This article is for you if:
- You’ve
been learning to code for a while now and wondering when you should start
expecting returns from your investment of time and efforts
- You
are considering starting a career as a programmer
Yes, programming can be quite a lucrative career. The
industry has a promising future with growth rate twice that of the US economy This explains why more
people are interested in acquiring programming skill today than ever before.
There is also a corresponding explosion of contents and learning resources
available to these wannabe programmers.
But the reality is only a little fraction of people who set
out to build a career in programming will eventually make a living from it. The
aim of this article is to provide you with a practical guide on how to put
yourself in this tiny fraction who eventually make it to the promised land.
First Thing First
Programming is broad term. It is often used interchangeably
with software engineering or software development. The first step to reaping
the financial rewards that comes with having a programming skill is to decide
which area of programming you are interested in. The popular options include
- Web
development
- Mobile
application development
- Data
science/machine learning/artificial intelligence
Your choice will inform your decision on what specific
tools/programming language to learn.
Most people start with web development because it is
relatively easier to get up and running with. I have provided a link to Brad
Traversy’s Practical Guide to Web Development at the end of this article. Brad
does an excellent job listing the various technologies in the order they should
be learned. This is a must-watch for anyone interested learning programming —
especially web development — and building a career in it.
Set Clear Goals
Once you have decided which area of programming you are
interested in, the next step is to set crystal clear goals as to how and when
you intend to start earning income as a programmer.
If you look around, you might notice someone who has been
coding for years. They throw big tech terminologies around, they can argue
about all the cool frameworks that are trending, and they even belong to some
developer communities. Yet they have little to nothing to show for all their
knowledge. I bet you don’t want to be that guy!
Truth is coding is hard and learning to code requires
tremendous amount of time and hard work. Except you are just doing it for fun,
money is usually the primary motivation, and that’s perfectly fine.
When it comes to monetizing your programming skills, there
are several options. You could decide to get a job and work for a company as an
in-house developer, or you could choose to do freelancing, or you could build
your own social media app (I’m not kidding), or a ton of other paths you can
take with your programming skills. There are two important points I want to
emphasise here:
- Each
path is unique and requires a unique approach. For instance, the approach
you’d take to land a job as an in-house developer in a company would be
quite different from the approach you’d take to land a client as a
freelancer.
- It
is important that you set a clear goal with a timeline as to when you want
start reaping monetary benefits from your programming skill. I recommend a
maximum of 9 months for someone with zero experience in programming. Doing
this will move you from being just a tech enthusiast to becoming a highly
paid professional in the tech industry within a very short period of time.
The Power of Focus
Narrow focus is not entirely a bad thing. I will explain.
When you are just starting out, you don’t have the luxury of
jumping from one language/framework to another. Your goal is to quickly pick up
on the fundamental technologies that serve as minimum requirements in order to
become productive and earn your first income from your programming
skills within a maximum period of 9 months from the day you wrote your first
line of code. This requires hardcore focus and direction. Once you
have these basic tools in your tool belt, you can set out to start making some
money as professional programmer. Again, this will depend on the path you
choose to take.
Conclusion
It is absolutely possible to make a pretty decent living
from your programming skills. However, just having the skills is not enough.
You must be aware of the different options available for monetizing your
programming skills, and also understand that each option is unique and requires
a unique approach. Having a mentor will help you focus on only the skills you
need, and avoid wasting your time on everything else.
Please feel free to contribute your thoughts.
Thanks for reading.
Further Reading