Ask HN: What are the major decisions to be made to start a “programming” career

I went to school for a Biology degree but really enjoyed learning C++ for a few semesters. Then I got a job at a major health care software company providing support to the implementation teams and I even do a little development (not in a modern/relevant language tho).

I've been given the opportunity to take courses (Data structures, compilers, etc) towards a CS certificate and would like to look more into a programming role.

What are the major decisions that I'll have to make before I can start looking at jobs and the requirements?

For example, I know that software engineers often learn new languages when their project/role needs it, but there is a delineation between web software and systems software.