Article By: Prince Osinachi Nchiba
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I conducted a survey. They were made up of people between the ages of 18 and 32 years, working within tech or starting out, living within Africa.
Out of the 100 people I spoke to, I found out the following:
- 87% did not understand the growth potentials that exist in the software engineering field.
- 76% do not know the next thing for them in their career.
- 70% were unsure of the next steps
Aside from the fact that the technology industry has evolved in the past decade, we have had a lot of people transition into tech because of the noise and fad, without really understanding the opportunities that are available.
Most people have confessed to saying they only joined tech because of the “fat salaries” they heard software engineers earned. Because of this, I have decided to put together a proper article that addresses these misconceptions and directs people on the way to go on their software journey.
We are going to dimension the career paths into two:
- Niche path: The niche path covers the aspects that have to do with the tech tracks (e.g Frontend Engineer, Backend Engineer, etc.)
- Growth path: This path deals more upwards career growth. It requires the person to acquire managerial, leadership and administrative skills (e.g Chief Technology Officer, Tech Lead, etc.)
Description of Niche Roles
Frontend Engineer: A front-end engineer, also known as a front-end web developer or designer, selects, instals, and tests the user interface elements of a website. The front-end developer focuses on the look and feel of the site, along with its functionality.
Backend Engineer: A backend engineer is the type of engineer responsible for creating the skeleton of a software application. Backend engineering is also known as server-side engineering because backend engineers deal with everything that happens on the server.
Mobile App Developer: A mobile application developer is someone who produces programs for particular mobile hardware or software technologies. Often, these developers specialize in a particular operating system, such as iOS or Android.
DevOps Engineer: A DevOps engineer introduces processes, tools, and methodologies to balance needs throughout the software development life cycle, from coding and deployment to maintenance and updates.
Data Engineer: Data engineers work in a variety of settings to build systems that collect, manage, and convert raw data into usable information for data scientists and business analysts to interpret.
Security Engineer: Security engineering is the process of incorporating security controls into an information system so that the controls become an integral part of the system’s operational capabilities.
Description of Growth Roles
Junior Software Engineer: Junior Software Developers are entry-level software developers that assist the development team with all aspects of software design and coding. Their primary role is to learn the codebase, attend design meetings, write basic code, fix bugs, and assist the Development Manager in all design-related tasks.
Senior Software Engineer: Senior software engineers develop software solutions by studying systems flow and work processes, conferring with users, and following the software development lifecycle.
Team Leader: The team manager is the leader of a group of employees, overseeing the daily operations of one section within a company.
Chief Technology Officer: A chief technology officer (CTO) is the executive in charge of an organization’s technological needs as well as its research and development (R&D). Also known as a chief technical officer, this individual examines the short- and long-term needs of an organization and utilizes capital to make investments designed to help the organization reach its objectives.
The moment you get on the growth career track (through a promotion or after working for a period of time), you will require a deeper level of technical knowledge and concise understanding of how to lead people and manage stakeholders.
How To Grow In Your Career Path…
Now, the important question is, how do you move from a niche path to a growth path?
Half of the reason why some people experience career stagnation is that they do not know what to do next. Below are some of the tips that can help anyone move up the ladders in their careers:
- Take leadership courses
- Take voluntary leads on projects (have an ownership mindset)
- Learn about product thinking and evaluation
- Learn how to work with people (emotional intelligence)
- Notify your HR about your advancements
- Apply for more senior roles (do not be scared of the job titles
- Gather more qualifications and certifications
- Get mentors and associate more with top managers.
Finally, I became a global authority in software engineering not just because I have great technical knowledge but because I have been able to demonstrate global leadership while also growing in my career journey from an amateur to a lead software engineer. I would encourage anyone reading this to take these career tips seriously.
With this article, it is easier to know what to do to progress to the next stage of your career. If you need help you can write to me here.
Thanks for reading.
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