Why Software Dev and Why Bootcamp?

I’ve taken the plunge. I’ve signed up and paid the deposit on the Makers software development bootcamp.

I know this is going to be hard, with a steep learning curve, so motivation, and clear focus and purpose will be vital.

To this end, I’m writing this blog post as a reminder to myself about why I am embarking on a career in software development and why I am doing the Makers bootcamp to help get me there.

Photo by Maxwell Nelson on Unsplash

Why Software Development?

Extrinsic Motivation

• Technology: The companies I want to work for have technology at their heart. It is these companies that will win over the next decade. I want to be on the right side of this transformation.
• Innovation: Allied to this, are the often novel, disruptive, and innovative working practices, that I am keen to explore. I want to work for a company that self organises and empowers colleagues to bring their best selves to work.
• Distributed Working: And further, it is likely these companies will be more likely to offer flexible and distributed working, to facilitate a better work-lifestyle balance.

Intrinsic Motivation

• Learning: I enjoy learning. I get a kick out of the process, of exploring, and interrogating new ideas, and the sense of progress and accomplishment I feel in mastering new skills, and concepts.
• Problem Solving: I enjoy using my skills and knowledge to be able to solve real world problems. Solving business problems, customer problems, and technical problems.
• Algorithmic Thinking: I have an aptitude and bias towards algorithmic thinking. That is thinking in terms of logic, systems and processes. This is my default approach to problem solving, and is what I am best at. Leverage strengths.

Why Makers Bootcamp?

• Challenging: Makers is hard. But I want it to be a challenge. It will test my emotional intelligence as much as my academic capability.
• Self Guided Learning: The learning is student led. Therefore the more I put in, the more I will get out. This is a more mature form of learning, with the responsibility falling on my shoulders for my own development.
• Immersive: As of the above, the only way to succeed will be to fully immerse myself in becoming a software developer. This is it. Full commitment.
• High Quality Hiring Partners: There is a recognition that completing the learning phase is just the beginning. The hard work continues with finding that first developer role. Makers have a suite of great quality hiring partners, and careers support to help land that first role.

So there we have it. When times get tough, as they will, I can refer back to this blog piece to remind myself why I’m doing this!