head.

I always thought I was good at computing and loved everything about them growing up but now I'm studying it, the programming modules are IMPOSSIBLE for me. I'm also bad at maths.

Should I drop out? 😂

It's making me hate technology.

9amTrain

I became good by collaboration. During my last year of Computer Science school, I worked on a really difficult project with a friend who was a total whizz, and I learned lots from him. Also, I had some awesome bosses who used to go through my code with a fine comb. It felt really upset at the time, as I took it personally, but it did make me a better coder.

Maths is a really wide subject, and unless you get into scientific coding you don't necessarily need to be a genius at it, but you absolutely need to have a good command of mathematical logic (and, if, or, etc). What language are you coding in?

DO NOT drop out. It is such a rewarding career, but everyone I know has felt despair at some point

*it felt upsetting - I can do maths but can't write English!

How much do you earn?

I’m also a female software engineer and I’d have to disagree about the importance of maths.
If you don’t enjoy maths and logic problems I think you’ll probably struggle with coding. You don’t have to understand advanced calculus but it does need a certain ordered way of thinking that if you don’t get maths you probably won’t have.

Why do devs get upset when you find bugs in their code?

We’ve all got different strengths I couldn’t do creative projects if you paid me.

anotherangel2 - six figures

gamerwidow - I said pretty much the same as you did, just in different words.

FleshLiabilities - 1) no one likes finding out they've made a mistake, 2) our code is our baby and you are calling our baby ugly , 3) debugging is hard work, if we knew where we went wrong there wouldn't be a bug!

After uni, what was your career path like? How did you work your way up? Was it easy to find a job? Would you recommend your kids to get into it ( if they had an interest, of course) ?

TEDx

I've worked both in software houses and in blue chip companies that have their own in-house software teams. By far, I prefer the former as I find in the latter, technology is always a second class citizen, something they resent spending money on.

I'm not sure I worked my way up, meaning that I never really planned a career progression. I ended up getting promotions just by virtue of a manager leaving and me being the logical successor. But it got to a point where I was spending all my time doing management and no coding, so now I am a contractor. I go in, I write code, I get paid well, I leave. Works for me.

I would absolutely recommend it as a career because it is so broad. I am an introvert, so I'm perfectly happy hacking away and not having to interact much, but there are plenty of extroverts working in the field in project managing roles or coding roles with lots of people interaction. You do, however, need to be ready to be constantly learning and updating your skills. It is not something that you learn once and then just take a couple of weekends of CPD a year.

Thank you for your reply. Would you say it's a mum friendly role? Is working from home and part time an option?

How does having a career break ( eg to raise kids) affect future job prospects as you say you need to keep learning and updating your skills.

What did you study at sixth form, uni etc.

What are your thoughts on DevOps?

If not using DevOps philosophy how do you deal with conflicts between development and infrastructure teams?

fuzzyfozzy - I grew up abroad, but I guess you could say I did Maths, Physics and Chemistry at A levels, and Computer Science (that was the name back then) at Uni.

Whatsmyname14 - my main thought is, it doesn't scale. Great for small dotcoms (I am dating myself here) or fintech companies, will not work in big mammoth companies. I personally have always had great relationships with infrastructure teams, I do not see why there would have to be more of a problem with them than with other software teams within the same company. At the end of the day, when you have a big organization, it will always be complex to align interests that might not necessarily intersect much.

Would you say it's a mum friendly role? Is working from home and part time an option?

(Not the OP) I would say it depends massively on the employer. It certainly can be good for parents, especially once your career is more established. Depending on the employer, there it should usually be possible to work from home, though some organisations which need really high security will mean you have to work on site. But coding roll-outs usually happen out of normal business hours, so you can expect some weekend or overnight work at times, though again it depends on the employer and their business.

I would say the main barrier to flexible working in tech roles is mostly down to unimaginative managers and presenteeism - and that's probably more of a problem in terms of improving things than the requirements of the role.

(I am a Unix sys admin, so not a coder, but work closely with developers.)

tedx - definitely can be done from home, I know many developers who do. All you need is good connectivity. Part time, I am not so sure though, because if you are responsible for live software sometimes you have to put in the extra time when the shit hits the fan. That 6 figure salary doesn't come easily, I've found myself crying at 2am in front of my debugging screen more than once!

You should check Dr Sue Black, she is doing an awesome job at encouraging mums to get into tech.

Career breaks can be indeed had, and some big corporations have programs for bringing women back to tech. It does involve some effort and the realisation that you might not be able to immediately slot yourself back in at the level you were, if you are very career progression focused.

EBearhug thabks for your post.

what is a Unix sys admin? What does that involve?

To the op or anyone else? I have a daughter who may be do well in the tech industry. She is still very young and may not be interested in it at all! But as a parent, how can I introduce techy stuff to her as a young child to gauge whether she would enjoy it. I know coding clubs are really popular right now, but wondered if there was anything else I could do

Would you say it's a mum friendly role? Is working from home and part time an option?

Would you mind if I chip in too? I'm not a 'software engineer' but I write scientific code for a living. Yes, that does require decent maths and a PhD but it's an example of the sort of coding job where release schedules are planned, the 'live code' sort of crises don't really occur in the same way as in some more purely 'tech' roles. I've been with my company (through its many mergers/takeovers)for over 30 years, more than 20 working from home and the last 15 (when DD started school) part time. Most of my team are in California, I work odd but flexible hours which is a win-win.

what is a Unix sys admin? What does that involve?

Unix is an operating system, like Windows or Android. It's what you use to manage the computer itself, its storage, its network connections, memory, user accounts, backups and so on. We work with physically installing hardware in datacentres and then configuring machines so that database admins and application teams can do their stuff and then it is available for users when it's all ready.

There are loads of different roles available in tech these days - it's not just coding and operating systems. You don't always need strong maths skills, though it does help to have good logic understanding, and of course, there are particular roles where you do need a strong understanding of maths - or science or whatever business sector you're supporting. There's also a need for creative skills, to design front-end user interfaces and so on.

How did you move from working for other people to becoming an independent contractor?

unadventuretime I quit my job, set myself up as a contractor with help from an accountant, and spoke to my favourite recruiters about contract roles (tons of them here in London).

Do you think it would be harder to move into that role outwith London? A close family member would like to do that too but (as you may have guessed from my use of the word outwith!) we are a long way from London!

unadventuretime, not necessarily - many big companies are building/have built big IT hubs outside London. PM for more details if you'd like.

Also an IT contractor, lots more roles available outside of London now.

I used to contract, only had one role in London. The rest was all over the country. Obviously the London rates were higher.

I work in Cloud Ops, moved from a 3rd line server traditional type of role. I love the cloud. I mainly work in Azure but have also dabbled with AWS 3/4 years a go.