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Bottom Line Up Front

What are some things I can do while pursuing a Masters in Software Engineering to help me switch careers from Civil Engineering to Software Engineering in two years?

Background

I am a spouse of a US Army service member stationed in South Korea. The wait list for childcare services here is one year so I am a stay at home dad until my wife finishes her military service in two years. Also, I do not have a work visa and jobs on the military base I am qualified for will not advance my career in the technology field. I am already a student at Penn State (Online) pursuing a Masters in Software Engineering. I have a BS in Civil Engineering from Texas A&M. I just finished six years of military service as an Engineer Officer where I was a project manager and a department manager over anywhere between 35-80 Soldiers.

Software Development Experience

I have been programming since I was 13 and consider myself very proficient in C#, proficient in Java, a novice in C/C++, and JavaScript. Programming has always been a hobby for me and I want to turn it into a full time career. Specifically, I have been doing hobby game development for years but I have no desire to purse game development professionally. My GitHub was enough to get me into a Software Engineer masters program. I am one of the few non-professional software engineers in the program that come from a hobbyist background. That said, I am about 20% through the program and so far I have a 4.0. I am confident that my current abilities would get me an entry level position if documented professional experience was not a factor.

Goals

• Start a career as a Software Engineer II (or equivalent) in 2 years in application/systems development in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. I am open to learning web technologies but I don't have as much passion there. I want to program in conjunction with other engineering disciplines in industrial applications.


• In 3-5 years I want to move to a leadership position as either a project manager or a manager with direct reports. I enjoyed responsibility and leading teams when I was in the military and I would like to take those soft skills into the software industry.

Options I am Considering

• Learning a new language / technology. I am considering C++ as it is used a lot in industrial and embedded development. I started learning modern C++ and understand the basic concepts dealing with memory management and syntax. I have taken a full stack web development boot camp and I am open to learning more.
  However, I also learned that I was not as passionate about web technologies as I am about application development.


• Contributing to an open source project that fits the career I want. This seems like a good idea but learning a new framework enough to start contributing would take a lot of time. I want to make sure the career benefits of doing so would be the most effective use of my limited time.


• Finish a personal project with a technology I already understand and publish it under an LLC or DBA that I started myself. I can therefore list myself as an employee of my own company to cover the employment gap and show I have the skills to develop and publish an application from start to finish. I would use all my project management, version control, and documentation skills as well.


• Contract Work. I am also considering doing small projects on Upwork/Freelancer for low pay to build experience.

I can also do a combination of these options but between school work and full time stay at home dad responsibilities my time is at a premium (about 1-2 hours a day). I am also concerned about the gap in employment history. I know the technology sector is a pretty progressive place, but how open are they to men who take time off to raise children? Any advice from experienced Software Engineers?