11 great reasons why you should become a developer:

1. It’s intellectually challenging

Web development is a fast-paced and challenging career, centered on creative problem-solving and continuous innovation. As a web developer you’ll work with a multidisciplinary team of designers, other developers, and marketers to realize your projects. It’s no wonder, then, that it’s a much-praised area to get into to. In fact, two of the top three of Indeed’s Best Jobs of 2023 list are in web development. Full-stack developer comes in first place, with cloud engineer and backend developer not far behind. One reason for that is that web development is a field that constantly challenges you to think critically and creatively. You’ll be working on complex problems and projects that require you to continuously learn and innovate.

2. Developers come from many different backgrounds

While many web developers come from a more analytical or technical background, we’ve found that anyone can become a programmer if they apply themselves. For example, the CareerFoundry Full-Stack Development Program has many successful graduates who used to work in teaching, Uber-driving, customer service, insurance, architecture, youth-work, and HR, to name but a few. A recent study by Career Karma found that companies like Amazon, Google, Meta, and Microsoft are some of the largest employers of bootcamp graduates. On top of this, being able to code is an incredible transferable skill, allowing you to work across a huge variety of positions in a range of industries.

3. Web developers are in high demand

The tech skills gap is real, particularly among developers. Employers struggle to find qualified web developers and software engineers, and the demand keeps growing. This has businesses seriously worried. According to a survey by McKinsey, 61% of HR professionals believe hiring developers will be their biggest challenge in the years ahead. Want to see for yourself? A quick check shows over 140,000 job openings for developers in the U.S. on LinkedIn at the moment. Filter down for your own area or a particular discipline, and you can see how many opportunities are out there. As you can see, the need for developers isn’t going anywhere any time soon, either—as digitisation gathers pace.

4. Web developers are paid much higher than average

This high demand has inevitably resulted in high wages for programmers. According to our salary guide, the average developer in the United States earns $82,460 per year—that’s more than 50% higher than the average U.S. salary of $53,490. While these figures naturally vary depending on factors like seniority, type of industry, and location, as a web developer you can expect to be well-remunerated. Bear in mind that as you gain more experience and add more skills to your skillset, your earning potential will also rise, potentially comfortably into six figures.

5. You can work from home…or further afield

On top of that, developers are far more likely to be able to work from home. The 2022 Jamstack Survey showed that 83% of developers work remotely, with it being a major factor in why they stayed in their current role or left their old one. In a time when a lot of bosses are trying to force their employees back into the office as the pandemic recedes, engineering teams are frequently those who aren’t subject to a RTW (Return To Work) policy. You may even be able to work from anywhere in the world as a remote web developer. Regardless of where you’re doing it, web developers and software engineers have better chances of being able to demand a healthy work-life balance from their employer.

6. It’s creative

While to the uninitiated you might think that coding is lots of pushing around ones and zeros, but it’s actually an incredibly creative outlet. Coders are encouraged to come up with their own solutions and workarounds, as well as design and build their own approaches, tools, and even become software architects. Frontend development in particular can showcase some of the more eye-catching creativity, from visuals and elegant Dark Modes or icons, all kinds of neat web design is out there. Just checking out some web developer portfolios can give you a sense of the creative possibilities web development can bring.

7. Web developers are constantly evolving

The technology industry moves quickly, and so web developers are constantly learning and advancing in their careers. There is practically no limit to how much you can improve your skills and progress in your career as a web developer. Things such as cloud computing and big data have become more and more commonplace of late, and the programming possibilities that Web3 offers are numerous.

8. Web developers can work in many types of companies

As a web developer, you have the opportunity to work for startups, agencies, large corporates, or even as a freelance developer. The choice is yours, based on whether you’d prefer working as part of a large team or a smaller cross-functional one, on a variety of projects or a smaller number of large ones, or just which company culture suits you and your working style best.

9. It’s still one of the fastest-growing job areas

We’re alway hearing that software engineering and development is a growth industry, and the tech layoffs of early 2023 show little sign of affecting it. This is because the majority of coders aren’t working at M.A.A.N.G. companies. They are working in industries as diverse as pharma to farming, retail to real estate. It’s no wonder, then, that the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts a whopping 23% job growth for web developers between 2021 and 2031, and 25% for software developers and testers. There’s no two ways about it—web development is firmly one of the jobs of the future.

10. Developers are shaping the future

From self-driving cars and Chat-GPT to the “Internet of Things,” developers are changing the way technology and the world works.

11. Web developers are empowered to make a difference

Job Satisfaction: As a software engineer, you have the satisfaction of seeing your work come to life and have a tangible impact. You’re building products and solutions that people use and rely on every day, which can be incredibly fulfilling.