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How To Become a Software Engineer Without Degree
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How To Become a Software Engineer Without a Degree in 2024

14 minute read | December 20, 2023
Sakshi Gupta

Written by:
Sakshi Gupta

Ready to launch your career?

As the tech industry has continued to boom in recent years, creating exciting jobs that are often coupled with lucrative salaries, it’s no surprise that a growing number of people are making career changes to get in on the action. Specifically: looking for a software engineer job.

While some of those transitioning into the tech workforce already have a background in software engineering or hold a relevant college degree, a growing contingent is starting from scratch, enrolling in specific training programs, online courses or bootcamps to shore up their skills and prepare them for a new career. And it’s working. You can become a software engineer without a degree. Course Report has found that when it comes to return on investment, coding bootcamps and other online courses “require less time, less money, and offer nearly equal earnings when compared to a CS degree.” HR professionals at some of the world’s top tech companies have also stressed the importance of a candidate’s skill and attitude during a software engineer job interview over the school listed on their CV. In other words, a software development bootcamp is the perfect place to launch a lucrative software engineering career, even without a degree.

All of this is to say that whether you’re new to the workforce or ready to make a mid-career leap and become a software engineer without a degree, coding bootcamps can help aspiring software engineers realize their potential. The following guide offers key strategies for ensuring you have all the necessary software development skills, from writing software applications to master computer programming languages, to take on a software engineering job and stand out from a competitive hiring pool of qualified software developers.

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What Does a Software Engineer Do?

A software engineer is a professional who designs, develops, tests, and maintains software applications. They use their knowledge of computer science and engineering principles to create software that is efficient, reliable, and easy to use. Software engineers also work on ensuring that software products are secure and meet regulatory requirements. Having said that, every software developer job is different, and depending on your field of interest, you may have to learn software engineering skills that match the industry you like. A coding bootcamp can help refresh or supplement those skills, or help you master the programming languages you need.

Some of the specific tasks that a software engineer might do during their software engineering career include:

  • Gathering and analyzing requirements: A software engineer has to understand the needs of the client or end user and translate them into technical specifications.
  • Designing software architecture: A software engineer will create a blueprint for how the software will be structured and how the different components will interact with each other.
  • Coding: A software engineer writes the actual code that makes up the software application.
  • Testing: A software engineer tests the software to ensure that it meets its requirements and does not contain any errors.
  • Debugging: A software engineer has to fix any errors that are found in the software.
  • Maintaining: The software engineer maintains the software to fix bugs, add new features, and improve performance, e.g. in web development.

Bear in mind that one software engineering job can vary dramatically from the next, so there’s no telling what your software engineering career is going to look like or what software engineer skills you’ll need.

Can You Become a Software Engineer Without a Degree?

Yes, you can become a software engineer without a degree. In fact, it’s not uncommon for bootcamp graduates and self-taught individuals to have an advantage over recent college graduates — several hiring managers have said that fresh graduates lack skill in writing production-ready code — in other words, their capstone projects remain prototypes, so they might not have real-world experience in developing and testing complete solutions. Software development bootcamps and online courses, meanwhile, are geared toward making graduates workforce-ready. You can land a software engineer job as a self-taught software developer without a degree. There are plenty of computer software engineering jobs that focus on skills and software programs, not a degree.

  1. Complete a Course

  2. Perfect Your Prerequisites

  3. Refine Your Coding Skills

  4. Practice With Coding Projects

  5. Network or Find a Mentor

  6. Build a Portfolio

  7. Consider Related Jobs

  8. Practice Your Interview Skills

  9. Work Towards the Job You Want

How To Become a Software Engineer Without a Degree

software engineer without degree

Complete a Course

You don’t need a Computer Science Degree to become a software engineer or software developer, but successfully completing a short course or qualification can boost your odds of getting a job. There are two ways you could go about this. Your first option is an intensive software engineering bootcamp. These bootcamps are great if you’re already self-taught or have some skills you’d like to refine. We’d also recommend completing a Software Engineer Career Track Prep Course. These courses take just 4-6 weeks and will give you all of the tools you need to launch your career in software engineering without a degree.

Perfect Your Prerequisites

Software development is a highly technical profession that requires in-depth knowledge of web development tools and platforms, programming languages, and server- and client-side technology. When developing your software engineering skills, be sure to familiarize yourself with the following:

  • Containers. Containers allow software engineers to optimize for multiple operating systems. Containers bundle the software that engineers develop into virtual packages that can speak to a variety of different operating systems. As a software developer, proficiency in either Docker or Kubernetes will give you an edge.
  • Cloud platforms. As tech continues to shift towards big data, software engineers continue to hone their skills in cloud platforms such as AWS (Amazon Web Services) and GCP (Google Cloud Platform). Cloud platforms allow companies and products to scale and require software engineers to have experience working with cloud-native applications. Products or platforms that promote strengths in data science, artificial intelligence, or machine learning all utilize cloud platforms.
  • Version control tools (Github). When a software engineer writes code, they store it in a platform called a “source-control.” If teams of software engineers are all writing code for the same product or application, version control tools allow them to collaborate without interfering with each other’s work. Github is overwhelmingly popular and is the best version control tool for software engineering beginners.

Refine Your Coding Skills

Refine Your Coding Skills
  1. Python. Currently one of the most popular programming languages in the world, Python allows software engineers a common and open-source language to use for general-purpose programming. Python offers a dynamic feature set that is portable across a variety of operating systems. Python also has automatic memory management – this means that software engineers don’t have to keep manual tabs on memory management. Python is one of the most key skills for software engineers today.
  2. Javascript. Another general-purpose programming language, Java has nearly a two-decade run of being a foundational object-oriented language and one of the most important skills for software engineers to know. Java is particularly trusted by software engineers due to its strength in security. Also platform-agnostic, Java enables software engineers a reliably safe and design-friendly language that can find them jobs almost anywhere.
  3. SQL. More than 30 years old now, SQL is one of the most
    widespread database languages. Software engineers typically aren’t responsible for maintaining or organizing databases, but they do need to understand how to navigate databases so that they can build programs that speak to them.
  4. Ruby. Developed originally in 2011, Ruby is another object-oriented language that software engineers utilize to build web applications at a high pace. Often, Ruby is paired with the Ruby on Rails framework. Open-sourced as well, Ruby also utilizes automatic memory management (or “garbage collection”) to support multiple programming paradigms or features.

If you have these skills thanks to a coding bootcamp, you can become a software engineer without a degree.

Get To Know Other Software Engineering Students

Nadia Luna

Nadia Luna

Student at Springboard Software Engineering Bootcamp

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Jack Mayer

Jack Mayer

Software Engineer at Whitepages

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Rafael Alvarado

Rafael Alvarado

IT Support Engineer at Amazon

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Practice With Coding Projects

If you don’t have work experience, this section is the most important part of your resume. Projects can be anything programming-related, be it a Python script, Java program, webpage, or mobile app. Don’t just list the technologies and languages you know; show how you’ve used them. Assuming you’re submitting an electronic copy of your resume, embed hyperlinks to each project within your resume.

Select projects that show a variety of skills, such as using standard frameworks/libraries, understanding full-stack development, creating mobile apps, and setting up a development environment.

Many software developers use their GitHub profile as both a portfolio and a place where they practice coding projects because it shows potential hiring managers all of the open-source projects you’ve contributed to as well as projects you’ve started. Your dashboard indicates at-a-glance how often you commit code and how popular your code is. Consequently, GitHub is one of the first destinations hiring managers go to evaluate a candidate’s web presence. (Related Read: Software Developer vs. Software Engineer: What’s the Difference?)

When it comes to optimizing your GitHub profile, consistent activity on the site is a key factor. Your profile lists your contributions to repositories with a color-coded heat map broken down by month and year. Each individual contribution needn’t be major — it could be a bug fix, feature suggestion, or commit message — but you should make sure you create proper documentation each time. Remember, a good coder also knows how to write documentation for other humans to engage with their code.

When you create your own project, a well-written ReadMe file is one of the most important parts of a good repository. It tells people:

  • What is the code for
  • How to build/install the code
  • How to contribute to the project

When you contribute to an open-source project, write a detailed commit message to explain why you changed the code. This helps a recruiter assess how well you’ll work on a team.

  • The subject line should describe what was changed in 50 characters or less. Also, include a short annotation about the type of commit, such as a big fix, feature, change to the documentation and so on.
  • The body should give a more detailed description of the change. This should typically be 72 characters per line to ensure that the message fits into a terminal window when using Git on the command line.

Network or Find a Mentor

software engineer without degree - Network or Find a Mentor

One of the most common ways in which software engineers learn about job opportunities is through word-of-mouth and referrals. Because of this, it’s important to build out a network of industry mentors and peers who, in addition to sharing job news, can also offer professional guidance. If you’re currently enrolled in a bootcamp or online course, make the most of the support network of mentors and career counselors available to you. If you’re working for an organization, proactively reach out to software engineers and managers within the company. A mentor can help you become a software engineer without a degree.

Build a Portfolio

software engineer without degree - Build a Portfolio

‌Start working on building different applications that showcase your software engineering skills. Think about the kind of position you’d like to hold within a company. Your portfolio should contain a variety of applications to let interviewers see that you can back up the skills highlighted in your resume. 

Expand beyond the projects you built for school or through a bootcamp. Talk about how your work on different projects impacted your desire to continue pursuing software engineering. Create projects that highlight your innovation and ability to develop solutions that can benefit companies where you wish to apply. This can help you become a software engineer without a degree.

Consider Related Jobs

Taking a related job or internship can be a great way to gain exposure and experience with the problems and skills a software engineer deals with. For example, internships often offer candidates rotations across different departments, giving interns a chance to work on a variety of projects alongside industry professionals. Alternatively, working as a front-end or backend developer can bolster an individual’s programming skills, develop their understanding of design, and build their experience with working on teams.

Practice Your Interview Skills

software engineer without degree - Practice Your Interview Skills

The software engineer hiring process typically involves a portfolio, cover letters, and references. Many organizations also use interview loops to measure a candidate’s talent and qualification for a role, which can involve technical interviews, tests that involve writing algorithms, a coding interview, and a series of questions designed to reveal a candidate’s values.

Many of the interview questions — both technical and behavioral — can be challenging, which it’s why it’s important to prepare as best you can. Many former candidates have shared commonly asked interview questions, mentors and bootcamp instructors can help students workshop their answers, and whether you’re interviewing in person or remotely, read up on the best practices that will ensure a smooth and successful interview.

Work Towards the Job You Want

software engineer without degree - Work Towards the Job You Want

Similar to considering related jobs, your first job in software engineering might not be the one you want. That said, there is immense value in getting a foot in the door and making lateral moves toward your dream job. For example, if you get your start in web design, you can strengthen your technical skills in front end development, learning skills such as CSS, HTML, and Java, which will ultimately be useful in a software engineering role. Alternatively, if you get your start in data science or analytics, the knowledge you develop on data structures, databases, and coding languages such as SQL will make you a stronger software engineer. Every technical and soft skill you gain can bring you closer to the job you want. 

Resources To Help You Become a Software Engineer Without a Degree

Whether you’re looking to teach yourself software engineering skills, are a recent college graduate looking for hands-on experience with projects, or you’ve finished a coding bootcamp and are looking for ways to practice your new skills, there are many free resources at your disposal.

  • CodingBat. CodingBat is a free site of live coding problems using Java and Python. Users don’t have to download or install any software, get immediate in-browser feedback, and can practice writing live code to address short problem statements.
  • Try.GitHub.io. A free resource to help you learn Git. If you already understand basic Git commands, this guide will help you understand more challenging concepts such as branch, revert, merge, cherry-pick, rebase, and more.   
  • Free Code Camp. A nonprofit repository of tutorials, Free Code Camp offers free lessons in HTML, CSS, Java, SQL, and Python. Students can access coding challenges, interact with an online community, and pair up with other students to work on projects.
  • Learn Git Branching. Offering both a visual and interactive way to learn Git, Learn Git Branching includes step-by-step demonstrations of powerful Git features, challenging levels, and a sandbox.
  • LearnPython.org. As the name suggests, LearnPython.org helps students learn Python through tutorials and interactive coding challenges. The website also has counterparts for other programming languages, such as Java, SQL, Perl, Ruby, PHP, and HTML.

What if You’re Considering a Degree?

What if You’re Considering a Degree

If you want to pursue a college degree on your path to becoming a software engineer, below are some degree options to consider. 

Degree Paths To Consider

People working in software engineering often hold a bachelor’s degree in computer science. However, a degree in a related field such as mathematics, engineering, physics, or information technology can also offer a path to a software engineering career.

While the average software engineer holds a bachelor’s degree, many also hold a master’s degree in a relevant field. Those who work in more advanced areas of software engineering, such as machine learning and neural networks, might also hold PhDs.

FAQs About Becoming a Software Engineer Without a Degree

FAQ

How Do You Approach The Job Interview Without a College Degree?

You don’t need a degree to become a software engineer or web developer, but not every potential employer sees it that way. That’s why it’s incredibly important to do your prep work: build connections, network online and in-person, build the right skills, learn to solve problems, and gain as much hands-on experience as you can. Many employers in the tech field are happy to consider software engineers who went the self-taught route, so apply anyway, even if you don’t meet the education requirement set out in the job description. You can succeed, regardless of your educational background. 

What Are Online Resources That Can Help Me With Becoming a Software Engineer Without a College Degree? 

There are a few resources that can help you find employment and meet your career goals, from meetup groups and LinkedIn to free videos and courses. Watch YouTube videos of success stories – individuals who launched a successful software engineering career or other lucrative job without a degree. One of the key takeaways you’ll learn is that you can find the same information online and you would learn in college. You can build the right skills on your own and you don’t need a degree to have a rewarding career as a software engineer. 

Can You Have a Career As a Software Engineer Without a Degree?

The short answer is yes, you don’t need a degree to have a career as a software engineer. But you have to be willing to put in the work to gain the right skills. 

What Percentage of Software Engineers Don’t Have a Degree?

A 2018 survey of software engineers by Overstack Flow found that 27% do not hold any type of college degree. Of all respondents, 86.7% said they had taught themselves programming languages, tools, and frameworks without taking a formal course.

Can I Call Myself an Engineer Without a Degree?

In short, yes. Many software engineers don’t have a college degree in a relevant field (or, in some cases, don’t have a degree at all). What matters to organizations is that a software engineer possesses the relevant technical and soft skills needed to do the job.

What’s a Good Degree To Pursue To Become a Software Engineer?

A bachelor’s degree in computer science, software engineering, or a related field such as IT, mathematics, physics, or engineering can help prepare individuals for a career in software engineering.

What Is the Best Way to Land a Software Engineering Job Without a Degree or Completing a Traditional Degree Program?

The good news is that many tech companies will happily offer you an entry level job without a degree. Your potential employers may be willing to hire you regardless of the educational requirements if you’ve done your due diligence before your job search began. Here are a few ways you can land a software engineer job:

Speak to other software engineers: Other developers may have taking the same route as you. Find out what the necessary skills are and how you can gain real-world experience. They can provide you with tips to thrive without a college education.

Work on your own projects: Once you’ve mastered a computer programming language, refined your coding skills, learnt about programming fundamentals like networking systems, and developed more specialized skills, you can work on a project you can showcase during a job interview.

Work in related software engineering jobs: If you can’t find job opportunities were you are, work in tech support or a related field. Tech workers often gain an introduction to networking systems and web development by working in support roles. It’s perfect for complete beginners that need to pick the necessary skills to work in their field but don’t have the in-depth knowledge or experience they need yet.

What Is the Benefit of Attending an Online School?

You can learn at your own pace and set your own schedule. Most of these courses are even affordable enough for you to avoid student debt altogether. They offer in-depth classes that can help you gain industry certifications and the knowledge you need to earn a higher than average salary. Even Harvard University has online courses you can try and you’ll be surprised how many experienced developers had their start online.

Since you’re here…
Were you one of the tens of thousands of workers impacted by this year’s tech layoffs? Springboard wants to help. Our new Career Reboot Scholarship is intended to assist job seekers from tech looking to upskill, reskill and stand out in a competitive hiring environment. Get $1,000 off any Springboard bootcamp in software engineering, data analytics, UX design, cybersecurity, tech sales, and more. Visit this page for eligibility requirements and to apply.

About Sakshi Gupta

Sakshi is a Managing Editor at Springboard. She is a technology enthusiast who loves to read and write about emerging tech. She is a content marketer with experience in the Indian and US markets.