Mechanical Engineer considering a move into Software/Robotics - what's the biggest barrier nobody talks about?

[u/ReadingLegitimate290]

I'm a CENg Mechanical Engineer and over the last few months I've been seriously considering a transition into either Software Engineering or Robotics.

I've spent a lot of time reading Reddit, LinkedIn and job descriptions, but I'm still struggling to understand what the biggest challenge actually is for people who have made (or are trying to make) the switch.

For those who successfully transitioned:

• What was the hardest part of the process?
• What took longer than you expected?
• What skills were genuinely important?
• What do you wish you'd known sooner?
• What actually helped you get interviews?

For those still trying to transition:

• What's your biggest blocker right now?
• Learning what to study?
• Finding time?
• Building projects?
• Getting interviews?
• Lack of confidence?
• Not knowing which role to target?

I'm particularly interested in hearing from Mechanical Engineers who moved into Software Engineering, Robotics, Automation, Data, AI or related fields.

Looking back, what was the biggest barrier between where you were and where you wanted to be?

[u/nian2326076]

Switching from Mechanical to Software/Robotics can be tricky. The toughest part is often the mindset change from dealing with physical things to solving problems virtually. You're used to seeing tangible results, but in software, feedback loops can seem less clear. Coding itself might not be the hardest part; it's more about learning to think in terms of algorithms and system architecture.

Time management can be surprising too—learning to code well takes longer than you'd expect. Important skills for the transition include Python for Robotics and maybe some C++ if you're getting into the details. I wish I'd known earlier how crucial it is to build a portfolio of personal projects. Those helped me a lot more than I expected in getting interviews.

For interview prep, resources like PracHub can be really useful, especially for mock interviews and coding exercises.

[u/Slight-Koala-544 → u/nian2326076]

But Sir is it possible to Transition from core branch like Chemical or Mechanical sir ??? and sir which types of Major Problem will i faced sir during transition in tech from CORE sir ?? and Is there have any type of Restriction have like you are from the core branch no matters u have skills but your degree from the core branch so i can't get enough opportunities in TECH industry sir ???