In the initial stages of the career, youngsters have to put in several hours at work, since companies have very less training period. After that, they will become part of teams that work on specific projects that need specific knowledge/skills. While applying the knowledge gained in executing projects, at every stage, the engineer has to apply his problem solving skills. In addition to this, he has to know all the important features of the tools that he uses for the projects.
Job Profile/Description/Responsibilities
The roles and responsibilities of software engineers will differ based on their particular field of specialization – the languages used for developing the programs like C++, JAVA, Oracle etc. and the actual function – Development, Testing etc. Following are some specific job titles - test engineer, Software Architect etc. The job responsibilities increase with the number of years of experience and the complexity of the projects executed.
- Understanding project scope after analyzing client inputs and team discussions
- Co-ordinate with other teams in addition to sharing work with members of his own team
- Making business proposals and project documentation
- Doing unit testing and fixing the bugs found
- Brainstorm to understand new functionality or to fix software issues
- Conducting and attending trainings on various concepts related to software development
- Communicating with the client
Academic
The starting point in the software profession is a BS degree or (Software engineering). You must make sure that you enroll in an accredited college or university, so that you can stand out of the crowd after you earn the degree. This is important since there are many software jobs available but the number of people who decide to pursue careers in software is also increasing. Another way to stand out of the crowd is to opt for Master's degree.
You should choose a project that is as good as possible, since software jobs are not mundane jobs and require hands-on experience that lab sessions offered in universities cannot match. Thus, it is better to complete internship in a software company, so that you will know the actual software development cycle. A lot depends on the university and the actual grades earned, since companies shortlist candidates based upon the ranking of the university and the student's rank in the class.
Skill Sets
You will acquire specific skills needed for the job, if you have completed training in a software language and then completed a project using the language that you have studied.
Training
The best training that will help you is practicing software programs using a computer at home. If this is not possible, you can enroll in good computer training institutes that have industry tie-ups so that their courseware and general methodology are of an acceptable standard. You can complete certification exams of Microsoft, CISCO too depending on your career aspirations.
Prior Experience
If the company where you completed the internship has an opening, you can apply there since they will prefer you in comparison to other candidates. However, if this is not the case there is no reason to lose heart, as your knowledge in the project will go a long way in fetching interviews with other companies since companies place emphasis on practical know how.
Critical projects leave an engineer with rich experience compared to mundane projects. Therefore, it is necessary to involve yourself in tough projects that seem difficult to execute. Another way to gain good experience is to execute moderately difficult projects and then choose a project that is more complex.
Employment Outlook
Career prospects (globally)
There are abundant software engineer jobs these days since existing companies increase the number of undertaken projects on a regular basis. You can also search for the jobs offered by start-ups since the number of start-up companies are increasing year after year. Generally, large companies have heavy requirements and these companies have long-term projects. Such companies also hire candidates on contract basis when they do not have sufficient time to recruit permanent candidates nor have long-term requirements.
Salaries
The salaries that companies offer vary depending upon the company size, the actual role, the experience level of the candidate, the candidate's achievements, his past salary etc.
Typical starting salaries for graduate engineers: $19,500 - $26,000
Typical salaries for senior engineers with experience $27,000 - $70,000
Software engineering is a professional field that is on the high rise right now. It had suffered a little back gear in the last couple of years due to the recession but with that slowly fading now, things are expected to get back to the normal shape once again.
