Hi there, I am a software engineer with years of experience but with no online or offline presence, even the job I'm doing is quite ridiculous to the years of experience I've got. I’ve made a lot of mistakes in my software engineering career. If I could go back, there’s a lot I’m going to change. Since going back is difficult, in this article I want to share with you some advice that would be of help to anyone building a career in software engineering so no one else threads the path I went through.

1. Build A Strong Network

There is no virgin career path and you are not alone — if you are not accepted in your community, look elsewhere because the network you build determines how easily you get jobs and contract opportunities. Reputation and opportunity are everything in this industry, therefore, from the point where you write "Hello World" i.e the very beginning of your coding journey, make yourself known. Write blog articles every time you learn something new.

2. Become a Known Expert at One

Learning is expedient but learning anything or everything is irrelevant and it could let many perceive you as unserious. Knowing 1000 frameworks and programming languages is a myth — don't get me wrong, I am not saying you can't/don't learn as many frameworks or programming languages as you wish to. What I am saying in essence is that you check the market demand for a framework/programming language, choose the most promising technology you’re passionate about, and focus your entire energy on it. Become a known expert at it, gradually apply advice 1 above and let it pay off for itself in due time.

3. Be a Soft Skills Engineer

Having a cordial relationship with your computer and neglecting people will not suffice. If you want to succeed in this career as a software engineer, your people skills, social skills, communication skills, character or personality traits, attitudes, career attributes, social intelligence, emotional intelligence quotients, and collaboration skills are unavoidable. As you dedicate time and resources to learning codes, you should also get materials to help you become a soft-skills engineer.

4. Code to Impact and not Impress

The right thinking as a software engineer would be how does this line of code impact people: if you work in an organisation, your priorities should be how do my codes help this company make more money, achieve their goals and satisfy their customers. This kind of thinking would help you prioritize the right practices in coding, focus on helping and growing the business you work for and also build or contribute to the growth of software engineering communities.

5. Be Consistent

There are times you would want to quit, and times, when everything looks so unbearable, at this point all you need is consistency.

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