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Mechanical engineer here, trying to switch to backend. Is 6 months of prep realistic or am I kidding myself? — CareerVerse

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Mechanical engineer here, trying to switch to backend. Is 6 months of prep realistic or am I kidding myself?

Anonymous15 days ago

Four years in a core mechanical job and I've been doing Python and SQL on the side for about 5 months. I can build small CRUD apps, nothing impressive. Every roadmap I find either says 3 months or 2 years, so I have no idea what to believe.

What I'm really asking is what the gap between 'can build a thing' and 'can pass an interview' looked like for you. Mine feels huge right now.

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Anonymous12 days ago
The practice gap is easier to close if you measure it: two timed mocks a week, one with a stranger, and a short note after each on where you froze. Then you're chasing a visible gap instead of 'more prep.' Your mechanical background could also make a good project seed, something like a small service that handles sensor or telemetry data, so the interview has a story you can actually tell.
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Anonymous15 days ago
I came from electrical, and something nobody told me is how much the old background helps. I ended up at a company building monitoring software for hardware and my degree was a real selling point, not baggage. Might be worth aiming at companies close to your old field first.
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Anonymous15 days ago
Honest question, are you aiming at backend roles in product companies or service companies? The bar and the timeline are really different, and a lot of the 3 months vs 2 years advice is people talking about different targets.
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Anonymous15 days ago
Did almost the same switch from civil about three years ago. Six months was enough to get interviews for me, not enough to feel ready for them. The gap you're describing is mostly practice under pressure, not more knowledge. Doing timed problems out loud closed it faster than building another project.
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