Looking for a tech career that promises excellent growth opportunities and satisfying work for many years? The role of the software engineer may be just the fit you’re looking for.
In This Article:
What Does a Software Engineer Do on a Typical Work Day?
Key Skills and Qualifications Needed for Software Engineer Jobs
What Education and Training Do Software Engineers Require?
Job Opportunities and Industries Where Software Engineers Are Needed
Career Growth and Salary Expectations for Software Engineers
Software Engineering Roles: Summing It Up
Looking for a tech career that promises excellent growth opportunities and satisfying work for many years? The role of the software engineer may be just the fit you’re looking for. It’s a thriving tech area with strong salary and career growth prospects both in person and in remote work from just about anywhere, from New York to Los Angeles to Tulsa and beyond—making it a top choice for both entry-level and mid-to-mature tech professionals.
If you’re wondering how to enter into or level up a career in software engineering, look no further. Read on to learn the diverse range of industries and economic sectors with promising career prospects and opportunities for software engineers, and how to align your skills, qualifications, and education to succeed in this lucrative tech career.
<h2 id="software-engineer">What Is a Software Engineer?</h2>
With the constant rise of new software applications and a continual need to ensure programming quality that functions optimally, free of bugs and vulnerabilities, people who are skilled software engineers are in high demand. In fact, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates that software engineering roles will continue to expand over the next several years, with up to 25% added positions in tech—making it a fast-growing career.
<h2 id="typical-work-day">What Does a Software Engineer Do on a Typical Work Day?</h2>
In order to create effective software solutions, members of a company’s software engineering team will perform a variety of duties that center on making applications that meet users’ needs with ease. So, you can expect to engage in:
Develop Applications from the Ground Up
As a software engineer, you will be responsible for planning the development of new software applications. You’ll create processes and outline approaches to the work you and your team are doing. If the application is being crafted for a specific third-party client, you will likely consult with that client to ensure the software you’re creating will align with their desired outcomes.
Create and Test Code
Once the application concept comes into focus, software engineers then build out the actual coding that brings the software to life. Depending on your industry, you may have opportunities to work on everything from computer applications and mobile apps to cloud-based platforms and beyond. To excel in this arena, you’ll need to understand programming principles and languages such as C++, Java, and Python.
Maintain and Evaluate Software Systems
Software engineers also provide a vital role in keeping software applications in shape. This part of your role can include ensuring existing systems work properly, evaluating software to ensure it functions as designed, testing to find issues that need to be fixed, and implementing coding that enhances cybersecurity.
Improve Upon Existing Software
As a software engineer, you will likely also work with programs and apps that already exist, helping to make them more functional and practical. You’ll look for ways to increase their speed, amplify their functionality, and make them more scalable. Innovative solutions that add greater value to existing programming is always a bonus for tech companies and the users they serve, so out-of-the-box thinking can be a plus.
<h2 id="skills-and-qualifications-needed">Key Skills and Qualifications Needed for Software Engineer Jobs</h2>
A variety of hard and soft skills combine to bring you success in software engineering. Ideally, you’ll show that you have:
Understanding of software and hardware design
Engineering tech applications will require a broad knowledge of how software works within the larger framework of technology in general. You’ll need to grasp operating systems, data structure and algorithms, processes for testing and debugging apps, and how to program and code. Familiarity with programs such as Power BI is beneficial.
Expertise in several coding languages
Compared to other tech roles, software engineers are both involved in looking at the big picture and thinking about details to ensure their designs work. So, it’ll be helpful to have mastery of multiple coding languages.
Collaboration and Teamwork
Because software applications are typically built by teams of people, you’ll be successful in this career if you are open to collaboration, team management, and understanding other people. You may have many obligations to oversee at once to keep the application development moving forward, so the ability to juggle multiple needs and multitask is useful
Effective Communication
Because you are likely to have conversations with a variety of internal and external stakeholders—such as sales and marketing, outside clients, and others—it pays to have strong emotional intelligence and be able to work with cross-functional teams.
Problem-solving and analytical thinking
To effectively engineer a software application, you’ll need to think analytically, looking for innovative ways to structure and code the application for top functionality. You’ll also need to recognize and solve problems in coding and output, and have a strong ability to attend to details.
<h2 id="education">What Education and Training Do Software Engineers Require?</h2>
Qualified applicants for software engineering jobs are in high demand because the experience and knowledge you need to fulfill these roles is specialized. A four-year bachelor’s or master’s degree in software engineering is required for many entry level and mid-level roles.
In some instances, studying information technology, computer science, or data science, or attending a coding bootcamp, can open up a beginner’s position or allow you to move laterally into software engineering from another department, especially if you also pursue higher education in computer software development as well. Pursuing internships or co-op programs can be an effective way to gain practical experience and industry knowledge.
Awareness of the latest trends and technologies is also a must, as it is key to continually learn new skills in software development. So, it pays to pursue continuing education, training, and certifications in a variety of programming languages, architectures and platforms.
<h2 id="job-opportunities">Job Opportunities and Industries Where Software Engineers Are Needed</h2>
Since software is used in just about every economic sector these days, software engineers can pursue opportunities in a vast array of business industries. You can choose to specialize in a specific field, such as healthcare, finances, manufacturing, infrastructure, supply chain, product management, aeronautics, government, nonprofits, and more.
Software Engineering Has Many Niches to Explore
You might also consider narrowing down to one of two main areas of software engineering—systems software and application software. Both roles demand that you apply your engineering knowledge to develop software. Systems software engineering focuses on operating systems, network distribution, and compilers to create business-wide enterprise software, while application software developers focus more on mobile apps and individual-computer level software.
You can also choose to specialize in a unique area of software engineering, depending on your own personal interests and preferences. Some of the more common software engineer roles you’ll come across and can consider include:
- Game engineer
- Quality assurance engineer
- Client relationship management engineer
- Software integration engineer
- Systems software developer
- Systems engineer
- Senior software engineer
- Lead software engineer
- Stack engineer/stack software engineer
- Machine learning engineer
- Backend software engineer
And there are many other specialty areas to consider too. Do your research and explore your options thoroughly. (Check out Jeremy’s story to see how our Talent Partners helped him land a role in product operations that ties into his software development experience.)
<h2 id="salary">Career Growth and Salary Expectations for Software Engineers</h2>
Because software engineering talent is in such high demand, you can find entry level and higher level roles alike across the country. There are many opportunities to work remotely, as the ability to collaborate from home and from state to state is easier than ever. Growth paths for a career in software engineering are not limited to coding and design, because a good software engineer can transition up into management of teams and leading departments and divisions within a company too.
Experience, location, your choice of industry and area of specialty can all influence your salary expectations. On average, the salary of a software engineer in 2023 was $130,160 per year, or
$62.58 per hour. And the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that around 153,900 jobs in software engineering, software development, and quality assurance testing will be added to our economy each year over the next decade.
<h2 id="software-engineering-roles-summary">Software Engineering Roles: Summing It Up</h2>
If pursuing a software engineering role is your dream job, you’re fortunate! You’ll have many opportunities available to you in a wide variety of fields from coast to coast. Whether you are interested in an in-person, hybrid, or remote position, the field of software engineering is worth pursuing, with an excellent growth forecast and salary expectations for the field in coming years.
If you’re looking for your next career role, inTulsa Talent is here to make the process easier. Explore our current list of career openings and join our talent community to see how we can connect you with access to the best career opportunities in Tulsa as well as the resources to simplify your next career move!
