"What made you decide to do a coding bootcamp?"

For those that have made a big career shift of any kind but particularly into the tech field this question is probably familiar. Changing careers from Social Work to Software Engineering has had many people asking this question, sometimes multiple times. At this point, I have most of my answer rehearsed.

• It's a field that is constantly changing
• Working remotely is more often an option - thus making it more possible to travel while working
• The emotional toll is a lot less than social work
• Opportunities are endless - jobs are available in almost every field of interest
• There's still opportunity for helping others in this line of work

This list is just a start too. Some of these are particular to my experiences and preferences. However there are plenty of shared reasons that draw people to make the change. After taking time to do some research on the job field at large, I was easily convinced this was a good decision for me. Here are three reasons that might convince you too:

Development is a growing field

In 2020, during a time that many job fields declined due to COVID, software development continued to grow. It's expected that in the next 10 years alone, the job market will grow by 20%. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates around 150,000 open positions a year. As the daughter of someone from the boomer generation, the phrase "job security" has been hammered in as an important attribute of any job decision. As far as security goes - a growth rate of 20% isn't bad.

Development is inherently a team based role

Due to the nature of projects - collaboration is an expectation in this field. The need for diversity within teams becomes more necessary due to this as well. A solid team will be communicative, diverse, and goal oriented. (This is not a complete list, but for our purposes it's enough.) For those who are like me and enjoy working with people - this is a huge draw. The initial stereotype is working on a computer by yourself. Thankfully, only half of that is true.

Software Development is a lot like puzzling

Often you'll hear that HTML is like the skeleton, CSS is like the skin, and Javascript is like the brain. Another way to look at it is that HTML and CSS are the edges and corners of a puzzle with Javascript as the the all the middle pieces. There's a lot of time figuring out how individual pieces work together, you have an idea of what the ending result will look like, and sometimes you'll want to make pieces fit that don't. Finally, both have that euphoric feeling of accomplishment when you figure out a section that was proving to be particularly difficult.

Overall, changing careers is equally terrifying and exhilarating. For me, a list makes the decision process (as well as the reminder of why I made said decision) that much easier. Whatever has lead you down this path, preparing for what's ahead, and remembering why you started down this road helps with the ups and downs.