What kind of Software Developer are you?
Learn about what software developer’s niche you fall into.
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What is your niche?
journey in tech started as a software (Android) developer and just like many new developers, I made a few career mistakes. One of these mistakes is not knowing what kind of software developer I was.
Although I first practiced HTML and CSS, which is a common starting point for web developers , I didn’t yet understand the need to stick to one career path. Within two months, I was writing Java alongside HTML and a little JavaScript.
As if that wasn’t enough, I switched to Python six weeks later and eventually went back to Java after eight weeks of Python. As you can imagine, I was going in loops without making significant progress in any one area.
One of the primary reasons for this indecision was the urge to do everything at once. The Internet presents a very enticing portrait of different programming languages.
Today, it seems that Python is the best programming tool, tomorrow Java may be trending, and before you know it C# is taking over the tech world. It can be easy to get carried away by a tide of excitement and fads.
Choosing a specialization
As tempting as it may be to flit from discipline to discipline, newcomers to the industry generally need to pick a career path and stick to it in order to establish themselves quickly.
Thus, prospective developers need to pick a niche, an area of specialization that suits them, and master it.
To better understand the need for a niche and why every software developer (especially those at an early point in their career) needs to specialize, let’s take a look at a scenario.
Let’s assume you have a painful toothache that needs the urgent attention of a doctor. In your search for a doctor, you come across:
- ABC Clinic
- BCA HealthCare
- Dr. Dental Care
Who would you select?
Chances are you chose Dr.Dental Care. Why? Because they specialize.
Now Dr. Dental Care may not get as much general medical business, but as long as the dental market is strong enough, they can use their specialization to their advantage. As a renowned dental expert, Dr. Dental Care will draw a majority of the dental business and be able to charge higher rates for their services.
It wouldn’t be wise to have a toothache treated by an ophthalmologist, would it?
A medical doctor doesn’t come out of medical school and decide that they want to be just a “doctor,” but sadly, that’s just what most software developers do when it comes to their career.
Many software developers fear specialization. They instead try to mimic the famous saying “Jack of all trades, Master of none?” More often than not, this just means they’ll choose a project that is too big, get stuck, become frustrated, and stall in their careers.
Just to reiterate, the main point to take to heart here is that you need to stand out by selecting a niche in which you can become an authority, like Dr. Dental Care does with dentistry.
To go back to the example from my own career, let’s imagine if I had instead chosen to specialize in Python and had practiced exclusively in that particular area. In just a few years, I’d easily be seen as an expert at the fundamentals of the language and could stand out as an authority more quickly than those that chose to generalize.
You may have other skills and abilities, but as a specialist in multiple areas, it is difficult to stand out. If your first niche or specialization area doesn’t work, you can also switch or extend your niche later.
The most important thing is to start working on one particular thing.
Why finding a niche is important
Often, I meet software developers who don’t have a specialization area. Many will go on to define their specialization by what programming language they use.
It is common to hear “I am a Python developer,” or “I am a Java developer”. While these descriptions are not wrong, they don’t say anything about the kind of software development work the developer does. They simply show what tool they use to do your work.
It can be difficult to pick a niche in an industry with so many exciting fields. Many times, developers are skeptical of specializing in one area because they are afraid that they will be pigeon-holed into one type of work and thus be excluded from many jobs and opportunities.
While it’s true that specialization will close off some opportunities, it will open more than would otherwise have been available.
Think about the medical situation again. If one became a doctor and had no specialization, technically every person seeking medical attention could be their client.
The problem is that very few people want to hire a doctor who is a generalist. Most potential clients would hire a specialist in whatever problem they’re experiencing.
While pursuing an area of specialization will offer a smaller pool of potential employers and clients, it will help make us more attractive and valuable to them.
So long as our niche has enough demand and is not overcrowded, we’ll find a job or client more readily than if we just marketed ourselves as a general software developer.