SWE from non-eng, non-cs background, I need some advice and inspiration
So I have a PhD in a fairly niche area of geology that doesn’t have a lot of industry scope. So I switched over to SWE at the end of my PhD mainly via leetcode. After graduation 3.5 years ago, I got hired at apple in an SDET role. Got promo to senior SDET 2.5 years after joining. At this point, I feel like my career has stagnated without scope for growth beyond my current role and responsibilities. I feel like I haven’t learnt much other than some internal tools and made some improvement in coding skills. I feel a limiting factor is the lack of background in CS fundamentals. it could also be the environment I am embedded in. Folks who were in a similar situation (I.e SWE from non-eng. non-cs background), how did you grow beyond the senior role? How much did you think your lack of CS fundamentals was a limiting factor for you? TC 380k
There’s so many ways to fill in that knowledge gap online. MIT OCW is a great place to start. Find time over the weekends to study, you got this.
Def is a limiting factor. Felt the same way but you'll find something better outside if you look for it!
What’s your story
Non CS background. Figured out stuff(took more time than CS folks). Everything was Greek n Latin initially. Looked for growth within the company but didn't get it. Got a better opportunity outside.