I am thinking about making a career change into software development. I have no background in software development, but I have had small amounts of exposure to very basic coding in the past …
I am thinking about quitting my job, and then living on my savings - which would last 6 to 8 months - to study full time (and intensely) to develop skills as a software developer. After which, the plan would be to apply for any remote entry-level software developer jobs that I can find on linked-in or anywhere else. I note that I live in the UK.
I note I am very motivated to study intensely for these 6 to 8 months … and so I expect I will make a lot of progress over that time - albeit from a very novice starting point …
The course that currently catches my eye is the low cost bootcamp on CourseCareers that TechWithTim is associated with.
so my question is: does this sound like a viable/sensible plan? Or am I taking a massive risk that is likely to leave me in a bad position in 6 to 8 months time?
And it would be good to receive advice specifically on the remote entry-level software developer opportunities that exist for someone who lives in the UK.
I don’t claim to know about your abilities or about the job market in your area, but I’m going to tell you what I would say if someone I cared about asked me this.
Your plan needs to account for the fact that it is likely to take more than a year of full-time study/practice to get a job. I think you should take the time to sit and imagine what your circumstance would be if you haven’t gotten a programming job in 6 months. Now 8 months. Now 12 months. Would you be comfortable? Would you be safe? What would you do if you have an emergency?
You may be making a plan based off of the information that there is a shortage of skilled workers in the field of software development. That is true, but “skilled workers” refers to people with strong, relevant experience. There is NOT a shortage of people who have recently completed something like a coding bootcamp. There are many more of those people than there are entry level jobs. That doesn’t mean that no one new is able to break into the field, but it does mean that first-jobs are extremely competitive.
This is always going to be anecdotal, based on personal circumstances, everyone is different. But I’m UK, experienced (10 years, multiple languages, now working as a senior engineer), and it took 6 months to find latest job. Around 2020, market was great and [again anecdotally] I and my peers were getting jobs pretty easily. That’s not the case now, and at your level you’re competing against people with years of experience (via uni).
tl/dr I would personally advise you to not leave your job, because the timeframe you’ve given yourself isn’t likely to be large enough. You’re better off working and learning in spare time, even though that is very hard