Questions to Ask Yourself Before ALX Software Engineering
Tags: softwareengineering, alx, engineering
Published: 2023-02-15 19:24:37

Hi there! 

Since I joined ALX Software Engineering training about 10 months ago, I have got tons of questions on social media about the program.

There is a common problem with these questions, however. They are all about the program. The right questions should be about the person wanting to enroll. They should be asking more questions about themselves than about the ALX Software Engineering program.

So of questions I get can be summed as follows: 
What is the program like?
* Is the program worth it?

*Do they teach very well?

* If I will be spending 70hrs per week, will they be paying me? No dude! They won't pay you!



These are the wrong questions. A quick read-up about the program on the ALX website will tell you that it is an intensive program - demanding at least 70hrs per week. That says a lot.

[Low and no code tools are rising more than ever](https://dev.to/ikechukwu/rising-with-ai-low-no-code-as-a-developer-4mpl) before right now. AI is also rising. This is not a good time to learn software engineering, last of all enroll in intensive software engineering training as intensive as ALX Software Engineering without being very clear about what exactly you want to do with yourself.

Let me answer the questions regardless: 
**What is the program like?** They already described it on their website dude.

**Will they pay me?** ALX got a training that was originally around $40k per year for two years, made it one year, and made it free. That is more than enough so they won't pay you.

**Is it worth it?** It is about what you can make out of the knowledge you gain at the end of the day. You define worth.
Do they teach well? They don't teach actually. Your learning capacity is what will get you through. You will teach yourself.

You need to find out what exactly you want to do with yourself first.

If you are here because "tech is the new oil" and you want "instant money", it is more advisable to gain mastery of many low and no-code tools out there. You can do a lot today without being a software engineer or subjecting yourself to intensive training.

About the right questions...

Before you emback on 70hrs per week drill into Software Engineering, ask yourself these: 

**Do I want to be involved in building things that require deep knowledge of the fundamentals of computing?**

**What role do I want to play?** Engineer? Principal engineer?

If the answer is YES or positive for all, then you are an ALX Software Engineering candidate. I wanted to build intelligent SaaS for healthcare and I was also interested in hardware virtualization - I mean creating software to mimic hardware and eliminate the need for the hardware itself. I started the first one while still on ALX. 

You are a candidate but don't rush yet!


The next question is:

If I have to dedicate 70hrs plus per week to learning, how the actual "eff" do I pay my bills? 

ALX Software Engineering training is not something you can pull off using your leisure time at night while working full time during the day. Especially, most especially if you are an absolute beginner with zero coding experience. That won't work.

If you have no plan of being involved in building something that requires fundamental knowledge of computing in near future, then ALX may not be your best bet. 

If you have such plans but you cannot handle your bills while dedicating most of your time to ALX software engineering training, then you need to consider alternative routes to gaining the skills you need - the good news is that there are many alternative routes.

You can look at the curriculum and buy courses for topics there on a platform like Udemy where the courses are pre-recorded enabling you to learn absolutely on your own pace.

Whatever part you chose at the end of the day, I wish you the very best. If you chose ALX Software Engineering after a careful evaluation of yourself, then I have one more article for you about [how to prepare and ace it](https://dev.to/ikechukwu/a-to-z-of-how-to-prepare-for-alx-software-engineering-training-and-ace-it-4b1d). 

**I am Vincent Ikechukwu, Full Stack Web Developer and Software Engineer.** Connect with me on social media via links below.

* Linkedin [Vincent](https://www.linkedin.com/in/ikechukwu-vincent-002934176/)
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