How I got into software engineering
A lot of downs, few ups and a lot of boo hoos before I got to where I am now
The world of software engineering is not what I had expected it to be.
In fact, when my journey had started, I had no idea of anything at all, not even what engineering meant nor about undergraduate degrees and the entrance exams required to get into a degree.
Now thats laughably bad when I think about it. But then, I had no personal phone or PC back then. And worse of all, I had no interactions or people around me who spoke anything about software engineering/computer science.
Now its a different world and I’d like to share my thoughts on the software engineering landscape in India.
Where I began
My starting point was C++ in school. And it did not start that well. I had no clue what the teacher was saying because I was barely paying much attention. Eventually somewhere closer to the end of the year I slowly started to grasp the concepts of programming and got curious. I started reading the assigned textbook and fell in love with the basics of C++.
The same spark of motivation that got started in me still lives today. It was REALLY interesting how small stuff like :
arrays where A[3] = “Hi“ then A[0] = ‘H‘ and A[1] = ‘i’
for loops and everything else lol
When you get the idea, its nice. But actually doing stuff is something I barely did because I didnt have a PC and all the practice I got was in the school labs using Turbo C (like why would they even think of using THAT?). Thankfully the education system has updated to Python but I’m not so sure about the quality.
The Bachelor’s degree
To be honest, I had no idea what a degree was, what engineering was, what exams we needed to write or anything related to these. I was helpless. But thankfully I only knew I liked computers (aka whatver C++ was) and my parents told me to do engineering. There was no force from them but just the urgency to get me into a decent college which I eventually got into without any exams but just by fee payment and some required documents. I dont feel good about that but like I said, I was helplessly unskilled at anything.
(Note: I was smart. Just not the way academics wants us to show it. Also literally no one ever spoke anything about degrees, engineering or the exams. It definitely was tough for me)
The actual degree itself is a mixed bag. In India, we have wayyy too many people. And wayyy too many of these who want to do engineering. There are also wayyy too much colleges and these are subdivided into tier 1, 2, 3 (descending order of quality). And mine is a tier 3 college.
A common problem that generally affects college degrees which also applies here is there’s a MASSIVE gap between what the industry requires to be learned and what we actually learn in college. The teachers themselves had varying levels of skill and the knowledge transfer was pretty useless. We just go to college to learn the subject name and go back home to teach ourselves. I never studied much because although I knew I liked Computer Science, the subjects and labs didnt catch my interest.
Unfortunately there’s way too much of life experienced to compress in just a few paragraphs but to sum it up, I am thankful that I survived college and definitely learned some stuff (front end web dev was super fun as I did it mostly by myself)
And yeah our internships were just pay-for-certficate kinda programs for a few months. More like legal scams.
Preparing for my masters
In the third year of my degree, I found a youtube channel from a person who had studied at IISc (the Harvard of India). He greatly inspired me to prepare for masters exams through his seemingly amazing content on technical as well as non technical stuff. So I decided to not worry about getting a job and put my sole focus on getting a masters degree.
I eventually took the exam twice (1 per year) with his paid content but never managed to succeed. After my final year I took a year gap for the second attempt and the course definitely helped me in theoretical CS since I gave my 110% and worked like a machine (for at least 6 months). But then all of it was theoretical. Its useful, yes, but it was not practical at least for me since my mind became a leaky bucket of info and I eventually forgot a lot of concepts during the exam and as the months passed by too.
CS job interviews do ask for some of the subjects that this exam had but we could learn the required concepts in a few days or a week and be done with it. And that would actually be more beneficial since you can get a job (just my opinion and I can be wrong)
Master of nothing
After a lot of anxiety and worry, I got into a masters program from a reputed college close to my place. Again, I had to pay to get admitted and this again frustrated me. “Why am I not skilled enough to earn stuff by my own hard work?”
The problem exists even now as I write this but at least its not as much and only the worry component exists.
The masters degree was an absolute waste of time, money and energy in the first year (literally mastering nothing) . I spent so much time on social media exploring open source, communities, Twitter, Instagram, chatting virtually with people in 1:1’s and it dramatically helped me expand my view. My skills anyway remain bad but at least I’m happy to say I’ve met some extremely talented Github stars, Docker Captains and Open Source contributors
The second year was a redeeming one. We had to do a project and could optionally do one in a company and submit it for our degree. I’m still in the process of completing it but I’ve learned so much about the software engineering process relative to what I had known before (again, nothing).
I shall elaborate more info about whatever I do know below
Thoughts about software engineering but actually about life
This is the meat of the discussion. The part where I share some of my opinions about the software engineering landscape which I hope will benefit you reading this.
The advice that will benefit you does not come from social media alone.
You need people who know you and your situation, have experience and real, recognisable skill. For me, my parents were the greatest sources of help when I faced the worst times.
The greatest resource we ultimately need to focus on is the PEOPLE.
Through stuff like communication skills, kindness, humility, knowing some basic psychology, helping others, asking for help, seeking to improve yourself as well as others. There is a lot more but stuff like this is crucial and life changing.
Build a network of friends!
This is what you build by following the above point. Neglect at your own risk.
Learn how to learn.
My favourite resource is “Learn like a Pro” by Dr Barbara Oakley. There’s also highly useful content from Dr Andrew Huberman’s Huberman Labs.
You must take care of your body and mind
together through regular exercise, healthy eating (more fruits and vegetables!), meditation (especially NSDR recommended by Dr Huberman)
Life is far more than what we think is important right now
Hehe look at me giving advice I barely follow. But its true.
Phew this took a while to write. I got through this newsletter in one full burst of motivation. Nice.
I sincerely hope it helps (especially the end). Cheers ❤