I genuinely do not understand why so few people decide to become software engineers. The barriers to entry are pretty low, the pay and perks are good, the job high status and fun, and one can learn enough to get a job, by themselves, in ~3-6 months.
Also, one always learns on that job, it never gets boring, and offers plenty of lateral growth opportunity eg into management or product. And tech is a sexy industry!
I used to work closely with a guy who was living in hostels, playing guitar in the streets of LA to get money, and taught himself software engineering in Dunkin Donuts at night. Got a job after a year, today makes $200+ an hour.
Me, I was able to leave my parents' place at 16, and sustain my lifestyle from contracting and building websites, later mobile apps
