<commit_before>---
title: Why I changed careers
author: developerdavo
type: post
date: 2016-08-10T06:48:00+00:00
excerpt: The number one question I got asked in interviews before changing careers is why I decided to change from structural to software engineering. In this post I share my reasons why.
url: /2016/08/10/why-i-changed-careers/
existingUrl: https://developerdavo.wordpress.com/2016/08/10/why-i-changed-careers/
categories:
  - Career
tags:
  - changing careers
  - software development

---
A long story short, I started programming for the first time in 2015 whilst completing my master’s thesis in Germany. I was required to write an algorithm for a mathematical model, which I enjoyed so much that I decided to take a break after completing my degree and teach myself computer science before committing to a job. It very quickly became apparent that this is the direction I wanted my career to go in and I have five reasons for making that change.

<p style="padding-left:30px;">
  <strong>1. The amount of innovation happening</strong><br /> With the opportunities available to us to today it has never been easier for people to make and learn new things. Examples that come to mind are self-driving cars and augmented reality. Developing software brings me closer to this excitement and also keeps my brain fit so I can keep up with a world that is changing exponentially.
</p>

<p style="padding-left:30px;">
  <strong>2. The ability to see the results of your hard work</strong><br /> By this I mean the feeling every developer gets when they get a new feature working and get to see results almost instantaneously. One of the first times I experienced this was when I got a basic version of my algorithm working for my <a href="https://github.com/DeveloperDavo/Paperboard" target="_blank">thesis</a>. I remember writing loads of spaghetti code with no idea about design and after fiddling around a bit I clicked on ‘plot’ and a graph popped up on the screen depicting my results. Believe me, this was a really exciting moment :).
</p>

<p style="padding-left:30px;">
  <strong>3. The ability to apply what you learn straight after learning it</strong><br /> There have been numerous occasions where I have read, watched or listened to something new&nbsp;and I am able to apply this at work or in my own projects. An example is <a href="https://github.com/DeveloperDavo/DesignPatterns" target="_blank">design patterns</a>. As soon as you are able to use and recognise them programming becomes a lot more elegant.
</p>

<p style="padding-left:30px;">
  <strong>4. The team and work atmosphere that we are exposed to</strong><br /> With Agile processes such as Scrum and Extreme Programming, teams are able to work extremely effectively. As a result, individual members are able to learn more, the team is able to interact better with one another and productivity increases dramatically.
</p>

<p style="padding-left:30px;">
  <strong>5. The people that are attracted to the profession</strong><br /> There are so many good and inspiring developers out there that are genuinely interested in helping others. Just have a look at the <a href="https://github.com/trending" target="_blank">trending open source projects on GitHub</a>.
</p>

So those are the reasons I made the change. I don&#8217;t regret the decision at all&nbsp;and can highly recommend doing it. Have a look at <a href="http://learnitmyway.com/2016/09/17/how-i-changed-careers/" target="_blank">how I changed careers</a>&nbsp;for the steps I took to make this all happen.

You might also like:

  * <a href="http://learnitmyway.com/2016/10/12/was-studying-worth-it/" target="_blank">Was studying worth it?</a>
  * <a href="http://learnitmyway.com/2017/01/31/how-to-network-as-a-software-developer/" target="_blank">How to network as a software developer</a>
  * <a href="http://learnitmyway.com/2016/11/11/learning-material-software-development/" target="_blank">Learning material &#8211; software development</a>
  * <a href="http://learnitmyway.com/2017/02/18/how-to-write-a-cv-as-a-software-developer/" target="_blank">How to write a CV as a software developer</a><commit_msg>Revert "Revert "Replace content in why-i-changed-careers with temporary link""<commit_after>---
title: Why I changed careers
author: developerdavo
type: post
date: 2016-08-10T06:48:00+00:00
excerpt: The number one question I got asked in interviews before changing careers is why I decided to change from structural to software engineering. In this post I share my reasons why.
url: /2016/08/10/why-i-changed-careers/
existingUrl: https://developerdavo.wordpress.com/2016/08/10/why-i-changed-careers/
categories:
  - Career
tags:
  - changing careers
  - software development

---
This article has temporarily been moved to https://developerdavo.wordpress.com/2016/08/10/why-i-changed-careers/
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