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Develop Yourself
To change careers and land your first job as a Software Engineer, you need more than just great software development skills - you need to develop yourself.
Welcome to the podcast that helps you develop your skills, your habits, your network and more, all in hopes of becoming a thriving Software Engineer.
Develop Yourself
Developer Career Change Hotline: Networking, Breaking In, and Not Giving Up
Let's tackle three of the most common struggles career changers face:
1. Breaking into tech from another field
2. Networking without feeling fake
3. Staying motivated when the job search drags on.
If you’re wondering how to make the leap, keep connections warm, or simply not burn out—this one’s for you.
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Welcome to the Develop Yourself podcast, where we teach you everything you need to land your first job as a software developer by learning to develop yourself, your skills, your network and more. I'm Brian, your host. Should you learn React or Python? What are the best coding languages you should learn if you're trying to transition into a career in software? And, most importantly, how do you stay motivated and consistent when the job search is just draining you and it feels like there's no hope? I'm going to be answering all these questions today on the Develop Yourself podcast directly from you listeners that wrote in. If you have a question, please use the form in the show notes and I'd be more than happy to to answer it if it makes sense to answer it. Obviously, I'm not going to answer every question, because some questions are better in private or some questions don't really apply to a lot of people, but I'm going to do my best to answer these questions that you've written in. So, first of all, thank you for people that have written in and I'll give you a shout out if you included your name. Let's kick it off.
Speaker 1:First question is from somebody named Raina Raina. Thank you so much for the question. Said she's a big fan of the show. I'm assuming a she and she said, hey, I had a software engineering internship at a fintech company. My manager encouraged me to keep in touch and I returned to school to complete my final year. I really liked the relationship I built with this person and I want to ensure I nurture it in a meaningful way, without feeling like I'm overstepping or becoming a nuisance. I'd love to hear your thoughts on one, how to check in with a former manager and, two, what types of updates or conversations are most valuable from your perspective as a manager. So I was a former engineering manager. I've mentored and had interns as well through companies I've worked at, and I think what you're really asking is how does it feel? Not so transactional, right, like when you're like, hey, how's it going? Is that job that I want still available? And you know you don't want to sound like either desperate or just like transactional. So I think like once a quarter to check in and say, hey, it's me Raina, not sure if you remember me. I did an internship at your company and I really enjoyed working with you, and I just want to let you know that I'm doing this kind of thing right now in school, I'm really excited about this current technology.
Speaker 1:I think, talking about technology, shared interests that you're likely going to have. You know this person's a technologist, you know they're doing something with code or software and you can say, hey, I'm exploring these technologies. What are your opinions? I mean, there's some really hot topics right now. If you're a software engineer, you no doubt have some opinions on vibe coding, on the use of AI agents, on what tools are good versus what aren't.
Speaker 1:And also I like to lead off by always giving something, by saying, hey, here's an article I think might really be of interest to you. I know that you were interested in this, or the company uses this particular product or tool or whatever, and I think that you may find some value in this. That's always a good thing to do. If you give first, it's going to make that person feel more incentivized to want to talk to you and not look at you like, oh, this person's just always just like, hey, how's it going, how's work? And you're like I don't know, it's going all right, right. So I think that's a really good way to do it. I think it's a holistic way of nurturing relationships.
Speaker 1:It's good to do some equal give and take what happens way too often in my inbox and I hope this is none of you out there I know this is nobody from the Develop Yourself podcast listenership. They wouldn't do this is they slide into my DMs and they'll say here's my resume, what's wrong with it? I'm like who are you? I don't know who you are. And here you are the first thing asking me for a favor. But if you come across like a human, say, hey, did you hear about this event going on in our home city? Maybe you're from the same location or something like that, so you could talk about family location or about technology. I think those are safe things to talk about. And then you can also start by giving something article, praise, talk about something they've written or done, if they write in public, and that leads to interesting, normal conversation.
Speaker 1:I think the book how to Win Friends and Influence People is really good and more software developers should read it. And if there's one big takeaway from that book, it's always to ask people about themselves, because guess what, we all love talking about ourselves. I hope that's helpful, raina, and I would absolutely keep in touch with this person whether or not you think it will lead to a job, having connections and making relationships in this industry, which is actually smaller than sometimes I even realize, is super valuable, because you're going to run into the same people probably a few times in your career If you work in big tech, I would assume even more so because big tech is really really small and you see the same people at Apple that then go to Uber and then they go to Facebook and then they go to Netflix or whatever other big company is hiring at the time. So even more important if this is a big tech organization or maybe in the FinTech space. Hope that's helpful and thanks for the question.
Speaker 1:And now a question from Veronica. And I gotta say the fact we have two questions from two what I assume to be female listeners is pretty cool because in tech, if you didn't know, there's not a lot of women in tech. So the fact that two of the questions out of the five or 20 I've received since I've been doing this is actually pretty good. So I'm liking this diversity of questions here from the audience, unless these are all dudes and just making up names, I don't know. Anyway, veronica says hey, I'm a data engineer transitioning into software engineering. She has a background in Python, javascript and SQL, and she's learning React and Django. She says more job postings ask for React than even Python.
Speaker 1:Do you think it's worth investing time in a backend framework like Django, or should I mainly focus on React right now? This is coming from me, a super biased full-stack developer that doesn't really know Python, so I think you know what I'm going to say, but let me take off my full-stack hat for a second here and let me really think about this. You're transitioning from data engineering into software engineering, so you already have a lot of core competencies and skills with Python and SQL, right? So if you're wondering whether you should spend more time learning Django, which is a framework that Python uses, or if you should learn React, I think you should obviously primarily focus on React. It would probably be easier to pick up, but you're going to need to spend the majority of your time learning something like React, which is probably really foreign to you and most data engineers. I actually became a data engineer by default at the company I'm working at now because we didn't have a data engineer, so I had to step into this role and I was way out of my league. I probably did a ton of things that you'd probably laugh at and I had to learn, and finally we have somebody stepping into that role and now I can learn from them and learn from other data engineers that I've had discussions with or read things online to see of my ways. So I think you're going to go through a similar path when you're learning React. So it's really important that you take the proper amount of time to learn it, and I like that you're being data-driven like a data engineer.
Speaker 1:Should we do this in Parsity as well? We say let's do some market research. What are the actual listings in your area telling you? Because too often we just guess React is one of the safest bets you can make. I mean, no matter who you are at Parsity, even though our curriculum is custom, you're going to learn React. It's like there's almost no other front-end framework right now that matters. Let's just be honest. Everybody must know React. So long story short, focus on React. I think Django would be a nice addition, but I really don't think that's going to X you out or filter you out of any front end or full stack roles or more traditional software engineering roles. If you don't know, they're not going to care. If you don't know React, though they're going to really care.
Speaker 1:I also like to think in extremes, so I think what would happen if I didn't learn React? I'd probably have a really tough time getting any job. What would happen if I didn't learn Django at all? Okay, I probably wouldn't have that much more difficulty, right? And so the answer that you're looking for, the path that you're looking for, probably lies in between these two extremes. It's like, yes, focus mainly on React. Django should be probably a little easier for you to pick up and then see where you land with that. If you have time, then learn that. That would be my advice. Thanks for the question, veronica.
Speaker 1:Next, we have a question from somebody named Bharat, and I hope I'm pronouncing that name correctly. Bharat, thank you for your question. It says, hey, I'm an experienced accountant. I can see the work of accountant is really going to change and more emphasis is on automation. Yeah, people always talk about software developers getting automated. I worked at a company almost 10 years ago now and one of my first tasks was automating all of the responsibilities of the accounting team, and I felt really torn about it because I literally saw that team get decimated. Basically, we just stopped hiring people for this particular department. We didn't fire anybody, but we didn't hire any more people after we successfully automated most of what they did. This is in 2014, 2015,. Let's say so at this stage. Yes, things are going to be more automated.
Speaker 1:I think there are certain jobs that are more at risk than others, and I don't know why all the conversation always tends to be around software developers when I do see that there are some real possibilities of other jobs being automated away not completely, but much more than I think many of us are ready for. And it says I'm exploring the possibilities of data science, analytics, fp&a. I don't know what FP&A is. It says I'm a bit confused. Should I start on coding languages and what are really required? I'm looking for some guidance on shifting, where I can use my experience and the latest cutting edge technologies. I don't think there's a right or wrong path here at all. I think if you're an accountant, you're likely working with lots of data and getting into data science or business analytics, business intelligence. These all, in my opinion, work with a lot of the same primary technologies and coding languages.
Speaker 1:The number one coding language you're going to need to learn, obviously, if you're working with anything that has the word data in it is Python. So that's probably where I'd start, and then I'd do some deep research on these particular roles in your local market and see where are these roles. So look up the roles. How many are there? What are the names of the roles? What are the technologies that keep on coming up and do literally like a keyword count? This should give you some indication of where you should start spending your time. The safest bet right now that you could make is yes, you're going to need to learn Python. You're going to have to be fluent in Python. That doesn't mean you're going to have to be some Python expert. It means that if you don't know what to do now, go with Python. Begin looking at what these roles actually entail.
Speaker 1:I'm not a data scientist. I work with data scientists. I've worked with data engineers. I am not one. I've cosplayed as one a couple times, but I don't know. So you need to find somebody in the industry, not an influencer, not somebody trying to sell you something. Find somebody that you can ask what are the skills and what are the tasks that you do as a data science or analytics or BI person.
Speaker 1:Data science is much different than data engineering or business intelligence. They're quite different roles. They have a lot of overlap, from what I can see as an outsider, but they're very different. Data scientists tend to have like PhDs or master's degrees and have really heavy mathematical backgrounds. This is what I have seen in my limited experience working with data scientists and talking with them. So going the route of business intelligence or even data engineer also look very different. Data engineer meaning more traditional software engineering role, while business intelligence may need to use like SQL and Python to get business insights out of data. So yeah, learning Python, learning SQL absolutely two areas you can start immediately and I think those are gonna be where you're gonna wanna start and then do the exploration like I've suggested. This is a lot of what we do in Parsity as well, with students Say, hey, let's do some actual market research and not just guess. You know we could guess all day what a business intelligence person does. Look at what's going on in your market, what skills they have and what they're hiring for, and then kind of reverse engineer back from there. Hope that's helpful.
Speaker 1:And last question from somebody named Wafi I. I hope I'm not butchering that name either and I apologize if I have. I wanted to end on this question, because I think it's really, really poignant for the time that we're in and what a lot of you are probably feeling. This person asks what are some effective strategies for maintaining motivation and momentum during a protracted job search, particularly when facing a lack of results. I think a lot of us have felt that I tend to tell myself it's just a numbers game and all I need is one. Yes, but the process can easily become overwhelming and stressful.
Speaker 1:I'm a big fan of the podcast, by the way. Thank you so much. It's one of my few comfort zones on the internet and I tend to listen to the episodes even when I have no interest in the topic. Please continue doing it. I'm sure you're going to blow up one day, and when that day comes, don't forget me. Hey, buddy, I'm almost blown up Not on YouTube, by the way. On YouTube I'm doing terrible numbers, but on the podcast front, you wouldn't believe I got people trying to pay me for sponsorships. Can you believe that? And I'll never do it, never, ever, ever, because I want to give you unfiltered, uncut advice, not have somebody that has ill intentions or wants me to sell you some junk that you don't really need. But anyway, enough about that.
Speaker 1:So what you're feeling is what a lot of us are feeling in this game right now, and I actually wrote a post on LinkedIn about this and somebody had a really emotional response to it. You could say they basically felt like we're in this numbers game and it's just like playing the lottery, and I've used that analogy sometimes and I don't regret that analogy or take it back per se, because, again, I like to think in extremes. Can you send out one application and expect any reasonable result? Absolutely not. Should you send out a million? That'll probably get you way better results, right? Somewhere in between sending out an infinite number of resumes and applications and sending out one is a large amount of space, right, and it can feel like the lottery, because we see that LinkedIn has easy apply. We see that there are 1,000 applicants for a job that was posted in the last hour.
Speaker 1:So what do you do? You only need one, yes, and that should be the only thing you're concerned about, and really ignoring the noise as much as you can. Now, that's easy for me to say and that's not really practical for you to do, so what I like to do is this I like to see by the hundred. What are my metrics? So if I send out a hundred applications and resumes I know that number may seem really big to some people and they might think a hundred I don't think you can get really good signal unless you've sent out around a hundred. I think sending around a hundred resumes applications in the span of 30 days should give you some good indication. That's three to four applications a day. You don't really need to change that often, but you should be sending out three to four applications a day.
Speaker 1:If you do 100 in the span of a month and you get zero callbacks, that tells me there's probably something wrong with your profile, there's something potentially wrong with your resume, there's something wrong with your approach with your resume. There's something wrong with your approach. And I also think if you're following the old school method of I'm just going to apply and that's it and just write like a cover letter and that's it, I don't think you're playing the game you need to play in 2025. So you're going to need to do some things that are uncomfortable and I think this will also help you get the feeling of, okay, I'm making some forward progress. Start conversations with people you don't know who can offer you a job and start some with people who you know can't offer you a job, because you want to not only expand your opportunity and surface area for luck among people that could give you a job, you want to expand your network. So one is the long game, one is the short game.
Speaker 1:If you talk to people at companies and say things like hey, I've been really curious about working at your company, it's one of my favorite ones, or whatever, if you have some way of connecting with other software engineers in the space and saying, hey, when you're connecting on LinkedIn, send a short message. It can be as simple as that and that way at least you're beginning to sow the seeds of relationships. And don't just say, hey, look at my resume or whatever of relationships. And don't just say, hey, look at my resume or whatever. Say, hey, just want to connect. I see you work at company X. I've actually always wanted to work there. Or I see you're working with generative AI. I'm really excited about that and I'd love to hear more about what you're doing.
Speaker 1:Be genuine. If they're doing something you don't want to do, then just connect with them and don't say anything the few times you do meet people and think, oh, this is a person I actually want to connect with and I am genuinely interested, just say it. And when you're connecting with recruiters, you can get straight to the point. Recruiters are on LinkedIn for one reason. It's not to build relationships really, it's to find people that they can put into a job. So you can come at them with your sales hat on. Now, many of us aren't used to putting on our sales hat, so we get nervous. We downplay our skills. We get small nervous. We downplay our skills, we get small. So instead, slide in their DMs and say something that really makes you uncomfortable.
Speaker 1:If you're the kind of person that gets uncomfortable by selling yourself, get in there and say, hey, I see you're looking for this role. I'm the perfect fit. I've done X, y and Z for the last few companies. I know this exact skill and I guarantee you I could make your path to finding a candidate much shorter. I'd love to talk with you sometime if the role is still open. If it's not, I may know some people in my network that I could connect you with. That way, you're saying, hey, I'm a great candidate, I'm a great fit, and I say whatever dude, you know I don't get out of here, but if I'm not, I may have some people in my network Now they're thinking, hey, is this guy worth a chance? I don? Will this work every time? Absolutely not. Will this work some of the time? If you word it correctly, 100% guaranteed they're on there. They want the help.
Speaker 1:If you're saying I might know somebody, they're like, yeah, dude, send them over. And now, at this point, now you've started a natural conversation. Hey, I hope that worked out Now for me. I'm still on the market myself. Do you know anybody I might need to connect with? They're going to feel more incentivized to also now connect you with people.
Speaker 1:This is not something you can do with AI. This is something you're going to just have to do, doing it old school right. And then you do have to keep that practical optimism that, hey, am I hireable? Yes, you have to answer some core questions. Do I have the basic skills to be hireable? Do I have an indication that I could be hireable? Have I had an interview in the last 100 applications I've sent out?
Speaker 1:Okay, something has to change. What is that something? Do I have 500 connections on LinkedIn? Is my profile at least reasonable? Does it say software engineer? Does it tell people? Here's who I am, here's what I do? Here's why you should hire me. Am I connecting with people? Am I going in the DMs? Am I doing all these things? Am I doing all the right actions that will eventually lead me to the correct outcome? Right, we can't control how fast it takes us to get to the outcome. We can't control the inputs. So if you don't suck at coding, if your profile doesn't suck and you're doing all these actions, you're going to eventually get to that outcome. No one can guarantee you the time right? Hope that's helpful.
Speaker 1:I really appreciate the question. I know a lot of people are feeling like this. I was on the job hunt what? Last year? It's not fun, it's really emotional.
Speaker 1:You can start doubting yourself. You can think, oh, was it all a fluke? Did I just get lucky? Will anybody hire me ever? This is normal. We all go through this. Right, it sucks, it just sucks.
Speaker 1:But remember, this takes. Don't you dare give up, or else I'm going to come find you and I'm going to give you a piece of my mind. Two cents, maybe even three cents, who knows. Anyway, thank you so much for everybody that wrote in. I really truly hope this is helpful and I really truly appreciate the questions. It's so cool to have a podcast and like actually have people engage and ask the kinds of questions that I wonder sometimes that you're thinking or when you're listening to the show. So I can't thank you enough, really appreciate it. I can't wait to do more of these and if you have a question, please use the form in the show notes and I'll shout you out if I answer it on the show. See you around. That'll do it for today's episode of the Develop Yourself Podcast. If you're serious about switching careers and becoming a software developer and building complex software and wanna work directly with me to parsityio, and if you want more information, feel free to schedule a chat by just clicking the link in the show notes. See you next week.
