
Ask HN: How do I prepare to transition to a software architect role? - josep2
Here is my background:<p>* 4 Years Backend Experience (Data Engineering, API Layer) All at small companies
* B.A. Computer Science + Statistics 
* Some Production DevOps Experience<p>Should I pursue more formal education? What areas should I focus on? I&#x27;d like to make the move to architecture in the next few years.
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CuriouslyC
The best way to prepare for a position as a software architect is to build
greenfield projects from the ground up, to completion. The more the better.
The best way to do this is to get a position with a small to medium size
software consultancy. Make sure to put time in on the entire stack when you
work on a project, including UI/client and data collection/information
organization/analytical techniques. There is a lot of intuition involved in
architecture in terms of understanding root needs and predicting changes in
usage/requirements that can only be built from experience.

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josep2
Thanks for this answer! Do you think there are opportunities to get this kind
of experience outside of a consultancy?

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CuriouslyC
Early stage start-up job hopping would work as well. Unfortunately, software
architecture is really more of an art than a science, and a lot of it hinges
on intuition built from experience.

The problem with trying to emulate this kind of experience by working on side
projects is that A: you need to get experience predicting changes in end user
requirements during design and B: you really need to take the project to
completion to identify pain points in terms of application architecture. Since
side projects are typically a scratch-your-own-itch kind of thing, and tend to
be smaller, you don't really get either of these.

