Software Engineer career description

Computers have become a part of people’s lives in the 21^st Century.  A software engineer is a professional who is responsible for the design or creation of software. An application programmer is one who writes software to handle specific tasks and a systems programmer controls the usage of the software. Apart from this, they should be efficient in handling team-work and sometimes should have to explain business functions to non-technical individuals. They may or may not be required for doing coding jobs.

Education and Training required

All software jobs usually need a degree, especially in Computer Science. Most of the engineers specialize in a specific language like Java, .Net, C++ and Visual Basic.

Getting the job

Software engineers can post their resume on various job portals like Monster.com, Career Builder.com etc. They can also get jobs through campus recruitments, Job placement agencies, advertisements in Newspapers or through references.

Working Conditions

The software engineers working for consulting firms and who own companies travel to meet customers or get new clients. They usually work 40 hours a week, but sometimes have to stretch if the completion of the target has not gone according to the deadline. These engineers are likely to suffer from diseases like eyestrain, back pain, hand and wrist problems as result of sitting in front of the computer for long periods of time.

Advancement possibilities and Employment Outlook

Earning and benefits

The salary of software engineers varies according to the experience, degrees and the geographical aspects. For Computer applications, it was $74,980 and for systems Software engineers, it was $79.740. They may also get promoted to higher positions depending upon their performance appraisals=54.

Alternative Description

Software Engineer Career Description

A Software engineer is a professional who works in any department of an IT organization and in the computer or IT department in firms of other sectors. The job responsibilities of a software engineer may vary according to the division of the organization he is placed in. The size of an organization also has a role to play in deciding if the Software engineer will be focussed in one specific responsibility or will handle multiple responsibilities. Candidates who want to become software engineers should have a computer background in bachelor’s degree and preferably a master degree. They may work in the quality assurance or testing, development, or support teams of an organization. They should follow all the organizational practices with respect to coding, testing, documentation, etc.

Software Engineer Job Career Description

• Software engineers are hired mostly from college campus placements. They are trained both on the job and through training classes on various languages and packages to be used for the job. They are also given training on organizational culture and practices.
• Software engineers should understand the client requirement and appropriately do the software coding for the same, or test for quality, or handle bugs on the applications or software.
• They should understand the whole product life cycle and may have to come up with new programs to meet the clients’ requirements.
• They will be well aware of the software application being used in the firm to find the gap between the current usage and expected need of the prospective clients.

Software Engineer Career Salary

Candidates who are aspiring to become Software Engineers can find job opportunities in many industries popularly software development firms, aerospace and defence companies, software applications, computer hardware and software, financial services, etc. Young computer graduates can get placed through the college or university placement agencies. The salary of a Software Engineer in the US lies in the range $46,000 to $100,000 per year and the median salary is approximately $75,000 per year. These projections are extracted from the Pay Scale National Salary data estimates.