Analysis of Prerequisites for a Successful Software Developer Career

This report analyzes the prerequisites for a successful career as a software developer, drawing from a TechRepublic article. It highlights the high demand for developers and the challenges in filling these roles, citing statistics on the growing need for developers and the difficulty HR departments face in recruitment. The report emphasizes the importance of technical skills, including in-demand programming languages, and non-technical skills required by companies. It also discusses career paths, salary expectations, and the lack of sufficient resources for gaining real-world experience. The analysis underscores the gap between education and practice, the financial constraints faced by aspiring developers, and the importance of acquiring skills beyond formal education to meet industry expectations. The report concludes by raising critical questions about the acquisition of additional skills, financial barriers, and available career options in the current software development landscape. It also relates the subject matter to the student's field of study, underscoring the need to focus on every aspect of software development to become a professional.

Prerequisites to Become a Professional Software Developer
Author’s Name
University Name
1. Source: Rayome, A. D. (2020, February 18). How to Become a Developer: A Cheat Sheet.
TechRepublic. Retrieved March 2, 2020, from https://www.techrepublic.com/article/how-to-
become-a-developer-a-cheat-sheet/
2. Article URL: www.techrepublic.com
3. Summary:
In this article, the author specifies the prerequisites to becoming a software developer. Rayome
shares insight into the primary reasons why there is a high demand for software developers in the
market today. She even shares statistics on the difficulty of filling job openings for technological
profiles by an HR. According to the recent predictions by the US Bureau of Labor and Statistics, the
growth in the number of developers is about 24% but the requirements is about 31%. The author
shares other resources that can be consulted by a developer to gain knowledge about the skill
expectations of the major software development companies worldwide and how these can be met by
an aspiring developer.
The author further expresses the need for consideration of different career paths by a software
developer if the skill set required are not met with. Furthermore, there is a clear description on the
programming languages that are highest in demand and the other skill sets apart from technical
know-how that are considered to be a prerequisite for a software developer before he/she must apply
for a job to become a professional in any reputed company in today’s business environment. Apart
from this, the author takes the opportunity to share knowledge about the salary expectations that the
software developers can have and the regions that offer the highest packages for a software
developer. The information is intended to inspire software developers to work towards their goals.

However, the author also shares a concern on the absence of sufficient number of resources for
students to gain enough experience or knowledge about development before they actually step into
the market and experiment with their skills.
4. Relation to Life
The relativity of the issue is very high to the current environment that software developers
function in. The issue of absence of enough resources to gain real-time experience before becoming a
professional is widely identified. Acquiring a successful career in the field of software development
is not as easy as it looks. The gap between education and the practice is large and the developers are
required to gain many other skills before they can step up towards the application of a professional
job career in the field. There definitely exist bootcamps and other resources that are made available;
however, the field of software development is not easy to function in, how much so ever lucrative it
may seem to be. Furthermore, the relativity of the subject is very high today as there exist several
students who cannot acquire enough funds to participate in camps or acquire additional skills to
become a professional software developer. There are several cases where developers have failed to
reach up to the expectations of companies and are stuck in a loophole that does not allow them to
move forward or backward.
5. Relation to the Field of Study
The relativity of the subject to the field of my study is very high. Through the research conducted
by the author, I have been able to come across some glaring truths about my field of study and the
need to focus on every aspect of software development in the best possible manner to be able to
become a professional software developer. The need to understand the basics and the skills that are
required apart from the general education has given information on the long road ahead before an
actual job can be won. Although there exists several gaps in the industry of software development
and the number of job vacancies are high; however, the criteria to be met for a developer is also very

high that leaves candidates unable to work towards their dream and eventually look for other career
options to survive in the market.
6. Questions that Remain
a. Do all software developers get the additional skills required to become a professional
software developer and achieve success?
b. Is it possible for every aspiring software developer to accumulate funds to gain the
extensive education and additional skills to make a mark in the field?
c. What are the career options that software developers have and how far can they go in
terms of their career growth in today’s environment?