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7 Ways Software Engineers Can Use Their Skills for Good
Creative ways to pay it forward
Becoming a software developer doesn’t happen in isolation. It takes a community to raise educated and productive programmers. Regardless of your coding origin story— be it college, bootcamp, or the self-taught route— we all got here by climbing onto the shoulders of the great coders who came before us.
I, personally, have benefited immensely from resources and code people created at no cost to the community. Social responsibility is a core value of mine, and I have contributed back to junior programmers via these seven mechanisms: donating money, coding in my free time, teaching and tutoring, mentoring, becoming a community leader, networking and giving referrals, and holding mock interviews.
1. Donate Money
This is the easiest way to give back because it requires the least amount of your time. Computer or I.T. professionals rank in the top 20 highest paying careers according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Therefore, they’re among the people best suited in society to donate to causes they care about.
