Self trained SWE here. AP CS in HS, 1 CS class in college. Two degrees in archaeology which I studied and worked in on three continents (and an island).
- Why did you get into the field? What did you focus on at first?
It was kind of an accident. Archaeology is inherently destructive, so data management is pretty important. I'd always been on the data and mapping side. I wound up in a data production/management role at a government agency. We had a web mapping product delivered that didn't do what we needed, and it landed on my desk to figure out if we could use it to improve our internal workflows... and so I fiddled and read, and fiddled and watched Doug Crockford's videos, and fiddled and went to see John Resig speak at a meetup... and along the way released multiple little (and eventually big) tools to help my colleagues get stuff done. 3 years later I was speaking at conferences about the technical side of what we were doing, not the archaeological side. Asking some good questions to a co-panelist in the municipal SaaS space led to more discussions and a job offer.
- What are you doing at your job? Is it everything you dreamed of and more?
I'm an engineering team lead at a company that handles a lot of traffic, doing everything from new product development, bug fixes, R&D, and more. It's fun and interesting. Is it what I dreamed of? Not at all. I didn't set out seeking this, just followed the opportunities as they happened. I do miss working outside and digging in the dirt though, but definitely enjoy the stability, lack of poison ivy, salary and benefits.
- How did you break that first-job barrier?
There were two barriers, neither of which I set out to break.... the first barrier was "how did I get the Archaeology job to let me spend time learning and fiddling", while the second barrier was "how did I get that first job where they actually hired me to do software developent". To the first barrier, I built tools. Tools beget more tools, beget absurd amounts of time saved, which led to bosses willing to let me say "I have an idea, I know its possible, I'm sure I can build a "good enough" version, I just need time to figure it out."
To the second barrier, I asked questions, I answered questions, I went to lectures and was lucky.
- What were you doing before this?
Archaeology. Shovel Bum. GIS.
- Any tips for the rest of us?
The things I'm most proud of that I've built over the last 15 years are tools that let other people do more, be more productive, answer questions, see data, better help their citizens, etc. If you're in any sort of knowledge/data intensive/adjacent role, almost certainly there are data systems that could be improved, optimized, etc. Routine tasks that could be partially automated. Listen to the workflows, learn the pain points, and find a way to improve them.
- Why did you get into the field? What did you focus on at first?
It was kind of an accident. Archaeology is inherently destructive, so data management is pretty important. I'd always been on the data and mapping side. I wound up in a data production/management role at a government agency. We had a web mapping product delivered that didn't do what we needed, and it landed on my desk to figure out if we could use it to improve our internal workflows... and so I fiddled and read, and fiddled and watched Doug Crockford's videos, and fiddled and went to see John Resig speak at a meetup... and along the way released multiple little (and eventually big) tools to help my colleagues get stuff done. 3 years later I was speaking at conferences about the technical side of what we were doing, not the archaeological side. Asking some good questions to a co-panelist in the municipal SaaS space led to more discussions and a job offer.
- What are you doing at your job? Is it everything you dreamed of and more?
I'm an engineering team lead at a company that handles a lot of traffic, doing everything from new product development, bug fixes, R&D, and more. It's fun and interesting. Is it what I dreamed of? Not at all. I didn't set out seeking this, just followed the opportunities as they happened. I do miss working outside and digging in the dirt though, but definitely enjoy the stability, lack of poison ivy, salary and benefits.
- How did you break that first-job barrier?
There were two barriers, neither of which I set out to break.... the first barrier was "how did I get the Archaeology job to let me spend time learning and fiddling", while the second barrier was "how did I get that first job where they actually hired me to do software developent". To the first barrier, I built tools. Tools beget more tools, beget absurd amounts of time saved, which led to bosses willing to let me say "I have an idea, I know its possible, I'm sure I can build a "good enough" version, I just need time to figure it out."
To the second barrier, I asked questions, I answered questions, I went to lectures and was lucky.
- What were you doing before this?
Archaeology. Shovel Bum. GIS.
- Any tips for the rest of us?
The things I'm most proud of that I've built over the last 15 years are tools that let other people do more, be more productive, answer questions, see data, better help their citizens, etc. If you're in any sort of knowledge/data intensive/adjacent role, almost certainly there are data systems that could be improved, optimized, etc. Routine tasks that could be partially automated. Listen to the workflows, learn the pain points, and find a way to improve them.