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Marilyn Kathka
CST 300 Writing Lab
9 January 2021
The Software Industry: Software Engineering

The Software industry is software being traded between software producers and

consumers. Software engineering is the development and maintenance of software. This job is

important and in high demand because of the constant increase in technology usage. Almost

every industry requires software to run efficiently. The major technology corporations that hire

software engineers are Apple, Microsoft, Google, Tencent, and Facebook.

There is a list ranking the major technology corporations by brand value. Value is

calculated by financial value as well as brand contribution which can be described as the

likelihood of a user choosing said brand over another. Instagram’s value rose 95% in 2019 and

nearly another 50% in 2020 bringing it’s ranking up to number eight on the list (Wood, 2020).

This demonstrates a continual growth for the company.

In order to understand the company's successes it’s important to dive deeper into its

background, products, and reputation. Instagram is a social media platform that operates heavily

on the sharing of pictures and videos. Their main purpose is to provide a place for people to

interact and come together. As for its location, the website Craft (n.d.) states Instagram

headquarters is located in Menlo Park, CA. There are also six branch office locations across five

countries (Craft, n.d.). According to Instagram’s About page, throughout opening its many

different offices Instagram expanded its company’s engineering organization and now employs

more than 400 software engineers (Instagram, 2021). This page attributes the success and growth

to the cofounders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger who established Instagram on October 6,

2010. The page also states Systrom holds a BS in Management Science and Engineering from

Stanford University. Before Instagram, he was part of a new business named Odeo which later
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became Twitter and then he worked for Google for two years (Instagram, 2021). During his time

working for Instagram he was known for his problem solving skills. Systrom left Instagram in

September 2018 to pursue other options. Krieger also left the company in September 2018. The

page states that he holds a MS in Symbolic Systems from Stanford and spent his time before

Instagram at a company named Meebo as a front end engineer and user experience designer.

Prior to leaving Instagram he served as Head of Engineering for eight years where he was known

for his creative products and playing a big part in growing the engineering organization. The last

main contributor to the company that the page discusses is the Head of Instagram, Adam

Mosseri. Mosseri studied Design and Media and earned a BA from the Gallatin School of

Interdisciplinary Study at NYU. He worked for TokBox before going on and starting his own

design consultancy. From there he worked for Facebook for ten years as a design director and

product manager. Since Instagram is now owned by Facebook, this led to him landing the

position of Head of Instagram where he oversees all aspects of the business. He’s ultimately

known for his design skills and product strategy (Instagram, 2021).

Since its creation the company has constantly been making changes and has been

updating often with features such as stories, shopping pages, and new picture and video formats.

It’s well known that Instagram often follows the trends of other popular social media platforms

and expands upon them. Firstly, it was quick to adopt the concepts of stories from an application

named Snapchat. Stories are posts that vanish after a lifetime of 24 hours. Instagram launched

this feature in August 2016 and now 500 million people use stories on a daily basis (Read, n.d.).

Stories on Instagram have now become more popular than stories on Snapchat as they added

more filters and editing options such as music overlays. Alongside stories, they also added new

video formats called Reels that are much like videos that can be found on a very popular
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application named TikTok. This addition played out in their favor as the shorter length videos

keep the attention of the users well. Not to mention it provided a place where users can view

sought out TikTok videos that have been uploaded onto Instagram from the TikTok application.

This let’s Instagram users watch TikTok videos without the security risk that can come along

with downloading and using the TikTok app firsthand.

However, pointing out Instagram’s constant following of trends is not to say that they

don't come up with their own creative ideas. A recent shopping feature that is rare to see on a

social media platform has gained a lot of traction. It can be described as a tab on the application

that allows users to shop directly from a business’s social media page when browsing. If the

image of the desired clothing is clicked then a price will appear and the user can choose to then

add the item to their cart for purchase without needing to leave the application. It’s proven to be

popular as 70% of shopping lovers use the feature to find products as well as 87% of users state

others’ on the application influenced them to make purchases (Instagram, 2021). This new

feature in specific lines up well with how Instagram makes their money and continues to help it

rise on the high value company list. According to Simon (2020), Instagram’s top earning service

is digital marketing. They make money based on advertising impressions, or in other words they

get paid for how many advertising views they can get from its young and global user base. She

also states that in 2019 Instagram made $20 billion in ad revenue and was worth $100 billion by

2018. It’s important to note that in 2020 there were over 800 million Instagram users that logged

in on a monthly basis, demonstrating a good relationship between the platform and user which is

exactly the type of environment a marketplace will thrive in (Simon, 2020). All in all, keeping

the application popular with adopting and creating trendy features, along with releasing new
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features to go along with the business model make this company a sustainable high value

company.

As for Instagram as an employer, it seems to be a promising company to work for. They

claim to care for their employees as well as emphasize the opportunities for remote work,

competitive salary and a 401k complete with dental and vision plans, as well as vacation days

and flexible hours (“Careers,” n.d.). There are also first hand accounts for what it’s like to work

for Instagram. Many reviews from past or current employees can be found online that depict

Instagram as a good employer. Often these reviews refer to management as mentors and

acknowledge their willingness to give support and provide a healthy work environment that

doesn’t cause too much stress (Indeed, 2021).

Instagram is able to provide these benefits for their employees because of the level of

success they’ve been able to attain through the help of their software engineers. Their software

engineers constantly update and expand their application to keep the attention of the users. This

is a strong attribute for a company to have that’s in the software industry. The technological

world is extremely fast paced therefore developments will inevitably come about. The need for

these developments are so great that technology companies are needing to hire more software

engineers to keep up. This is ultimately why employment of software engineering is expected to

go up by 22 percent in the next ten years (“Occupational Outlook Handbook,” 2020). This is

very promising for people trying to make their way into the software engineering field. However,

it’s important to note that in most cases companies want an employee that, much like the

software industry, is good at changing and adapting in order to fulfill the developments that

come with new technology. This is not to say that it will be extremely difficult to become a

software engineer because there are a few exceptions to getting hired due to the current lack of
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software engineers. The shortage has brought about a new trend known as Low-Code No-Code

which is where companies are more willing to hire individuals that don’t have significant

programming experience as long as they have a great idea (McFadden, 2020). The other latest

trends and developments in software engineering are cloud computing, containerization, newer

programming languages, the advancement of artificial intelligence, blockchain technology, and

continuous integration and deployment (McFadden, 2020). Taking the time to pay attention to

these changes and doing further research into them gives individuals a good chance at

succeeding in the software industry.

The hardest part of becoming a software engineer is getting established. Most times

employers will prefer to hire someone with experience over a person that’s new to the field.

However, everyone has to start somewhere so it’s important to find other ways of standing out as

an applicant. Generally, it’s expected that the applicant has an education. A good degree to have

is a bachelor's degree in Computer Science as it’s considered to be a baseline to hold one when

wanting to become a software engineer. Earning this degree usually takes a student roughly four

years if all goes as planned.

As for picking which school to attend, it’s not too critical for it to be renowned,

especially when on a budget for time and money, but more of what the program has to offer. The

University of California State Monterey Bay (CSUMB) has a great 24 month online program for

students wanting to attend an affordable university as well as still have time for things outside of

school, whether it be for work or family. Most importantly, it is a good choice due to how

prepared students are for a job in not only software engineering, but any job relating to computer

science upon graduating. The core classes cover programming, algorithms and theoretical

concepts. Not only is this material essential for the field but also when taking these classes
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students work in groups collaborating on projects together. This is of great importance because it

mimics how work is done in a software engineering job which will expose the student to this

atmosphere, ultimately preparing them further for entering the field. A class to look forward to

when attending CSUMB to become a software engineer is CST 338, which is Software Design.

This class will provide a lot of insight on what actually goes into the work software engineers do.

The electives offered are also beneficial as they will help students develop interests and abilities

that can later be useful in the job pursuit. It’s always possible that a student can change their

mind on becoming a software engineer and this way the electives would have opened other doors

to different career paths which the student can then pursue with the same computer science

degree. Above all, there is one major benefit to this program that not all universities offer. This

program in particular will likely set students apart when entering the field because it receives

input from an industry advisory board to ensure students are ready. On top of that, all students

complete a comprehensive portfolio before graduating. This portfolio will act much like

experience that’s hard to achieve as a beginner in the way that it demonstrates to employers what

the applicant is capable of.

Besides getting a formal education, students should also pursue an internship. This is

another form of experience that is more attainable than attempting to start in the field as an

employee right away. Companies sometimes offer internships to students that can be either paid

or unpaid but both are beneficial in the long run. Students will get hands-on experience and help

them get a better idea of whether they truly love the career they have in mind. Internships are of

high value due to the experience they bring as well as the connections that can be made to help

line up a job in the future.

Lastly, when pursuing a job in software engineering it’s important to practice

interviewing skills. Many interviewers will essentially quiz the applicant and they are expected

to know the answers without hesitation. It’s essential to practice different coding scenarios that

may be asked. There are many articles online that will lay out the whole interviewing process

complete with commonly asked coding problems. The coding problems will require a lot of

thought so it’s vital to review and practice, especially if the applicant becomes nervous and finds

it difficult to think as clearly under pressure. Also just like with any other job interview, a big

part of it is demonstrating good communication skills. This can be seen as especially important

in a software engineering position as the job heavily requires working with others to complete

tasks and stay motivated. Above all, the applicant is a stranger to the interviewer so it’s

important to depict oneself in a good light. Speaking skills will help get that message across and

help make the most out of the opportunity.

All in all, software engineering is a promising and rewarding career path. As long as

students work hard and continue to grow there is a good chance at making it in the field and

becoming a part of these major technology corporations that we all utilize today.
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References

Craft. (2021). ​Instagram Headquarters and Office Locations.​ Retrieved from

https://craft.co/instagram/locations

Indeed. (2021). ​Instagram Employee Reviews.​ Retrieved from

https://www.indeed.com/cmp/Instagram/reviews

Instagram. (2021). ​About Us​. Retrieved from ​https://www.instagram.com/about/us/

Instagram. (2021). ​Careers and Jobs​. Retrieved from

https://about.instagram.com/about-us/careers

Instagram. (2021). ​Introducing Instagram Shopping.​ Retrieved from

https://business.instagram.com/shopping

McFadden, C. (2020, August 6). 11 of the Latest Trends in Software Engineering. ​Interesting

Engineering.​ Retrieved from

https://interestingengineering.com/11-of-the-latest-trends-in-software-engineering

Read, A. (n.d.). Instagram Stories: The Complete Guide to Using Stories. ​Buffer​. Retrieved from

https://buffer.com/library/instagram-stories/

Simon, E. (2020, May 29). How Instagram Makes Money. ​Investopedia.​ Retrieved from

https://www.investopedia.com/articles/personal-finance/030915/how-instagram-makes-m

oney.asp#:~:text=Like%20Facebook%2C%20Instagram%20makes%20its,young%20and

%20global%20user%20base​.

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2020, September 1). ​Occupational Outlook Handbook.​

Retrieved from

https://www.bls.gov/ooh/computer-and-information-technology/software-developers.htm
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#:~:text=4%25-,Employment%20of%20software%20developers%20is%20projected%20

to%20grow%2022%20percent,the%20demand%20for%20software%20developers.

Wood, T. (2020, August 4). The World’s Tech Giants, Ranked by Brand Value. ​Visual

Capitalist.​ Retrieved from

https://www.visualcapitalist.com/the-worlds-tech-giants-ranked/