{"id":1,"date":"2022-01-05T00:32:45","date_gmt":"2022-01-05T00:32:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/kcproduct\/?p=1"},"modified":"2022-01-07T00:24:55","modified_gmt":"2022-01-07T00:24:55","slug":"hello-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/kcproduct\/2022\/01\/05\/hello-world\/","title":{"rendered":"So, You Don’t Want to Code?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I\u2019m one class away from graduating with a computer science degree, and I don\u2019t want to code for a living. It may be fair to ask, are you nuts? The huge salaries, the opportunity to make an impact on software used by millions, the respect you get from peers, the free office snacks. THE FREE OFFICE SNACKS! Are. You. Nuts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well, I may be (likely), but not for choosing something other than software engineering as my career path. It turns out that just because you got a CS degree, it doesn\u2019t mean you HAVE to code. And before I go too far down this path, let me just clarify that this is not an attempt to bash software engineering at all. It\u2019s an incredible career for so many reasons, even beyond those listed in the opener, but it\u2019s not for me. Nope \u2013 instead, I\u2019m going a different route. So, I\u2019m guessing two questions are running through your head now:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. Why would you get CS degree and not pursue software engineering?<\/li>
  2. What are you going to do instead?<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    <\/div>\n\n\n\n

    So, you don’t want to code – why not?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
    <\/div>\n\n\n\n

    We\u2019ll get to that and more here shortly. I hope I can open your eyes to some opportunities available to those who love tech, but don\u2019t necessarily want to eat 1\u2019s and 0\u2019s for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    I think it\u2019s worth mentioning that I really do enjoy programming. In fact, that\u2019s why I decided to pursue my CS degree in the first place. I had a chance to develop some automation scripts at work and thought I was living in the Matrix. That led me to Harvard\u2019s CS50 course, and I was hooked. I was going to become a software engineer and develop the latest and greatest websites, apps, and whatever else was needed to solve the world\u2019s problems. But something changed about halfway through the program. I had just completed CS 290 (web development), and the glamour had worn off. I didn\u2019t realize it in the moment, but after reflecting on the first half of my degree, I think I had been running on an adrenaline high that was fueling my pursuit of a new career as a programmer. It wasn\u2019t that I didn\u2019t still enjoy programming but doing so within the confines of someone else telling me what to do was getting old. I enjoyed my side projects, I enjoyed learning new technologies, and I liked reading about the latest tech, but I was beginning to doubt that software engineering was the career path I was meant to pursue after all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    <\/div>\n\n\n\n

    After a minor moment of panic that I had sacrificed a lot of money, sleep, and energy for nothing, I started moving. I didn\u2019t know where I was going, but I knew I needed to do something, and I wish I could tell you I had a well thought out plan that had goals and deliverables and milestones\u2026 I didn\u2019t. Instead, I just started talking to people. I told them how I was feeling. Thankfully, I work at a tech company and had the ability to meet up with engineers who had been doing it a while. I started each conversation the same way, saying \u201cDid I screw up?\u201d It was vulnerable, sometimes pathetic, but through those conversations, I learned a lot about myself. It\u2019s funny how others sometimes know you better than you know yourself, or at least can help describe you in ways that affirm what you had doubts about. I learned that some of my natural dispositions (outgoing, active, big-picture oriented, enjoying the gray over black and white) might be at odds with what I perceived a software engineering job would look like day to day. I had to find out if that was true or not, so I asked my manager and several of those engineers if I could shadow them for a while. It was the best decision I\u2019ve ever made. I saw what their day to day looked like, which had always been a mystery to me. Sure, you can find 1,000 YouTube videos about what a day in the life of a software engineer at \u201cinsert impressive tech company name here\u201d looks like, but was that reality? The answer turned out to be yes and no. Things I didn\u2019t like after shadowing:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    1. The engineers didn\u2019t have much say what they worked on. This might not be the case at all companies, but in our company that practices scrum, the engineering lead would assign a story to you, and it was your job to turn it around in 2 weeks.<\/li>
    2. The engineers were disconnected from the larger picture. Occasionally they would get demos from the product team or marketing, but their job was to complete their story.<\/li>
    3. A lot of time was spent reviewing other\u2019s code and writing tests. This might be a huge plus for some, but it\u2019s not for me. Seeing this in action helped me realize it, and further confirmed that programming for me is fun until it becomes something that is serious.<\/li>
    4. Outside of the daily scrum meeting and code reviews, engineers spent their time with headphones on and fingers typing. You can make the role more collaborative if you want to, but I think it\u2019s fair to say that software engineers typically spend more time in their own head rather than interacting with others.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

      Things I did like after shadowing:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      1. Solving problems with technology. I loved asking questions about how the work they were doing fit into the bigger picture. Why were they creating that specific feature in the mobile app? How did they decide it was the right idea to pursue instead of x, y, or z?<\/li>
      2. The team structure. While the work effort was mostly individual, the whole team was working towards a common goal which seemed motivating to me.<\/li>
      3. The deliverable. I was able to observe a sprint demo where each of the engineers showed off the result of their 2 weeks\u2019 worth of sprint work. It was code come to life in a product, and oh how sweet it was.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

        I spent time pouring over these conclusions and asking my peers what they thought. To them, it was like a big flashing sign,  like one of those that you see on top of every casino in Vegas, but instead of saying come gamble, the sign said \u201cPRODUCT MANAGEMENT\u201d. I spent time familiarizing myself with product management roles, learning more about what they\u2019re asked to do and what makes a good one, and I walked away hooked. My takeaways from this for anyone else in a similar situation are twofold:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        1. If you have doubts, explore them, don\u2019t run from them. Through your exploration, you\u2019ll either confirm software engineering is for you and feel motivated to continue working towards that goal, or you\u2019ll realize it\u2019s not and you\u2019ll gain a freedom that allows you to pursue another path without guilt.<\/li>
        2. Lean on friends and peers to help you out. It requires being vulnerable, but it\u2019s worth it. What was so obvious to others was difficult for me to see.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n
          <\/div>\n\n\n\n

          So, you don\u2019t want to code \u2013 how about a career in product?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
          <\/div>\n\n\n\n

          Product management, like software engineering, has the potential to be an extremely rewarding career. All of those benefits I listed in the opening sentence of this post \u2013 yeah, they apply to product management too. Wherever you find software engineers creating a product, you\u2019re bound to find a product manager who owns the vision for the product. Product management might be right for you if:<\/p>\n\n\n\n