How to become a Software Engineer in 2026

Key Takeaways

Today we're going to talk all about your career and how you get one in tech. You need real world experience. Well, I thought a nice place to begin would be to tell you all about my career and how I got my first job. So, buckle in for a little story time with Cherno. The year was 2015. That's when I got my first job working at EA here in Melbourne, Australia. There was this studio called Fire Monkeys, which was a mobile game studio owned by EA, and I worked there as a software engineer on their game engine. That was my first job that was techreated. So, how did I get that job exactly? Let's rewind a little bit. So, straight out of high school, I went to university. I went to Swinburn University here in Melbourne, Australia. So, this was at the start of 2013. I had just turned 18. And I think my decision to go to that specific university actually was very, very important to the rest of my career. And you'll see that the biggest reason why I chose that specific university is also going to come up throughout this video because it's super important and it should be like at the top of your priorities. So, I picked Swinburn specifically because they have this work experience program called industrybased learning. Back when I was in high school and I went to all of these orientation sessions at various universities, this really stood out to me because at Swinburn, they literally told me, "Whatever degree you pick at this university, your second last year, you can do either a 6 month or a 12-month work experience program completely paid in the industry." So for example, for a computer science degree that goes for 3 years, I would study for 2 years. Then the third year, I would have the option of being placed into the industry for an entire year to gain real experience and get paid for it like a normal job. And then I would come back the following year to finish my degree and graduate. Now, as you can imagine, apart from getting that one year of real work experience on your resume, on your CV before you even graduate, often what would happen is that company that hired you for that year, assuming you were good and you enjoyed yourself there, they would hire you again permanent full-time after you graduate. So, you can imagine that apart from just giving you a piece of paper that says that you have this bachelor of science degree and then now you have to go off and look for jobs, this university could actually give you a job. And this concept of actually putting you into the industry and making sure that you get real world experience makes you look so much better than all the other candidates that have no experience because especially I feel in tech jobs and programming it's all about what it's like in the real world. Theoretical academic knowledge is pretty useless in comparison to be honest. I wish I could say it nicer but that's just the way that it is. You need real world experience. So that's why I chose that specific university. I got in, I studied hard for two years and then I got to that work experience stage. There were all of these different companies that I could choose from, but to be completely honest, most of them sounded pretty boring. The only one that I really felt like I actually wanted to work at was EA. And the funny thing is that wasn't even Encore Technology or game engines. The job description was just to be a software engineer on a game team, which of course I was more than happy to work on. And I remember at the time that one of the biggest reasons why I wanted this job specifically as well was because it was practically within walking. It was like a 20-minute walk or something, 25-minute walk from my apartment at the time, whereas everything else would have been like at least like an hour train ride away or maybe like a 40-minute train ride away. So, this place was just so close to where I lived that I was like, this is this is just the dream job. So, why was I able to get that job? Because presumably it was quite competitive. And not only did I manage to get that job, the job that I got was not even what was on the job description. They were hiring software engineers to work on game teams, but I managed to get a job on the game engine team. And honestly, I think the reason for that was because I had this YouTube channel and I was building game engines already. So, when I was applying for the job and I sent in my cover letter, I explained that I absolutely love core technology. I love building things from scratch. Here's my GitHub. Here's my YouTube channel. I just I love this stuff and ultimately that's what I want to do. And I distinctly remember that most of my peers at the time, if they were making any kind of serious like 3D games, they would always be using Unity or Unreal Engine, some kind of existing technology. They wouldn't be trying to build it themselves from scratch like I was. But then the other half of them weren't even really doing anything on their own. They were just following the curriculum that was in that university degree, in that university course, and that was it. So long story short, I obviously got that job. I stayed there for a year. Then I had to go back to finish my degree. They kept me on part-time, so I was able that was a very stressful year, by the way, 2016. I was working like three to four days a week at EA whilst also doing a full-time study load at Swimburn. So, that was that was kind of tough, but I successfully completed that year. I graduated and EA kept me on permanent full-time until I betrayed them and left in 2019. But that's a different story. So, anyway, two really important things that I want to place emphasis on from that story. And that is one, if you are going to study somewhere, make sure that it provides you with work experience. Make sure that it can put you into the industry that it has those industry connections that would enable you to actually work in the real world because that is by far the biggest asset that they could provide you with. The other thing is do the job that you want already. Software engineering and in fact lots of tech jobs in general are really cool in the sense that you can just practice them at home. You just need a computer. If you have a computer, you can basically do the job. That's a little harder for other industries like construction or medicine. You can't exactly practice that in the same way at home. But with this, you can. So do that. So now that those two things are defined, let's talk about how we take that and we actually get you a job. And for that, I think we need to talk about AI. I think we do because the biggest difference between what it was like for me back then and what it is like for you right now is honestly AI. like it's just changed the way that programmers work completely. With layoffs all around various software industries and the looming threat of AI, tech jobs are becoming more and more competitive these days. I know a lot of people are worried that AI is taking their jobs, especially when it comes to the tech industry. But that's not happening. AI is enhancing jobs and it's changing the way that people work, but it's certainly not replacing those jobs, at least not yet. Tech jobs are still well paid and very much in demand, but the requirements for what you need to know and be able to do in order to enter the profession have changed. For example, according to index.dev statistics, 51% of professional software engineers now use AI tools daily. They rely on these tools to write code, to test code, to find bugs and fix them. Documentation is another good one. Daily use is showing how all these AI tools are becoming really key to how developers work these days. And I've witnessed this firsthand. So what does this mean? Well, my point is that AI and programming is not just like some trend. It's fundamentally changed the way that people actually work in tech. Which means that it makes zero sense to learn programming in 2026 the same way that you might have. I mean, even in 2020, universities and schools have often had the problem of being obsolete and out of date. Like I just remember back when I was studying in 2015, I would hear horror stories of certain universities still being on C++ 03. C++ 03 in 2015. True story. And so it's really important that however you choose to learn, you find programs that actually teach you AI tools from day one. So this raises the main question. How do I start a tech career in 2026? And how do I make sure that I'm a cut above the competition? Step one is understanding what you want to learn. What are you interested in? Once you know that, the next question is how? You've got a few options. You could go to university like I did. And if you find one with a great work experience program and you manage to get through all of that, then that could work out really well. But in general, uh, when it comes to universities, I made a video back in 2017 actually talking about what university is like, and it was mostly just me talking about all the things I don't like about it. >> They don't actually know how the world works. The point is that it's really more about the qualification. If it can connect you with the industry, then great. But as far as actual theoretical knowledge, it's very theoretical. It's not very practical. and what they teach is just fundamentally usually different to what the real world is actually like. Now, there are exceptions. People fly through schools like WGU, crank out a degree quickly, and come out with all of these certs and qualifications. That can happen. If you find a really good university or school, and you get in, you're super motivated, you're ready to grind, and you've got the time, then yeah, it can be worth it. But for a lot of people who are looking to switch to a career in IT, that can just be like really expensive and unfeasible. Another option is to teach yourself, like for example, by watching my C++ series, following along, and actually building projects. Throw in some books. Make sure that you're consistently writing code, and you probably will learn a lot. The biggest upside of this is cost. It's super cheap compared to going to university or some kind of boot camp. It's enough for you to start building skills, and you set the pace and the price. So, whilst I think that this can definitely work, it depends on who you are. It's kind of like starting a business. It's often hard for people without lots of guidance and structure. It's easy to get lost with just how much content there is out there. And how do you know if what you're learning is actually important for the job that you're trying to get. So, that's where boot camps can really help. A boot camp is basically an accelerated hands-on program that teaches you real skills instead of endless theory and gets you ready to hit the job market in a fraction of the time that it would take you to get through a university course. One of the best examples of that is Triple 10, the sponsor of this video. Triple 10 is an online boot camp built specifically for people who want to start or switch into a career in tech. Whether that's software development, data science, or even QA and business analytics. What makes Triple 10 stand out to me is they are all about practical experience, which I highly value. It's by far the best way to learn. Throughout the program, you're actually building things, real projects with real companies that give you real experience, which means that on top of you learning what matters by working on real projects, you also get to build up a portfolio of real work by the end of the course. We'll talk about the importance of that later in the video. Now, let's figure out what to learn. Maybe you don't know what you want to do. So, first of all, you don't need to be a hardcore programmer to break into tech. You might be intimidated by some of my videos cuz I may do some seemingly complicated stuff, but there are many different roles that play to many different strengths from problem solving and communication to creative and visual thinking. For example, if you love spotting mistakes and breaking things on purpose, then QA testing might be for you. If you're more creative or visual, then maybe you'll enjoy UX and UI design. UX, user experience, is all about how a product feels to use, and UI is all about how it looks. Cyber security is a great option for people who love security, structure and problem solving. If you want to optimize existing solutions and develop new ones, have a passion for structure and modern technologies and you want to support businesses, then AI and automation is the path for you. These are just some ideas. It can be really difficult to pick something. This is where the free career consultation offered by Triple 10 could really help you. You can book a call with one of their advisers for free and they'll help you find the most suitable option. Just scan my QR code or use the link below to arrange your consultation. So, as you know, my passion lies with software engineering. And to be a good software engineer, you have to constantly develop. That's why I decided to try something new and see what the software engineering course from Triple 10 is all about. AI is currently highly in demand is the fastest way to get into tech. So, let's see if Triple 10 teaches that. So, going through this software engineering course, one thing that I really liked is that they actually made it fun. You start as an intern at a new startup and they immediately give you a project to work on. You need to create a prototype for their playlist cover page. This dives right into HTML and CSS and puts you to work immediately. HTML and CSS are a really gentle introduction to software engineering. And getting you to actually work on something immediately is super cool and practical. You're not just going through endless theory. You're actually building something. And speaking of building something, that's the next stage. You actually start writing HTML and building out this new playlist cover page. You follow the instructions, you write code, and you get to test it immediately and see the result of your work. This gives students a really nice playground to play around in and learn. And in a few short minutes, we already have something that's functional. We can click on this link to go to the Spotify playlist page. Our project is coming together. From there, you'll go on to learn CSS, work on an independent project, and learn how you could use AI to help you. Of course, that's just the beginning. That's sprint zero, the very beginning of your journey. to support you. Triple 10 gives you one-on-one tutoring, personal success managers, and personal career coaching for every student. You can message tutors, join meetups, collaborate with other students, all within the platform. And the results speak for themselves. 53% land jobs before even graduating. That's what I did back at university. I started working at EA before I even graduated. You can see that Triple 10 really aligns with that first major important point that I made of industry connections and work experience actually putting you into the real world. And they are so confident that that will work for you that if you do not get a job within 10 months of graduating, you'll get a full refund. So, if you've been thinking about a career in tech and you're serious about it, then Triple 10 is a really solid option. And remember, 100% refund if you don't get a job within 10 months of completing the program. All right. So, now that you understand what and how to learn, let's talk about how to get your first tech job. And I don't mean literally what company, though that is an option. I'm more talking about the industry and what specific role. Maybe you want to specifically work on rendering for game engines. The best way to show that you're qualified is to actually already be doing the job that you want to get. As I mentioned, software engineering, you can just do it yourself at home. So therefore, back to that example of being a rendering engineer on a game engine, build a graphics engine, build a renderer, do that right now and show that you can do that. The really cool thing about building something entirely on your own is that it shows that you understand the big picture, the design of the entire product, not just, you know, working on some large team, but doing a small part of the work. And, you know, could you build this thing yourself? Could you fill any role within that entire pipeline? Probably not. This especially helps if you want to move up to higher positions in the future where you're running the show. You need to understand how everything works and fits together. Imagine you're just starting your career in tech and you don't have a single project to show a potential employer. You're just going to go to the interview empty-handed. How are you going to prove your skills and potential? So, one of the most important things that you need is a portfolio. A portfolio which demonstrates those skills and potential. A portfolio is your real experience, your achievements, and proof that you can actually build a solution that works. It'll help you stand out amongst hundreds of candidates and shows right away that you don't just learn theory, you know how to apply your knowledge in practice. If you're not so sure that you could do this yourself, Triple 10 can help. They offer an end of course project that you can add to your portfolio as well as unlimited externship opportunities even after graduating. Online externships give students an opportunity to apply their skills to realworld tasks. They're the only boot camp in the US to offer this. That's why in this externship, you begin building your portfolio from day one. So with every new project, you grow more confident and closer to your dream job. Also, if you still don't believe that someone with zero background can change their life, just look at the stories of real people. The Triple 10 team has collected tons of them on their website and YouTube channel. These are real people with families, kids, everyday problems, and they actually managed to study, land a job, and transform their lives. So, here's the deal. Landing your first job will probably take time. You'll probably face rejections, maybe even silence. That's normal. But every application and every interview is practice and experience. Every step brings you closer to that yes. Hope you enjoy this video and I hope that it helps you. What advice do you have for finding tech jobs? Share it in the comment section below. If you're seriously trying to jump into a career in tech, then definitely check out triple 10. Use my code the churno for 30% off all of their programs. You can also book in a free career consultation by clicking my link in description or scanning the QR code on screen. Thank you all for watching. I'll see you next time. Goodbye.