| I switched from flight instructing to software engineering, with a stint as a waiter in the middle. Six years later I’m at Netflix. > Honestly, getting into an "actual" developer role feels as daunting today as it did when I had no work experience. Is this just a confidence thing? Yes. You know more today than you did when you started, so it should be easier. The problem is your rate of progress is low. If after 4 years you feel 10% of the way there, it’s going to feel way worse than 0 years and 0%. Remember that every software engineer knew less at some point than you do now. You need to do something to dramatically increase your progress. Pick a technology or topic and start making stuff. This stuff is all free. It’s not like you want to be a ship captain and you need a boat. The only thing in your way is your mindset. On that note, you need to become a different kind of humble. I get this “I’m no good” vibe. You need to replace that with something more neutral and concrete. Something like “I’m a beginner”. It’s the difference between “I’m weak” and “I bench 55lbs”. The latter can change. Approaching it as a career change is really the way to go. I don’t know if you were just talking about the plants, but it applies if you want to stay in software. Look at it as switching from “software guy in marketing” to “software engineer”. Its a big jump, appreciate it. Something you might not have thought of: move. That can really get things going. You could get a house in the rural part of a poor country for a few months for real cheap. Bring a few books and a laptop with you, good to go. Start sending out resumes to junior jobs when you have a month or two left. This is how I ended up at Netflix, more or less. |