Hey everyone, welcome back to my channel. If you're new here, I'm Temi, a graduate software developer
working in the UK. And don't forget to subscribe if you're not subscribed already and do turn on
that notification bell so you get notified every time I post a new video. Today I'm going to be
doing something a little bit different, I'm going to be doing a Q&A. I asked people on my Instagram
to ask me questions related to tech and coding and careers. And so I'm going to be answering them in
this video. If you're not already following me on Instagram then make sure you do, I post a lot of
tech and coding related content, where I try and break down certain topics and make them more.. just
basic and simple and just easier to digest. Without further ado, I'm going to jump into the video and
answer these questions. So the first question is, do you need to have a degree to be successful
in technology. And I'm just going to say straight off, no that's definitely not the case! Even though
I did go to university and the role I'm in now does require me to have a degree, that's only
because I'm on a graduate scheme. But I know a lot of people who are working as software engineers
who didn't go to uni and actually got into tech through things like bootcamps and internships.
And once you start working in the industry, you'll find that a lot of people who are even more senior
than you, have gotten into tech without degrees. So it's really common in the company that I work for
and I know in a lot of other companies, for people to actually get into the industry
through apprenticeships, through self-teaching, bootcamps and lots of other stuff. The next question is,
how did you know what part of tech you wanted to be in, i'm in DevOps now but... I think it really is
important to, try and focus on just a few things, especially at the beginning of your tech career.
And try and learn as much as you can about that and be as grounded as you can, when it comes to the
foundations of that topic. But I think it is really common to get distracted by other things going
on in the tech industry. But I do think that it's important to just really pay attention to what it
is that you feel like drives you and that really really interests you. Once you find whatever that
thing or things are trying then build your skills in those areas and build a foundation for yourself.
And the thing is, even if you have a particular day job, if your company allows it obviously, it
doesn't mean that you can't do something else outside. So for example, you could be working
as a DevOps engineer or in Cyber Security but you might still have an interest in things like UX/UI
design, there's nothing stopping you from doing freelance design work so the next question is,
what are the best options to get into tech if you don't have or want a degree? I do have a
video about the different routes that you could consider when getting into tech and I will link
that in the description part of this video. So a big one is apprenticeships and these are basically
like a combination of on-the-job and classroom learning. So there's many different levels to an
apprenticeship and I know that they start from the equivalent to GCSEs or A levels, all the way up to
even past university level. And it can take anywhere from a year to six years to complete,
so you just need to make sure to do your research so you know what kind of apprenticeship is a good
fit for you. And I know at the company that I work for, there are a lot of people who have
gotten into tech through apprenticeships. Another good option is bootcamps. So these are technical
programs which basically teach you a set of skills anywhere from 12 to 40 weeks I think. So if you're
interested in software engineering, this could be like a full stack bootcamp where they teach you
you know front-end back-end databases etc. I know traditionally bootcamps were very expensive but
today, there are a lot more free and very low cost bootcamps. I will leave the links to some that I
know of in the description part of this video and if you know any more then do share but again, it's
really important to research to know what your options are just because there are certain boot
camps available here in the UK, where I'm based, doesn't mean that will be the case or wherever
it is you're watching from. Another option is internships. So you could be working at a company
for maybe a few weeks to a few months and at the end of your placement or internship, if they like
the work that you've done and they like you, they might actually offer you a place at the company I
know for me I did an internship the summer before i did my master's degree and I actually was only
meant to be at that company for a few weeks but they ended up keeping me for the whole summer
just because they liked the work I was doing and and I got along with the team. And afterwards they
did offer me an opportunity to come back and work for them. I didn't end up working at that company
but it does go to show that if you do your job well and you get along with the team, that you
don't know what opportunities could be waiting for you so internships are definitely a good way
in as well. So the next question is, how can I get into tech with no tech experience? I have a liberal
arts degree. This is a really common question that I get on instagram and again, I do have an in-depth
video about this on my channel so make sure to check it out. But briefly then, if you already have
a degree, then I would say graduate schemes are a really, really good way to get into tech. I know
with a lot of tech grad schemes nowadays they don't actually require you to have a STEM degree
when applying so I would definitely have a look at those. There are also trainee positions.
So trainee IT roles and even work experience. The next question is, do you still accept a job offer
that requires you to learn something different from your current stack? This is something that
I've definitely asked the mentors that I have currently in my life and people who are more
experienced that i know as well. So i'll just relay back the advice I've gotten from them
and this is to basically not get attached to a certain tech stack that you're using. So for
example, if you've been coding with JavaScript and React for over a year, don't get too comfortable to
the point where you lock off other opportunities. I think especially when it comes to things like
coding, once you know one or two languages really well and you have the foundation there
and you understand what's going on, then I think it really isn't difficult to pick up something else.
And employers do know this, if you look at certain job adverts, it's very rare that they will say you
have to know this language and you have to know this framework and that's it we're not going to
accept anything else. I mean it does happen but from what I've seen it's a lot more common for
them to say, you know, maybe Java and JavaScript or whatever is is desired but you know it's not
a requirement and if that's the case apply anyway and if you get the job take it. A lot of the times
they will have like an onboarding process, where they'll get you familiar with that tech stack
before you dive into the work or they might just expect you to pick it up and learn on the job. And
this is something that I definitely had to deal with in my current role. I remember before I went
into this team, I was familiar with JavaScript, HTML, CSS all those kind of front-end stuff. And I came
into the team and found that I'd be using Java and Spring Boot, so a lot of back-end technology
and I was quite worried. But once I got into it, I found that it wasn't too difficult to read the
code and find out what was going on because I was familiar with JavaScript and I've seen JavaScript
before. Also, tech is very fast-paced. There's always new languages and frameworks coming out so either
way you're going to have to adapt at some point. or another. The next question is, what is the hardest
part of being a software developer? And obviously I've.. I'm at the very beginning stages of my career.
My answer will be really different to someone else who has probably been in the industry for five,
ten, maybe even two years. But for me, the hardest part now is getting stuck on a task and trying to
not let that derail you from finishing your task. So if i'm being like completely candid, I find that
it's.. it can be quite difficult to get stuck on something and just think *pause* like, I have no
idea what to do, like I have no idea how to solve this. And sometimes you can feel a bit panicked or
it can make you feel like I don't know anything, really discouraged. But honestly like the way I
try and tackle it is just Google. A lot of Google, a lot of YouTube and just trying to really figure
out for myself before I approach like a senior developer or a senior engineer on my team. So every
time I come across something I don't know, I try and rewire my thinking into, okay well this is just
a learning opportunity. But yeah, I think at the end of the day, there are people there to help you.
So the last question is, Hi Temi, hi, what is your coding goal? I wouldn't say I have a particular
coding goal but I do have certain things are on my list that I want to learn. One of them is to learn
object oriented programming in java so i'm already learning that. Like i said, I use Java and Spring
at work, just because I work with microservices and API gateways. So yeah I have already started
learning object-oriented programming. Another thing is data structures and algorithms. This is
something that is definitely on my list to learn but I think now because I'm more grounded with
the basics and fundamentals of programming and I built upon that, it's definitely something that I'm
going to start learning, or I would have started learning by the time this video is out.
So yeah those are all the questions, thank you so much to those who sent them in.
And if I didn't answer your question, I'm probably gonna do a part two at some point because I did
find it really interesting. So that's it everyone, thank you so much for watching I hope you enjoyed
this video. Don't forget to subscribe to my channel if you're not already subscribed.
Also hit the notification bell so you get notified every time I post a new video and if you did enjoy
this video I would really appreciate if you'd hit that like button down below. See you next time!