What should I do to become a SDE?
I do have a technical background(qa, support,sa) but I'm not an sde. How should I transition to an sde role. I'm decent at easy and medium leetcode. Apart from being able to crack the interview how can I be successful as a software engineer.
Have been in a similar situation. If you want to find something outside, you have to build some portfolio like website or a mobile app posted in App Store. Your QA resume may work against you when you apply outside of your current company. I found its easier to do lateral move within your current company if that possible. Work with your manager and let them know that you are very interested in this transition.
This guys is spot on. No company is like “okay let me try this new guy, he might be good”. You need to build a portfolio of projects which prove that you know your shit and you’ve done development before. Taking something in your current company as a side project would be a good start.
Manager is not really a good guy. And I'm more interested in building backend stuff , it is difficult to showcase anything on the backend.
In the world of software development there really are two roles. 1) The application developers. These are the people who build web and mobile apps. I’d also argue that ML/AI as a feature in a product falls under application development. These engineers are vital to building the initial product and making iterative changes over time. 2) System architects. These are your distributed systems engineers, SREs, etc. They don’t get a lot of credit from the application engineers but oh are they ever important to the business side of things. To be successful as a software engineer you must understand both but really focus on what comes natural to you. Some people are amazing application developers and can build a great product but are clueless to actually maintaining the product and making sure it meets the customers spec. Some people (like myself) know web dev but don’t get a lot of joy from it. They really like looking at the big picture and figuring out how to make a product reliable, scalable, and secure. To be a successful software engineer you have to realize that you are a *cost center* and are dispensable. Find ways to align what you know with the business functions and always learn new skills. Hope that helps.
thanks for your advice
Well written. 10/10 would read again.
Cracking the interview and being a successful software engineer are pretty different things. Sounds like you know how to code already (the basics at least). I say grind leetcode / algoexpert and first land a job. It might be as an SDE1 but that's ok. Learn how to be a successful engineer from people who already are successful at it.