Should You Pursue Software Engineering? My Honest Advice
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- Опубліковано 21 січ 2025
- Are you curious if software engineering is the right path for you? After 26 years in the field, working as a Fractional CTO and Architect at Amazon, I’m sharing my personal take on what truly qualifies someone to pursue this incredible career. Spoiler alert: it’s not just about technical skills.
In this video, I’ll break down three key qualities that every great software engineer embodies: curiosity, a love for solving puzzles, and the ability to visualize complexity. These traits can set you apart and help you thrive in a field that's both challenging and deeply rewarding.
I’ll also share my journey-from discovering a discarded Windows 3.1 computer as a kid to building websites, writing my first game in QBasic, and eventually becoming a part of some of the most innovative teams in the world. My story isn’t just about passion for technology-it’s about embracing challenges, finding joy in the process, and the endless possibilities that software can create.
Whether you're considering a career in tech or are already a professional looking to reconnect with your "why," this video is for you. Let’s dive into what it really takes to excel in software engineering, and why this craft is one of the most fulfilling paths you can take.
Thanks for your video. I have been on the fence about whether to stop pursuing software engineering, but seeing how much you care about it really reminded me a bit about why I like the field and made the choice to go into it in the first place. But one thing is that I have never been as diligent and passionate as you are and never will be. You offered so much to the industry, and I don’t think I’ll ever get anywhere close to your level. I’ve never built a game engine or did anything personal projects that advanced. You were a gift to this industry, but since I will never get anywhere close to that point, I don’t know if it will matter whether I get in, and I will never deserve it.
Aw mate your words are too kind and you are way too hard on yourself. First of all there is no obligation to do anything for anyone. Do stuff for yourself and chase the dopamine. That thing we do when we compare ourselves to others has a positive and a negative side. When I was young it propelled me to make better sites and if competition fuels you then great. Yet if you place your own personal value by contrasting others that’s not a path to happiness. I truly hope you continue to build and make stuff. It doesn’t have to ground breaking as long as you’re having fun and learning. Wishing you much love and positivity!
Love your takes. Cheers from Portugal !
Thank you friend! And thank you for watching!
I like bitmaps, bits, bytes even today. That's why I like programming. The only bad part is when a company grows over the top on my head. It slowly turns soulless and I need to escape from that. They don't care what you do, they just want more money. But only prom passion it is difficult to pay the bills. Sometimes I dream about how easy would be to work in a factory. But we are programming that easiness away too, make it obsolete... As more we automate life, we have to deal with bigger chaos, but nobody cares as long as it means exponentially growing profits....
I love this thoughtful and earnest comment.
Here are my two cents on what I believe you’re experiencing and what I’ve observed in my world.
There is nothing wrong with software being a hobby. In fact I wish more people had that kind of love for the craft and something I really am making a mission in this channel (particularly with the build type of videos). Making something from nothing is fun.
Working in corporations, especially the mid sized ones can be very difficult for some and I’ve seen far too many people become jaded by “management”.
When you join a company that company typically exists to provide value or to serve other people who pay to have their problems solved. Some engineers lose sight of this and become frustrated by their managers who are advocating for the end result and don’t particularly care how the cake is made. It’s tough. We can talk about technical debt and quality and something I hope to dive into in the future.
That being said, there are also incompetent managers who are more about playing politics than serving the end user and simultaneously have no respect for what you do. In my opinion, it’s the number one reason to begin looking for a new employer. Not even someone working on a factory line should feel like they don’t matter.
As for the future. This is a philosophical question and while nobody knows I believe humans are destined for more than labor. We’re here to have more human experiences. By ourselves. With others. To learn, to create, to nurture, and entertain etc…
I replied earlier with a similar sentiment. Nihilism and pessimism will not make us happy. Let’s stay positive about the future.
Thank you again for your comment. I can sense your passion and felt the need to reciprocate
@@softwareovercoffee Thank You for the good thoughts!
Indeed nihilism is no good, it only preserves energy in the present moment.
This is my positivity for today: I will work on my code completion solution. The faster I can start using it, the sooner my future become simpler and more controllable. And if my boss is scared of this, because he don't see the connection between this and his automated machines, he either have to sit down for an hour and take time to understand (quite impossible, his time==money, and also too much information), or do the thing between healthy minded humans -> trust.
I had found the perfect exotic programming language for my needs, it is only tooling that sucks in it, but with using the language I can happily solve that.
I can feel how you are passionate about technic. Personnaly i will love to be like that, if i am like that and i think at a certain point i am. my hope is that i will keep this mentality :)
Keep it simple. Put on music you like and find those opportunities to lock in to what you’re doing. Getting into flow when building things is incredibly rewarding be it building a bird house or debugging an issue in the logs. As long as you keep on moving forward.
excited for the future vids!
Appreciate you! I’m pretty excited for the next one as well :)
Good advice. I would cut back on the yayo though
😂
@@ThatBigGuyAl thanks my guy
Maybe he's just REALLY tired!!
yes lets start the video with intense sweating, that answers it all.
Thanks for watching and leaving a comment. I’ll definitely mess around with some of my OBS settings and see if can up the resolution for the next one. Wishing you plenty of hugs this week my guy
You have earned a new subscriber, Mishka. Thank you for sharing your thought! I'm looking forward to watching more exciting videos.
Thank you so much. I'm so glad this video has been well received. Feeling a bit under at the moment but pushing forward to get the next one out this week :)
@@softwareovercoffee feel better :)
Thank you so much for sharing your story-it was incredibly inspiring. I completely agree with sticking to what you love. Initially, I was really into sports and fascinated by exercise science, but after coming to the U.S., I realized it required long-term research. I switched to computer science but found it pretty dull. Then, I moved to finance, and now AI has caught my attention. When I saw the possibilities with AI, I was amazed at how much creativity it allows.
I’m currently thinking about pursuing AI through computer science to become an AI engineer, but I’m still unsure if it’s the right path. Honestly, life always feels a bit confusing, and I think that’s normal. I’d love to hear your thoughts if you have the time. Your video was fantastic-please keep creating great content!
Thanks again
Fr 😂
@@Xun_Liu_International I really appreciate this comment!
There is a good book I used to recommend called Finding Your Element which is about finding your thing. It boiled down to an intersection of three things. Something you’re good at, something you enjoy, something people need. If you discover that intersection it can translate into a positive long term career.
While I don’t disagree with the author in my experience I’ve seen people switch careers many times. Becoming good at something or even testing if you are good at something can also be a misleading indicator. And most people, not all, gravitate to things people need. For instance AI is definitely trending :)
No one can tell you what is the right thing for you. I can simultaneously encourage you about the AI field and discourage you. There are really dope moments and there are boring slugs but that is true for most things.
Where I personally find joy is in building, being creative, learning, getting better at stuff, and eventually it became teaching (but not at first).
I’ve planned most of the videos I’d like to make for this channel in 2025 and a lot of them are selfish in nature because I want to do them. At the same time I also wanted to make videos that would inspire people to build stuff.
I want to cycle between these types of rants, videos where we build stuff, reading some scientific papers, and a few high level architecture things. Just all around flavor :)
Good luck Xun Liu!
@@softwareovercoffee Thank you so much, Mishka, for recommending this book to me. I think you’re absolutely right about doing something you’re good at, something you enjoy, and something people need.
When I was studying during my undergraduate years, I found my field of study rather boring at first. At that time, I started looking at what was in demand. For example, back in those days, I noticed that in remote areas where I lived, there was a lack of delivery services. People complained a lot about the absence of food and package delivery options. I was living in a small rural village at the time, and later, this became a significant trend in the industry.
I switched careers due to the unique circumstances of 2020 during the global pandemic. Many people were forced to change jobs as a result of fewer opportunities in specific fields. Initially, I thought about becoming a PE teacher or a sports medicine researcher, but I realized that this path might not fully meet my personal or financial goals.
Now, I’ve been diving into AI, as you mentioned, which has become a trending field. My first exposure to programming was through computer science courses where I learned C++. Honestly, I didn’t enjoy it at all-it was frustratingly strict, and a single misplaced semicolon could ruin everything. However, moving into AI has been a mixed journey. Many people encourage me, but there are also industry peers who discourage me.
I’m currently trying to create joy and improve myself through my projects. Before diving into AI and programming, I used to work in social media back in China. I started creating content around 2017-2018 when TikTok was just beginning. Some of my videos reached tens of millions of views in other countries. I have to say, the excitement and intensity of social media content creation often surpass those of other fields.
I’m incredibly grateful to you for introducing me to this book and for mentioning reading scientific papers and exploring advanced architecture-related content. These are areas I haven’t delved into before, as I’ve mainly focused on chatting and hands-on video creation. Thank you so much for providing me with such valuable insights to enrich my knowledge.
I wish your channel tremendous success and hope you’ll soon reach one million subscribers.
Thanks again!
@@Xun_Liu_International tech winter is the biggest problem, software engineering is moving from development mode to maintenance mode, the golden age of this field was when covid cause everything needs to be digital from all industries like ecommerce, rtn covid is done, and the activity is normal, most people dont want to rely on ecommerce cause additional cost for shipping service, rtn they prefer to go to offline store, so rtn i am moving from SWE to Malware Analysis cuz i love it so much and has a lot off demand cuz the increasing cyber attack, let me know your thought :)
why does it feel like im learning from theprimeagen but who has become calm.. hope to learn more ... thanks
Had to look him up and what an honor to be compared to someone so much further along in the YT journey. Hope to live up to expectations. Hope it's been a nice weekend for you so far
That feeling of wanting to be surrounded by people who are also passionate is how I felt in school for years. I graduate next semester, and I took a two year break from my CS degree. I experienced the software field and CS before and after COVID-19. The culture and general mentality surrounding CS and software engineering completely shifted in that time. There felt like there were way more people who were genuinely passionate about the subject in university prepandemic. Upon re-arrival to school I was disappointed to find people actually interested in the field were now few and far between. For better or for worse more and more people are joining the field solely due to the pay. It's not inherently bad, but it brings my morale and motivation down. It used to be easy to find friends interested in working on side projects or hackathons. Not really the case now.
I think you really understand the feelings I’m trying to convey. What I will say is that as much as things have changed they’ve also stayed the same. Since my hobby became a profession I’ve encountered plenty of folks who pursued the craft simply due to supply/demand economics. I will assure you that’s not everyone. Those that really enjoy the work stick around :)
finally he has come to youtube
Appreciate you :) my initial goal is to be consistent and get my passion across. Small steps :)
Who is this guy? Showed up in my recommendations. I'm currently a software engineer, started off at bottom as IT support/jr sysadmin -> devop/software engineer (small company many hats) now working for one of the big defense contractors as a software dev 3.5 years into career no degree.
Edit: I meant does he have a presence elsewhere? Watching video now and know he works at Amazon maybe I'll find my answer in video
@@christopherwilliams6746 Just some guy but I'm glad you found me!
I just got rejected from a Meta job. I'm not sure how to feel about it. Part of me knows I wouldn't want to be a software engineer. I have been a developer before, and it wasn't a fun time. The reason I applied was because I need a job and no sane person would turn down the opportunity. I do enjoy working on cloud technology more than software development. Part of me wonders how cool it would be to work at such a great company, but part of me knows just how stressful it would be.
Environments at FANG like companies are very stressful. We all have our reasons but burnout is real. In my opinion the best reason to pursue working at these companies is the opportunity to work with other really smart and motivated individuals.
With that being said never place your self worth into a job interview. You can apply a billion times and eventually get in if that’s what you really want.
Embrace failure as just an opportunity to get better. The more comfortable we are with sucking at stuff the faster we grow.
Beneath all of that software has a lot of things you can focus on. On this channel I hope to cover very different aspects of the craft and the goal is to help inspire interest in at least one of them. Keep trying and searching for your thing and keep getting better not for others but for yourself.
@@softwareovercoffee Thank you for thoughtful response. Your words mean a lot to me at this time. I hope you know it. I will keep my head up and continue to work hard to improve myself and look out for myself and my own growth and interest.
If you like tech, it also helps to remember you are never limited to cloud tech or software engineering if you happen to not like those particular fields. There are so many interesting niches out there. If you stick with tech, I hope you find something that makes you happy!
Hi Mishka. Thank you for sharing your opinion! Exited for what you have to share next.
Thank you so much for taking a moment to watch and listen. Really appreciate you!
I am going to start my masters in Machine Intelligence and Data Science. Is it ok? I am jut scared don't know why.
You eat an elephant one bite at a time. When you get anxiety about something. Process it for a second. Change your mind with some positive affirmations and just do the work. Keep a clear head and make sure you are paying attention to the material and not some internal dialogue that’s not serving you. Good luck you got this :)
Hi friend, as a final year master's student in the field, I can tell you that it is a lot of hard work but definitely rewarding. I never thought I'd be a final year in an Ivy League-level college studying this stuff, but I'm doing surprisingly well. From my experience, it does open up new opportunities - no doubt. However, I don't know how much in the grand scheme of things. Employers will always take someone with years of experience in the role, even if they don't have the 'expert' -level education you have. Study it for yourself is my best advice.
I still have until 2026 when I finish my CS degree and I'm beginning to think I'm wasting my time. Perhaps I should pursue a real engineering degree (considering environmental engineering) which I see a lot of jobs for in my city -- not so many SWE jobs here. Plus, it's not oversaturated.
Timing the markets as we march towards singularity is impossible to predict. Pursue what you enjoy and work on becoming better at it everyday.
I mentioned in the video what drew me to software. You can experiment and get better without needing to buy things like robotics or traditional engineering. That kind of freedom was very appealing to me personally. If you’re interested in environmental engineering you could learn GIS and create prediction models around human activity. You could learn OpenGL and create visual simulations. There’s really no limit but your imagination.
Wishing you a good day and clarity :)
What about hard working and ability to focus on something (for hours)? I have the feeling the IT industry (compared to other) is something "special/privileged" and people do not actually know about the basics ..
True
I've had dozens of jobs outside of software. One of my first was assembling glass kits (which was akin to standing on the line). I've loaded an unloaded delivery trucks. Worked at a gas station. Spent time working night shifts as an EMT dispatcher and a number of others. Hard work was very well instilled in me and something I took pride in.
I've also worked with a number of engineers who exemplified hard work and eventually grew to like software engineering. Yet it was far more common for me to see people who entered the field after putting in a lot of work only to become very dissatisfied and lazy once they "reached their goal".
Hard work is a really important life skill. My hope is that people find more joy in what they do and work feels less like work. In my opinion it's a better way to live.
@@softwareovercoffee I fully agree that enjoying your work is the best possible thing that can happen (speaking from personal experience). This is also one of the privileges we have in the IT industry - build something from the ground up, solve puzzles etc etc. What I see though being underappreciated, or actually probably simply not realized is, that the pay is pretty good for the work done. Because the next job is around the corner, some become complacent, lazy also because they are too smart, can do the task for less time, and use the rest for something else (incl. private projects or freelancing!). A real pity, as other professions actually get less money for harder and less enjoyable work ...
In what way do you think IT is special? Just that it is well paid for the amount of work?
What do you mean by basics too? Assembly? Compilers? CPUs? Tcp/ip/sockets? Or more so about the DOM vs say react/angular/Vue?
Hey there, guy on youtube. Real thanks for sharing your thoughts!
Haha thanks so much -- guy on the internet
Subscribed
🙏 thank you!
Seeing your facial expression in the 5 seconds tells me it's a no, end of video, giving up on the dream
💀 😅 I believe in you!
😍😍😍
software engineering as a viable approach to the job market will be dead by the end of 2027 the latest. 2 letters... AI
Depends what you consider software engineering. Most of us don’t write in assembly anymore. We also don’t go around planting potatoes by hand.
Привіт побратиме. Далі я з тобою
Thanks comrade. Grateful you tuned in
Don’t do it less competition for me
bro im not throwing any shade, but you are not a competition to the coming wave of AI. Just facts
Iron sharpens iron
If you want to make money, no.
I would love to see more people do what they love than what they think they must. Every profession is at risk but if you can get lost in your “work” then you’re a slave only to yourself.
Stay positive. Only way to live.