Why did you get into the field? What did you focus on at first? I was 11, my dad used FORTRAN at work to build economic simulations, and walked me through some

Why did you get into the field? What did you focus on at first? I was 11, my dad used FORTRAN at work to build economic simulations, and walked me through some basic programming. This was during the ~5 years that I was taking amphetamine or methylphenidate daily for ADHD, which I mention because I'm pretty confident that it's a big part of the explanation for why I spent then next 4 years completely obsessed with programming. When I was 15 or so I stopped taking the drugs and switched from actually programming to mostly reading about the craft. At first I focused on full stack web development, and gradually acquired an interest in systems programming and Linux sysadmin stuff. What are you doing at your job? Is it everything you dreamed of and more? Work for FAANG developing and operating backend microservices which do little more than shuttle data around. This is my first job out of college, been doing it for a year, don't like it much at all. Looking to transition to a role which involves developing more interesting applications and has less operational burden. I'm cautious about switching roles amid this pandemic though. How did you break that first-job barrier? I got a math BA in college, though that wasn't my primary academic focus. That degree is enough to get employers who require a relevant degree to not immediately discard your resume. Beyond that, luck. Sent my resume to a FAANG new grad hiring pipeline, and got an offer. I got some relevant work experience in college, first working quarter-time for a startup writing node js libraries, then working for my university's CS department as a sysadmin. These jobs were not hard to get, probably because of how woefully uncompetitive they were on compensation, which I was OK with while I was a student. What were you doing before this? College, studying math and philosophy. My parents didn't believe that I could get a good SWE job without a degree and were willing to pay for my education, so I accepted their generosity, and I'm glad I did despite the opportunity cost. I'm regularly tempted to pursue a career in academic philosophy despite the myriad drawbacks. Any tips for the rest of us? If you're free of financial obligations and self taught, you have the option of jumping straight into your professional career and getting a head-start on building wealth, which might well be the right option for you. But you're also in a position where you have skills that you can rely on as a backup while you experiment with other options for your future. Working on other people's projects is not nearly as fun as working on your own, and if you managed to acquire SWE skills on your own, you can probably learn other skills as well and broaden your horizons.