

Ask HN: How old were you when you started working? - KhalilK

I am still an engineering student (freshman) and though I am to be a software engineer, I still think I am wasting time with all the additional courses I am taking. I want to know whether was it CS full time for you guys or was it a mixture of many courses that helped you pick a career? I just feel I am running out of time.
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bnejad
Do you mean the type of software engineering career or are you not sure about
if you definitely want to be a software engineer in general?

Either way, you still have a lot of time. Get involved in anything on campus
that interests you. If you find you need to change your major its not a big
deal, especially since I can't imagine you've taken too many CS courses yet. I
know people who swapped to EE or dropped out of engineering altogether in
their sophomore year. You have time but at some point you need to choose
something so you aren't wasting your time and money. If you aren't passionate
about software now then I don't think school is going to increase that
passion. Passion will come from your personal projects and clubs. Good luck.

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sabinazafar
College is not just about finishing up your courses to start a job. College
teaches you the skills to be successful in real life. Your degree is a
validation of the courses you took but all the other courses are just as
valuable in teaching you all the skills that you will need besides coding to
grow both as a person and in your career. A CIS degree definitely gave me an
edge when I started working in my field at 31 ( over people with other degrees
in the same field and who had 10 years under their belt)but it was my other
skills like leadership and understanding of the business that took me from a
web developer to the head of a professional services team in just 6 years.

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RollAHardSix
Started working at 17. Worked a full-time job or two part-time jobs ever
since. Was always drawn to CS, landed a professional role at 23 while still
working towards my degree.

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CocaKoala
I got a BA in a totally unrelated field, graduated when I was 22, spent two
years working in a bakery, went back to school for CS, completed a 4 semester
Master's program in 3 semesters, and got a job when I finished. I've been
working for a few months and I'm turning 26 in a couple weeks. You'll be fine.

