According to the latest job opening survey, programming jobs are growing 12% faster than the average. In the report, approximately 7 million jobs required some coding skills. This is an indication of how programming is finding its application in the real world.
The current trend in the education and job market is also a great indicator of how coding is rapidly changing the way people look at the modern workforce. Nowadays, programming is becoming a critical skill needed to drive innovation and help with problem-solving. Schools are also incorporating coding classes into their STEM learning curriculum. Tech-focused teams are now advised to sign up for some coding classes that will keep them relevant, now and in the future.
But why is coding becoming a critical skill for nearly everyone in the tech field? We’ve covered some of the whys below:
Coding is becoming a Universal Skill
You don’t have to be in the IT-department to develop an interest in coding. Anyone wishing to venture into engineering, data analytics, arts, and design needs to prepare themselves for the future, which apparently is already here.
Getting started with your coding journey can be a bit daunting, considering the number of programming languages available. A rule of thumb is to start with the one that piques your interest and advance slowly based on your interests and preferences.
Whether you’re looking to advance your tech career or shift from your current job to the professional and promising world of coding, you need to get started with at least one programming language. Teaching yourself how to code can be cost-effective; however, you’ll spend a lot of time before landing on the right resources.
Coding Bootcamps, on the other hand, allow students to focus on the most important aspects of coding. This way, you benefit from a practical learning curriculum, and you can apply for the well-paying tech jobs right-after.
If you’re considering a coding Bootcamp, the average tuition fee ranges from $7,800 to $21,000. For military veterans, financial aid programs such as the GI Bill benefits can partially cover the tuition fee. Before using your GI Bill benefits with a coding bootcamp, you want to make sure the coding classes align with your career goals.
Staying Competitive is Key
If you’re starting over with your tech-focused job, you probably need to learn some coding language. It doesn’t need to be anything complicated. Just research your key areas of interest and map those programming languages that resonate with your career goals.
The workforce’s future is more geared towards automation, and if you’re not part of the solution, chances are, you’re part of the problem. This means that if you’re not helping the world evolve, solve efficiency issues through coding and automation, your future career is probably non-sustainable.
Staying competitive in the current job market is proving to be critical. Most jobs are becoming redundant by the day. If you browse the kinds of jobs that are most likely to disappear due to automation in the next 5 to 10 years, you’ll realize that a majority are routine-based jobs.
Equipping your tech-focused career with some coding skills is one sure way of staying competitive in the modern workforce.
Tech is Evolving
You’ve probably heard of industry 4.0. The fourth industrial revolution centered on Machine Learning, data analytics, automation, AI, and the Cloud. From this, you can easily understand why coding is rapidly growing and becoming a recipe for career development and success.
Not long ago, IT guys were not required to know how to code. Developers and programmers had their department, but things are different now. Businesses and organizations now prefer IT experts who are all-around. They shouldn’t only fix a broken computer but also help design the company website or create a responsive mobile app for e-commerce.
If your career progresses in the tech direction and you don’t start working on your coding skills now, there are pretty high chances that by the time you set up your mind to learn how to code, a lot would have changed. And this sometimes means that the technology in place would be more complicated, and lots of opportunities would have passed by.
The idea is to start as soon as possible and grow your skills in line with your career. According to TechRepublic, the programming world is set to see some significant changes in the next ten years. One of the predictions is that a universal language is likely to rise, allowing all the coders, regardless of their specialty/background, to work together and build agile projects.
Final Thoughts
Coding is no-longer the fancy skill left for some expert developers or wannabe programmers. Things are changing, and it’s becoming the norm for tech-focused individuals to keep an open mind and learn at least one programming language.
