Careers as a Software Engineer – Introduction
There are two ways of constructing a software design: One way is to make it so simple that there are obviously no deficiencies, and the other way is to make it so complicated that there are no obvious deficiencies. The first method is far more difficult.
-C.A.R. Hoare
Software Engineering is the engineering study which focuses on the design, development, maintenance, testing, and evaluation of software. Software Engineers need to be fluent in a specific list of computer languages in order to perform these tasks. With the onset of trends like cloud and Big Data, Software Engineers need to be well versed with the latest trends and must be educationally strong in order to meet the standards of application development. If you are looking for careers as a Software Engineer in these cut-throat times, it is necessary to know more about this industry and the skills and opportunities associated with it.
Education Required to build Careers as a Software Engineer
Software Engineering can be broken down in the following manner:
| Software Engineering Task | Education Qualification needed | Skills Needed | Top 4 Institutions |
| Design | Degree Level: Computer Science, Information technology, Software Engineering, Mathematics, Business Information Systems Master’s Degree: |
· Driven by deadlines. · Ability to work in a team. · Work with software engineering best practices. · Participate in Source Code and Design Reviews · Knowledge of multiple coding languages like C/C++/C#, F#, Haskell, Java, Julia, Matlab, Python, R, SAS Scala, SQL and stata. · Ability to analyse technical information. · Problem solving skills. |
The top colleges for studying Computers Science and Information Systems according to World University Rankings are:
1. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) 2. Stanford University 3. University of Cambridge 4. University of California, Berkeley(UCB) |
| Development | |||
| Maintenance | |||
| Testing | |||
| Evaluation |
Career Path in Software Engineer
Software Engineers are specialists at what they do and so do not find it hard to build a career for themselves. The following are some career paths in Software Engineers
Applications Development-
It is a problem solving, non-web based software development that includes programming languages such as Java and C#.
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Systems Development-
Designing and coding background software created to support application development and includes program languages like C and C++.
Web Development-
Involves designing and creating software or applications to run in a web browser using programming languages such as HTML, JavaScript, and PHP.
Embedded Systems Development-
Involves designing computing systems and software which work on non-computing devices such as automobiles, using programming languages like C and assembly languages.
Careers shape out because of decisions made by candidates as to the kind of skills they acquire, the team they work for and the people they work with. The following are some guidelines to shaping careers.
- Move in teams
It has been noticed that employees in computer science related employment either shift from one job to another in a team or in a single file. Moving in teams is the best way of changing jobs. Getting onto a great team and working with a network of familiar people is the most efficient way of getting work done. If one person of good capacity changes companies and ten others follow, then with this network of people the one person is more productive and achieves more.
- Join Start-ups
Start-ups are a great place to learn. Since the team is small, an opportunity to see and learn from a variety of challenges is there. One can leverage on the previously acquired technical skills and accomplish an upward growth in their careers as a Software engineer. To get into a start-up, one must first get in touch with an incubator which will put them onto a start-up. The exposure, environment, and learning will do loads of good to the career of the person.
- Start own company
If you are a risk taker, then this option is a good one for you. It is important to have the experience, team, and capital for this career path but the long-term results are extremely satisfying and fulfilling. Couple the above factors with a great idea and you are good to go. The downside of this career path is that it is very stressful and the salary is not fixed.
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Application Areas
Embedded and Real-Time Systems
Embedded systems are non-computing devices like automobiles and aircraft, whose correct functioning does not depend on human guidance. Embedded systems are involved in safety-critical applications like in the control systems of automobiles and aircraft, systems of remote operation like satellites. Embedded systems are also used in mobile telephony and consumer electronics. They are resource aware and real-time systems. That means that the computation must be done with the resources at hand and within the time constraints.
Safety-Critical Sytems
The software used in areas such as automobiles, aircraft or in the control of nuclear plants, railway signals etc is of great importance and a small mistake in execution even in the absence of human guidance can result in massive destruction and even result in loss of human life. Keeping this in mind it is very important to build dependable software that is fault-tolerant and adaptable.
Security
As the society is rapidly changing and becoming more dependent on information technology, it is important to build strong security software that is reliable and protect infrastructure, data, and applications.
Vertical-wise, Software engineers and their skills are mainly used in the Technology, internet-based, financial fields.[1]
Salary (US data and not India specific figures)
According to the United States Department of Labour, the job outlook for Software Developers between 2016-26 is 24% which is supposed to be much faster than average. The Bureau expects a positive employment change of 302,500 in the period 2016-26. Software Engineers are some of the most highly paid professionals of today. Salary wise in the US $, the United States tops the salary it pays its software Engineers followed by China and India.
Conclusion or Career Outlook
Given the career paths, opportunities and developments in the field of Software Engineering, it is one of the best kind of openings of today. It is very well paid and according to the survey in Kaggle on Data Science and Machine Learning, most of the participants gave a 7 on 10 in terms of job satisfaction. They also say that learning is very important before and during your careers as a Software Engineer.
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This has been a guide to careers as a Software Engineer.Here we have discussed the Introduction, Education, Career Path in Software Engineer, Job Positions, Salary etc.you may also look at the following article to learn more –
