Play software developer: employment as a cash engine
People willing to learn fundamentals and ship. Strong start-now path with verifiable pay.
First dollar: Months to a few years depending on background. Bootcamp promises vary wildly.
Exact steps. Ship the smallest unit of paid value before you gold-plate.
One language deep, data structures enough to interview, git, and SQL.
Deployed projects beat tutorial clones. Prefer tools people use.
LeetCode enough to not panic, system design basics, behavioral stories.
First role is a wedge. Optimize for mentors and code ownership.
Side projects, freelancing, or micro-SaaS once cash flow is stable.
Related decks if this one is working or if you need a stronger wincon.
What you do on paper: Design, build, and maintain software applications and systems. The largest high-income tech occupation; comp scales sharply with company tier and seniority.
Frequency: ~1,687,890 employed (BLS OEWS, 2025)