What do I wish I knew about being a software engineer/lead technologist when I was in high school or college?
First and foremost, I wish I knew more about possible career options in STEM, especially Information Technology and software engineering, which were unheard of in my South Indian childhood residence. Since my high school education was conducted from a local, government-run institute which lacked in resources, I didn’t have the opportunity of accessing and learning about computers, let alone IT or software engineering. I wish I had access to computers, and online resources, which would have greatened my knowledge about technology. If I’d known these things then, I’d have had more awareness of these career options, as well as more opportunities professionally early on in my career.
I wish I knew all the exciting things a software engineer or an IT professional could do like understanding complex problems, finding various solutions for said problems, utilizing data and solution architecture, and finally writing code to implement the aforementioned solutions. I wish I knew all the opportunities out there to create programs which, not only solved technical problems, but also made everyday life easier for people all around the globe such as automating manual processes.
I think knowing the countless ways how an IT professional or a software engineer can make immense difference to others at an earlier stage, will influence them to pursue that career choice, and at the very least, this information can become a catalyst for them to start thinking about their future.
I came to know about IT and computer science in my college education, which enabled me to pursue the career choice, but I do wish I could have learned about such topics earlier.
Srikanthi Somayajula
Senior Lead Technologist
Booz||Allen||Hamilton