How I became a software engineer *self-taught*

🤓 about
hey, i’m Jackie! I’m a self-taught software engineer based in London. I have a degree in mechanical engineering and started my career 3 years ago as an aerospace engineer. I got into coding by writing scripts to automate simulation workflows and taught myself web development at home. Thank u for watching! 🧡

📝 contact

🎵 music
i do not own any of the music played in this video, all rights go to the original creator(s)!
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👀 disclaimer
Views and opinions are my own and do not represent or reflect the opinions of my current or past employer(s).
This video was sponsored by Skillshare.

📖 chapters
0:00 intro
0:29 stage 0: uni
4:01 stage 1: aero grad scheme
4:31 stage 2: learning to code
6:55 stage 3: aero vs software
10:54 bizzJackie: skillshare
13:59 stage 5: interviewing
15:04 stage 6: FAANG
15:45 outro

🏷  hashtags & video content
software engineer, mechanical engineer, aerospace engineer, faang software engineer, manga software engineer, London, day in the life of a software engineer, software engineer, women in stem, women in tech, tech, london, software engineer london

#softwareengineer #aerospace #skillshare

[mengxihe]

I think the key is you are ambitious and curious, you keep learning and are having fun doing it. That’s inspiring!

[xVinoz]

With age 25 i was a lawyer for the past 2 years but even i was very good at it, it wasnt something cool to work as because you are always dealing with people lives, money or properties so its to much stress. So now im a software engineer after 1 year of stuyding like psycho every day. So yeah, life is good.

[TobiDerin]

I’m so happy I came across this video. Made a similar transition. I went from Aerospace Engineering to Mechanical engineering to Product Management in Tech. Had to come back to edit my comment because hearing CFD, aerodynamics, Matlab etc brought back so much memories! I got my undergrad, B.Eng in Aerospace (structures, systems & vehicle design).

[pedrovoyer]

Made the same transition from mechanical engineering to tech, interesting how you were able to do this without a software/data degree. I went back and got masters while working as customer engineer at big tech. Great work!

[tomfeuer]

Amazing your strong will to learn software dev in your FreeTime👍👍

[jenniferborlenghidebrito]

Great history, it's very nice to know the details about your decision! I'm doing the same transition, and fluids mechanics was my favorite subject, too - It's a big coincidence! You are a big inspiration!

[stepa]

This video poped at me by accident and oh boy do I see similarities :) I finished masters focused on solid state engineering and semiconductors, then moved to a company where I focused on semiconductors and last few months I got a lot into cybersecurity. I have a career path like you, I am learning to code in Python after work, basics of networking and stuff like that. Its great how it turned out for you! :)

[chrisraper]

Very cool to hear your story! We are a lot alike! I graduated with a BS in Aerospace Engineering and CFD was my favorite subject. I was hired straight out of school by Rolls-Royce in Indianapolis as a mechanical design engineer. During my career I would stumble across problems crying out for someone to write some code and so I would even though no one asked me to. I noticed these were the moments when I was happiest in my job. Rolls-Royce paid for me to get a graduate certificate in Data Analytics from a local university and this exposed me to a world I never knew about: data science. I took online data science classes on my own time and I was immediately hooked because it combines my love for math & programming. I now work as a Data Scientist for a large consulting company. In my current job I've also needed to write my own simulation code from scratch because sometimes we don't have the real world data we need, so we need to get started with a synthetic data set. So much fun! Anyway, I find it interesting that our career pathes share so much!

[DanDan-yldf]

I really admire you that you are a highly self-motivated person and never stop learning and challenging yourself

[gurudaki]

I did the same transition...Bachelor at mechanical engineering and then work as an IT sys admin. Meanwhile i got an MSc at computer engineering and informatics and now i learn front end development as PhD candidate in web engineering.

[juankvr]

Your an inspiration. Right now im a mechanical engineer, and have 2 years learning programing because im liking it more👌🏼

[DominikZalewski]

Inspiring story and I'm glad it has worked out for you to be a software engineer! I came across your channel yesterday and really like the content. BTW I'm Edgesheet user!

[danielcernik]

As fluid mechanics student who is working in turbocharger company as a CFD intern, you are huge motivation for me! Seeing how much coding CFD engineers actually do made me start learning coding few months ago. I really enjoy it and I'm already thinking about switching to software later on in my career. Thank you so much for this amazing content! :^)

[zachjones]

I admire your adaptibility. Adaptation=survival.

[egemenefe]

really enjoying these videos after a long day, ty bestie

[dimaldon]

Jackie thanks for your videos, that inspired me to change my carrier, now i’m on a Boot Camp 🙏🏻👨🏻‍💻

[strez]

I completed my Master’s in Mechanical Engineering last year in Australia, where im from.
But I do feel as though I would like to transition to Software Engineering and do it the self-taught way so thanks so much for your story,
Iv always loved Tech and I would love to work in Tech.

[AnonYmouS]

I'm a pilot and in the aerospace industry and I am considering getting into software engineering

[sumanshekhar]

I am too a software developer and have switched from Chemical Engineering, So all these CFD stuffs; your journey I can relate to so much. More power to you girl.

[seths]

thanks for sharing your background. couldn't help notice the book on your table "eat drink nap" - sounds a lot like my work from home routine 😁