Do you want to become a Software Engineer? Join Microverse.
Published: 2021-01-14 10:20:14

Are you a software engineer? Are you looking to take your game to the next level? Are you aspiring to become a software engineer? Are you looking to become a remote software engineer while working from the comfort of your home?
If your answer is yes to any of the above questions, then I would recommend you join Microverse.  
But first, let me give you some reasons to do so.
What is Microverse?
Microverse is a school for remote software engineers. If you want to read more go to this [link](https://microverse.org). 

The goal of this post is to give you reasons why you should join. To give you a bit of background, I am an alumnus at Microverse. Before joining Microverse I worked as a software engineer in various industries. Someone may ask: why would you join a school if you are already a software engineer, here are my whys?

### Collaboration
![Alt Text](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/ntl08vivhqiespl2xb97.jpg)
One thing you will experience even before joining microverse is the power of collaboration. Anyone who applies to join Microverse is paired with different people and given different tasks to work on together. You will love it.
Your entire journey in Microverse will be filled with you working with different students at each step of the program and being part of a standup team. Mine was made up of these amazing people [Denis](https://github.com/OlukaDenis), [Elijah](https://github.com/Elijahscriptdev), Carl and [Vinicius](https://github.com/kazumaki).

### Data Structure & Algorithms
I know a lot of self-acclaimed software engineers who do not know what a binary tree or a hash map is, not to talk about how to perform a BFS(Breadth-First Search) or DFS(Depth-First search). I was one of them and life was just fine. But, I can tell you from experience that life was not easy, there was a lot of copy and paste from StackOverflow without understanding the reasons why some things were done in a certain way. Knowing the data structures helps you write good code, and helps you make a better decision when deciding whether to leverage on CPU or memory. From the onset, at Microverse you are introduced to several Data Structure and given the opportunity to solve challenges together with your standup team. (Collaboration is here too)

### Fundamentals of programming
At Microverse, You are given the chance to learn the fundamentals of computer programming and with the support of the huge community of developers, you are in a good position to know the essentials to get started.

### Teamwork
One thing I really valued during my time at Microverse was the culture of working in a team. From the very first time you decide to join Microverse, you are introduced to the idea of working with people from different background and culture. This is a good opportunity to learn from others and use the views of others to make a decision. Working in a team has been an amazing experience at Microverse because you are given the chance to work together on a project and come up with ideas together.

### Leadership
Every standup team is made up of 4-5 members and each member takes a turn to lead the team for a period of 3 weeks. This is a good experience as it exposes one to how to be a leader and perform leadership duties. A leader is responsible for checking up on members who are not turning up, conducting morning sessions and standup meeting.

### Community
Besides being part of a standup team, the part that I like most about Microverse is its community. Students at Microverse are from all walks of life, from different countries and with different experiences. This is just amazing, as it gives everyone the ability to meet anyone in the community, ask questions, share tips among others.

### Communication
Whether you are an English speaking person or you are a Hispanic, you are given the chance to express yourself at Microverse and voice out your view no matter your dialect. This gives you the voice to tell your story and let others know what you think. Communication being a significant part of remote working, at Microverse, you will develop the ability to speak confidently both in a small and large group.

### Team Support
At Microverse you are not alone. I repeat you are not alone. We are made up of an entire community of people from all over the world. The beauty of the Microverse community lies in the diversity of its members' background, you will meet developers from Junior to Senior level. This enables an environment of mutual support and growth for those who are starting the software development journey.
 
### Looking for job
The ultimate reason we all join Microverse is to get a job, and as alumni, I can boast of the fact that they do just that. There is an entire army of coaches behind you ready to make sure you get your dream job. From the moment you join Microverse, all is set for you to become successful because of the amazing people made available to help you in the process. The coaches are your guardian angels at Microverse, they provide you with all sort of advice, both technical and professional. I was fortunate to have worked with a number of them and they all made an impact in my path to secure a job.

###Puntuality
Working remotely doesn't mean you should be late for meetings or in submitting your assignment. You are required to be present and one time at stand-ups and one-on-ones meeting with your coding partners. Your punctuality during those meeting with your peers and coaches goes a long way to shape you to become a trusted and reliable person ready for the work market. After all, no one would want to work with a colleague who is always late or does not turn up for meetings.

###Accountability
From the moment you decide to take the journey at Microverse, there is a certain level of accountability you have towards yourself and all people you come in contact with. In your stand-up groups, you are either leading the team during stand-up meetings or during coding challenges; with your coding partner, you are either taking the position of the drive during peer programming session or guiding you partner as a passenger. With your career coaches, you are either required to make changes to your LinkedIn profile or make changes to your portfolio to make it look very professional. At every moment during your time at Microverse you are being prepared to be accountable and ready to take leadership position wherever you find yourself.

###Ready for job
By the end of your 6-8 months of training at Microverse, you will be ready for the job market no matter the level you set your target to be. The training and preparation you receive during your time a Microverse is enough to land you an entry-level developer job if you are new, or a senior developer role if you had some experience before joining.  

###Technical training
The world of software engineering is huge and no one can learn it all in 6-8 months. However, Microverse has made it possible to prepare you to be ready for the job market in such a short period of time by providing you with what you just need. They have made available a highly curated technical curriculum that focuses on the trending technologies capable of landing you your dream job. The Microverse curriculum provides you with resources to teach you the fundamentals that are enough to propel you to the seniority level.


###Mentor
One thing I enjoyed during my time as a student of Microverse is the opportunity to mentor new students. Anyone who joins the Microverse after some time is given the responsibility to guide new students. This is an opportunity for you to share your knowledge with people who are starting the journey.  Being a mentor does not mean you should know everything, but it means you are ready to grow by learning new things and ready to support your mentees. In the process, you become a better person, and you develop the zeal and passion for learning everyday, which is a quality every software engineer should possess, due to the nature of our always changing technologies.

###Mentee
Every mentor at Microverse is also a mentee to someone else, so you are never alone. This puts you at the receiving end of the equation, where you get the chance to get all the support you need from your mentor.

I can go on to talk about all that you can learn and benefits from while you are a student but, I will just stop here for now. If you are convinced by what I have shared with you so far and you will like to start the journey with Microverse, head to [https://microverse.org](https://microverse.org) and apply. It will be the best decision you will make.