First of all, what is it about your relative/neighbor the software engineer that makes you want to follow him into his profession? Is it the money? The prestige? Do you even know whether this person is happy creating and debugging applications? Have you asked him lately? More importantly, have you ever followed this person through a typical day – or even better, a typical week? Ever asked this person what he likes least about the IT, or about how much time he spends designing/debugging programs on the software compared to how much time he spends learning new technologies? Ever asked how long it took him to write his first program or how many hours a week he had to work before creating a productive application?

These are revealing questions that may help you explore a career in IT more realistically. Ask them before you romanticize your relative, the Software Engineer/Programmer.