Why You Shouldn't Become a Software Developer in 2021

Trying to become a software developer for the wrong reasons will often mean you have a high chance of failure. In this video I talk about those “wrong” reasons and why you shouldn’t become a software developer in 2021.

🏆 * Coaching Program *

[AndySterkowitz]

After watching this video do you still want to become a software developer?

[guilhermevoltolini]

My reasons would be:
1 - A better quality of life.
that's it.

[ashlostbones]

Videos like these help me confirm that I’m wanting to become a programmer for the right reasons. My journey just started, but I’m genuinely interested in learning as much as I can so I can be a decent programmer and make a career of it. I’m tired of being in dead in positions and I want to be in a field that I’m actually interested in, the pay is secondary to me. To me, money isn’t worth it if you don’t enjoy the work. Thank you for this video 👏🏽

[peteryu]

I'm a beginner JavaScript developer and just wrote a small code where a random number will generate whether a player caught the ball or dropped the ball. When the code worked (to my knowledge) I got SO EXCITED! Now I am ready to hack some shit

[madam]

me me me! work remotely in a rural area away from the cities away from people. just me and my dog.

[thebedroomintellectual]

The 30 dislikes were people who wanted to get a google leader job after a 3 month bootcamp.

[severedghost]

I'm doing it because it's the most fun I've had programming in years, and i can always see places to improve. This is compared to coming from an infosec background.

[stapler]

Honestly I considered a lot of factors in deciding I wanted to be involved with software:
-Corporate culture that suits my personality type where I was horribly mismatched in previous work.
-My health needs (cannot stand 8 hours in work shoes, it's hard on some injuries).
-Code was a newfound passion in my later years alongside music and mathematics, and it seemed like I would get a lot out of problem-solving that I wouldn't in a restaurant or elsewhere.
-Desire to be creative in some capacity.

[ruleaus]

I'm pursuing web development because I tried a bunch of other, low-paying jobs for over a decade that didn't really make me happy or get me anywhere financially. Just recently I took a good, hard look at myself and my situation and came to the conclusion that web development is the most logical career path for me. It doesn't require a degree, pays well, and has the option to work remotely. There are more perks to it as well like fitting my personality type more than all my previous jobs. Although I imagined being happiest doing a job with some artistic aspect to it such as graphic design, the pros of coding ultimately outweighed the con of it not being artistic. This is actually a pro as well because the path of learning and getting better in coding is much more straightforward than any artistic endeavor, which has a degree of subjectivity to it. How do I measure or know how good I've become at graphic design? You can kind of know, but it's not as clear.

[miyannaable]

That's just the thing - patience! It applies to so many things that are conducive to success. I'm such a novice with this stuff, but it's taken a couple of years just to get good with editing photos - be it for my boss's business or for my own online business. Anyway, I just wanted to say how much I appreciate this message. I love hearing people acknowledge patience and effort.

[billynovrando]

14 months since I started learning Web Development here, I still looking at my first course material sometimes to jog my memories to solve the problem I encountered on my project. So yeah, it's a long term journey, but I like it. It's not gonna be quick, but you'll realize you'll get better every single day when you really put a consistent works everyday (doesn't have to be extreme, 3-6 hrs a day is enough). Hope this help.

[ahmedt]

I started to learn coding when I was 21 because I could always see a version that big companies end up doing, in details and all, couldn’t even afford a decent laptop because the one I had wouldn’t even connect to the internet so I stopped. Now I’m 27 and I’m back learning LEARNING like full time. and I started focusing more on the original ideas that I get myself. I do see progress and I realize more and more the road is FUCKING LONG and that shit makes it so exciting. Like can you imagine? If I make it, I’ll look at these comments one day and be like hell yeah I made it. That’s some God, Legend shit. If I die trying, I’ll be remembered as such. LEGEND BOTH WAYS. These few reasons are enough for me to take the leap. I’m learning solely because I want to start startups. I see business in almost everything.

[patriciajackson]

Thank you so much Andy for your insight and honesty about this field. After working in Manufacturing for over 20+ years and long hours on my feet, I finally got the chance to do what I've always dreamed of doing. I've been learning programming for a year and a half now, and its has been quite the experience. So many ups, downs, and setbacks has made me wonder if I should even continue. Then, I remember the joy of actually writing code and seeing it work as it should. The excitement of the end process keeps me in the game and that's why I will not give up, no matter how long it takes. I love the feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment even with all the struggles that comes too. I cannot imagine doing anything else.

[francis]

I have been following you for a couple of months. I have to say that you have a great psychological intuition. You know how the viewer might think and feel That's such a skill... you also know the field well.
Valuable work sir!!

[strictnonconformist]

“Job security” as a developer greatly depends on what problem domain you enter and the details of what you learn for libraries, tools, languages, as many places don’t want to pay for training someone. There are some problem domains where software is cancelled (internal, or created for sale) because unless the problem has changed for requirements, software buyers find when money gets tight, they don’t have a need to update/upgrade software to the latest. After all, software doesn’t degrade over time.

Some areas likely to remain strong regardless of economy revolve around security, changes in regulations, and anywhere you can show a very high ROI (as in, far more than the software cost in a short timeframe) where not buying the software is considered more expensive than buying it. Even then, no guarantees!

[TranceJams]

Pretty spot on from my personal experience. It is a difficult road particularly in the beginning but ultimately it is worth the journey in my opinion just make sure you actually like to do development. I just recently reached one of my goals which is to work from home remotely and it is freeing for sure. You still have to grind and problem solve constantly but the challenges are always interesting and it’s so nice to just be able to take a nap for a bit without everyone’s eyes on you. Or having your own personal setup that works for you. Being in the office all 8 hours everyday never worked for me and just left me drained most days. Also btw don’t go into development if you think you can lone wolf it and work in isolation. Development doesn’t work like that and you do need to collaborate A LOT to build good software. So build those soft skills as well!

[wyattbender]

Have you thought about making your own “day in the life of a software developer” video? I curious about your work/life balance, and what you think about it haha

[vickysxvage]

I’m 22 and I graduated high school at 16. I’ve been trying to figure my life out since then. I’m a huge problem solver. I love getting my brain going to figure a problem out. I took a free intro coding class and I sat at my computer for hours trying to code a video game. My only worry is I’ll consistently do this and get lost in my career. I want a healthy work life balance.

[GPT-X]

I’m currently working remotely near a beach. He’s right! I’m not as productive as I am with my home setup. Internet isn’t as fast and the time difference between my team has been a double edged sword

[hautecars]

I'm a car salesman right now! I spend my whole life at the dealership, I'm ready to become a part of something more meaningful and creative.