A software developer role is easy!
I remember when I was in college I used to have all sorts of ideas about what a software developer does and would constantly ask myself “Am I good enough? Skilled enough? Will I succeed?”
So now that I am a software developer what do I do?
I use common sense and interest to solve problems.
Coding is not difficult, everything in computer science is mostly CRUD (google this jargon). Essentially you save some data and retrieve it later. The way you do it varies, maybe you develop an API or show a chart.
If you are good with people, can empathize well, can communicate your ideas, etc. You could naturally be good at a developer role too. And if you are disciplined? I believe you have a superpower.
In a company, developing a feature generally means solving a problem. So usually you do the following.
- Understand the problem
- Communicate the solution
- Collaborate with your team
- Negotiate time and resources
- Code the solution
- Test the solution
- Release the solution
Observe coding is just a part of it, you need to have other common skills to do your job well. You could also learn to code on the job and that’s what every developer continues to do.
What if you are in a totally different domain?
You will definitely know less than what a college student knows when it comes to academics, but you could be more competent than a student with a certificate when it comes to a software developer role.
College scores act as a filter for shortlisting candidates and do not mean that a person with a good score will be good at the job.
What about clearing interviews?
They are tricky to explain, I think it needs an article of its own. To summarise it, I would say
Interviews are very contextual, most of the time it's about what the job or position needs than about you. So being rejected does not mean you are not good enough or you don’t have sufficient skills. It means the job is not a fit for you and it’s a good thing you didn’t get it! Ending up in a role like that will just do more harm than good.
If you are a fresher, or have bad scores, or working in a different domain, and wonder whether you would make a so-called good developer. Believe me, you would and it is easy!
