Software Engineering

By: Katelyn Le

Software engineering is a career that requires the knowledge of technology,

computer science, mathematics and critical/good thinking. I think that this job would

be the ideal one for me because I am good with technology, my best work is when I am

indoors, and I am able to show my creativity with this job.

General idea:

Have your parents ever told you to become a doctor? Well, you can make them

proud! Software engineers are basically doctors in the tech world. For instance, you

can be called at any time to go help a patient at the hospital just like you can be asked

to go fix a bug.

Software engineers must make sure that the softwares are running correctly and

fix problems within it. If a server is down or a specific thing isn’t going properly,

software engineers are the people to look for. That’s part of their daily jobs. However,

the software can malfunction at any time, not just when you’re at work. According to

the interview with Roy Hayward in Becoming a Software Engineer, he mentioned that

once he got called to fix a program at 2 a.m. and on Christmas Day. This is an

example which shows that softwares can break down even at the most inefficient

times, but whatever needs to be fixed has to be fixed. This is also the reason why

there are less women in this field since it can interfere when taking care of their family.

Woman typically are there to support their family, but with the inconvenient times, it can

be hard. From, an interview with Jennifer Sirp, in Software Engineer, “When I started
working and after talking to engineer friends, I have found that there are very few

female software developers; much fewer than 20 percent of the people I worked with.

That may be because the long hours...are not a friendly environment to work in while

raising kids.” This supports the point that there are less women software engineers/

developers due to the time and work needed to pursue this job.

Software engineers also help companies or institutions set up and maintain their

technological systems. They also make sure that their data/software is safe and

protected from anything that can harm or erase it. Not only do they fix the bugs, they

are also trying to prevent them.

Many software engineers also develop programs for other industries. This can

shift them over to software development. But, just because you’re a software engineer

doesn’t mean that you can’t be one of another. There are many people who are both

software developers and engineers all over the world! Even though that software

engineering may seem like an independent job, to our surprise, software engineers

actually work together a lot in groups. They could have a few meetings/conferences

about their progress daily or weekly. Each person has their own part, and their

teamwork is an essential because with it, they can easily make new products or

enhancements. This job isn’t easy as you think!

Education:

In high school, the classes recommended to be taken are usually Algebra II,

Biology, Calculus, Chemistry, and Computer Science. A class about programming

language (Java, Python, C+, etc.) is also beneficial since you’re going to use it quite a
lot during your job. Because coding is part of a software engineer’s job, knowing how

to do it can help you have a better understanding and a higher chance of employment

for a company. From “US News & Report”, their interviewee, Sam Schillace

mentioned, “We look at track records as much as school—someone from a great

school with no outside coding projects or interesting technical accomplishments is

defiantly less interesting, and someone who is a rock star coder with no degree but a

huge list of achievements would be an easy hire.”

When you get to college, you must have at least a bachelor’s degree to be a

software engineer. Majors studied in college for this job are either, software

engineering, computer science, mathematics, or computer information systems. Top

colleges in California for software engineering are California Institute of Technology, UC

Berkeley, Stanford, and UCLA. I think that California Institute of Technology is the best

choice because it is well known in science and engineering, and it’s shorter distance

from my home compared to the others (convenient).

Workplaces and Area:

As a software engineer, you can have a chance to work for big, famous

industries such as Google, Apple, Microsoft, Facebook, NASA, and more! A sweet

benefit of working in some of these companies is that most of them provide a variety of

amenities for their employees to focus and boost their energy. For example, Google

has a rock climbing wall, fitness room, and, most surprisingly, a bowling alley! This is

for when workers are feeling a little unenergized and need to move around, so they still
 can stay productive on a job that mostly requires sitting behind a desk. But, you and I

both know that you can’t bowl all your work hours (unfortunately).

Mostly, software engineers have to work long hours. The times are really flexible

and can change depending on the projects they have. A quote from Career Education

Advisor (website), “Most work at least 40 hours a week, but due to the project-oriented

nature of the work, they may also have to work evenings and weekends to meet

deadlines or solve unexpected technical problems.”

Other things you need to know:

The demand for software engineers is still growing at a strong rate. Many

companies are in need for software engineers today. Based on statistics from Bureau

of Labor, “Employment of software developers [and engineers] is projected to grow 24

percent from 2016 to 2026, much faster than the average for all occupations.” This

supports the point that there are still a lot of job

opportunities for software engineers. They’re

not going to die out any time soon! The salary

varies based on the experience and regions.

The salary range can go from $60,000 to

$124,000, again, depending where you’re at.

The table above shows the job

openings along with the salary for
each area.
Bibliography:

Leavitt, Amie Jane. Becoming a Software Engineer. Rosen Publishing, 2018.

Kemper, Bitsy. Software Engineer. ReferencePoint Press, Inc., 2018.

“Software Engineer & Computer Scientist.” EngineerGirl, www.engineergirl.org/6067/

Software-Engineer?source=generalSearch.

“Working as a Software Engineer.” TechnoJobs - the UK IT and Technical Jobs Board,

www.technojobs.co.uk/info/it-job-roles/working-as-a-software-engineer.phtml.

“How to Become a Software Engineer - Career Information, Education & Degree

Requirements - Peterson's CollegeQuest.com.” CollegeQuest, 1 Apr. 2014,
www.collegequest.com/how-to-become-a-software-engineer.aspx.

Designing Computer Programs: Software Engineers. Rosen Publishing Group, Inc.,

2016.

“Summary.” U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 13 Apr.
2018, www.bls.gov/ooh/computer-and-information-technology/software-developers.htm.

“Computer Software Engineer Career Working Environment.” Computer Software

Engineer Career Working Environment | Career Education Advisor,
www.careereducationadvisor.com/Computer-Software-Engineer-Career-Working-
Environment.htm.