Why learn to code? There’s no denying that full-stack web development is one of today’s most sought-after careers. With a median salary of more than $75,000 and demand expected to grow 27% from 2014-2024, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, full-stack web development is a smart career path for many individuals.
But even if you’re not planning on becoming a full-time programmer or coder, learning how to code and having that kind of knowledge and experience can have substantial benefits for your career and further job opportunities. In today’s competitive job market, the smartest workers are those who are able to leverage technology to their advantage — no matter their job title.
Not sure if you want to tackle the challenge? Here are five reasons and benefits of learning to code that will add serious value to your career.
1. Become versatile and invaluable.
Learning a coding skill, signals your employer that you are resourceful, tech-savvy, and versatile. They will lean on you for tasks beyond the scope of your current position, and this will lead to opportunities within your career you never knew existed.
For instance, learning HTML, CSS, and JavaScript can transform you into a full-stack marketer. Gone are the days of relying on your dev team to make tiny changes to a landing page. With the basic coding skill, you can do it yourself (and impress your boss).
What if you work in finance? Manufacturing? Agriculture? Entertainment? Medicine? Code is powering technology in virtually every industry across the globe. Understanding how these technologies work will help you become your team’s most valuable employee. Your supervisor and co-workers can rely on you to help manage the website, build promotional emails, navigate or debug new software — the possibilities are endless.
Specializing in skill at work is a surefire way to become invaluable, and coding languages will help you do just that.
2. Communicate effectively with technical teammates.
Understanding computer programming is crucial if you frequently collaborate with the technical members of your team. Without a basic understanding of how various technologies work, no software engineer will take you seriously, and — let’s face it — you need them.
Marketing, HR, finance — no matter your department, you rely on software to help you do your job. And who gets these programs up and running? Engineers.
Speaking their language will win you respect, make conversations more effective, plus enable you to evaluate technology solutions and understand the resources necessary to complete a certain project. Ultimately, it will allow you to do your job more effectively. Promotion, anyone?
3. Change careers altogether.
Perhaps what started as a way to become more versatile and tech-savvy has led to a full-blown passion for programming languages.
From 2014 to 2024, web development jobs are expected to have increased 27%, to over 188,000. Beyond that, it’s challenging work that will keep you engaged. You’ll be solving real challenges that affect the direction and bottom line of every business.
4. Get started with startups.
If you have dreams of entrepreneurship, coding is an invaluable skill to pick up along the way.
Have an idea for a new app? You’ll be able to start with the app development and create an early prototype to demonstrate what you have in mind. With your prototype, you can more effectively raise funds and hire well-qualified developers who will know what you have in mind. You’ll also be able to more accurately estimate how long each stage of development will take, and what resources will be required.
Say you just want to work for a startup, not build one from scratch. You will likely be working in a technical space with engineers, product managers, and web designers. Understanding code will make you a valued member of the team and give the opportunity to wear many hats.
5. You’ll improve your logical thinking.
In the words of the indelible Steve Jobs, “Everyone should know how to program a computer because it teaches you how to think.”
To communicate with the computer, you need to order your thoughts in a logical, structured way. This way of thinking will sharpen your reasoning and problem-solving skill. You’ll suddenly find that you see complex problems in a whole new way, and logical solutions will become more easily apparent.
Convinced, but not sure where to start? Basic HTML, CSS, and JavaScript are required for building web pages and are a great place for beginning coders or web developers to learn the basics. If you’re looking to jump right into programming web apps (back-end web development), Ruby and Python are often recommended for beginners.
Learning to code is a truly versatile skill that will add value to several career paths in any industry. And with all of the learning resources available online and in-person, learning programming skills may not be as difficult as you think.
Dive into computer coding at General Assembly. Become a full-stack developer in our transformative full-time Web Development Immersive online coding course, available across our global campuses and online. If you’re looking to learn part-time, explore our on-campus courses in Front-End Web Development and JavaScript Development, or our online HTML, CSS, & Web Design or JavaScript Development Circuit courses.
Explore Coding Courses and Workshops at GA