How do I find my niche and hone my skills as a software engineer?

Question

I'm a third year Engineering student, and by the end of the third year, there's going to be a lot of activity surrounding internships, placements, etc. While I was confident enough in my interest and programming skills when I first started, that sentiment has slowly eroded over the years what with the rise of ChatGPT, and AI which functions as a full-fledged software engineer. Part of the reason for this erosion is also my curriculum, which I feel is more oriented towards just rote learning and marks, whereas I'd expected a more hands-on, application-oriented approach. In short, I feel university is not preparing me for the next step.So, to my question: how do I find my niche in the broad field of Computer Science, and hone my skills, so that I become invaluable? For one, I'm really interested in operating systems, the Linux Kernel, the concept of Embedded Systems, C programming language as a whole, etc.How do I get started if I want to revamp my learning? How do I become a proper software developer?Thanks.

kody · Accepted Answer

Get a job, get very very good at doing your job, then find a new job right before you start to feel like you're coasting.
Don't worry too much about optimizing for the best company, niche, tech stack, whatever. Focus on getting a breadth of knowledge, learning how businesses operate and how you contribute to their profit centers (great advice here: https://www.kalzumeus.com/2011/10/28/dont-call-yourself-a-pr...), how to work well with people, and various approaches to software design.
Keep an open mind (fight overzealousness in your opinions) and approach your work with a positive attitude and you will see all kinds of opportunities to specialize present themselves. Then, your hardest decision will be which specialization creates the most leverage for you.
Don't get bogged down by AI, mass layoffs, or any of the other doomsaying. If you're made to feel fearful, it's because someone is trying to profit off you.
I am a self-taught developer so take all my advice with a grain of salt ;)

warrenm · Answer

>AI which functions as a full-fledged software engineer
Baloney. Pants.
What is currently called "AI" is merely Markov chains on steroids
If an "AI" can do your job, you have a very low-level job (most likely internship or lower)

Tabular-Iceberg · Answer

You don&rsquo;t have much time left so you have to act fast.Find hard problems in areas that interest you to work on, and don&rsquo;t spend even a second thinking of whether it&rsquo;s useful for your future career. You can&rsquo;t predict the future, so you&rsquo;ll probably be wrong anyway and the time will be wasted.The point is to get good at solving hard problems in general. I&rsquo;m on my third Spring project in a row now, and every project has so many NIH idiosyncrasies that no skills transfer at all. The only actually useful skill as a pro dev is to pick up weird, unexpected and even misguided code fast and be productive.

rsynnott · Answer

> that sentiment has slowly eroded over the years what with the rise of ChatGPT, and AI which functions as a full-fledged software engineer.
Ignore that; there is no such AI, and no particular reason to think one is imminent.
Never make decisions on the basis of forward-looking statements of the "thing X will totally change the world in Y years"; for every steam engine there's a fusion power plant (practical fusion has been 20 years away, every year since 1950).

joshagilend · Answer

When I was a junior in college I took a project class every semester, building a portfolio which showed off my talent and skills.
See if there are clubs which support your interests in engineering and computing.
J

brudgers · Answer

how do I find my niche in the broad field of Computer Science, and hone my skills, so that I become invaluableYour niche finds you. Or it doesn't. Either way can work out fine. Sometimes your niche goes away (Flash programming for example). Often diverse experience is useful in solving novel problems.You hone your skills by working hard for many years. You are just starting out. You have fifty or more years of career ahead of you. Keep in mind that people skills are more valuable than technical skills. People skills don't become obsolete. Other people are the best way to good jobs, interesting work, and good times. Be someone people want to work with again.We are mortal. Nobody is invaluable. Many people are very good. Some are happy.Good luck.

neom · Answer

I'm not a SWE, but I will say often when these types of posts come up, people throw in "work on your management/people skills!" - even if you never manage, interpersonal skills in the work place can be just as useful as any hard skills. Here are three books I recommend:
https://www.amazon.com/Five-Dysfunctions-Team-Leadership-Fab...
https://www.amazon.com/Creativity-Inc-Overcoming-Unseen-Insp...
https://www.amazon.com/Managing-Yourself-Measure-Clayton-Chr...
Good luck on your journey, the fact that you're even asking these things is a great sign. :)

How do I find my niche and hone my skills as a software engineer?

>AI which functions as a full-fledged software engineerBaloney. Pants.What is currently called "AI" is merely Markov chains on steroidsIf an "AI" can do your job, you have a very low-level job (most likely internship or lower)

When I was a junior in college I took a project class every semester, building a portfolio which showed off my talent and skills.See if there are clubs which support your interests in engineering and computing.J

>AI which functions as a full-fledged software engineer
Baloney. Pants.
What is currently called "AI" is merely Markov chains on steroids
If an "AI" can do your job, you have a very low-level job (most likely internship or lower)

When I was a junior in college I took a project class every semester, building a portfolio which showed off my talent and skills.
See if there are clubs which support your interests in engineering and computing.
J