Without software engineering, sophisticated innovations such as e-commerce and Wi-Fi would not exist. And as technology continues to evolve, so will this limitless, lucrative field.
When you become a computer software engineer, you'll design, develop, test, and evaluate software programs and systems. If you choose the computer systems software engineer track, you'll coordinate the construction and maintenance of a company's computer systems and plan their future growth. If you opt for computer applications software engineering, you'll analyze users' needs and then design, create, and modify general computer applications software or specialized utility programs.
To break into software engineering, you'll need at least a bachelor's degree in computer science, software engineering, or computer information systems. You'll also need to hone your programming skills, though you'll spend more time developing algorithms and analyzing and solving programming problems than writing code.
Now is the perfect time to get started on your career, since software engineering employment is expected to increase much faster than the average for all occupations. In fact, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) projects computer software engineers to be one of the fastest-growing occupations from 2004 to 2014.
According to the BLS, median annual earnings of computer applications software engineers who worked full time in May 2004 were about $74,980; the highest 10 percent earned more than $113,830. Median annual earnings of computer systems software engineers were about $79,740; the highest 10 percent earned more than $118,350.
Write your own career code with a software engineering degree.
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