A software engineer is a skilled professional focused on the design and creation of software. They may or may not actually code. Because they are interacting with both business functions and programmers, Software Engineers should have excellent communication skills and should enjoy working as part of a team. They will often have to explain business functions to programmers and technology restraints to non-technical business managers.
Education:
Usually requires at least a BS in Computer Science. Should be very familiar with specialized languages relevant to the technologies employed (Java, C++, C#.NET as examples)
Salaries:
Average salary is around $80,000. A fresh graduate in California may start at around $45000.
CNN Money Magazine rates Software Engineering among the Top 10 great jobs –
Software engineers are needed in virtually every part of the economy, making this one of the fastest-growing job titles in the U.S. Even so, it's not for everybody.
Designing, developing and testing computer programs requires some pretty advanced math skills and creative problem-solving ability. If you've got them, though, you can work and live where you want: Telecommuting is quickly becoming widespread.
The profession skews young -- the up-all-night-coding thing gets tired -- but consulting and management positions aren't hard to come by once you're experienced. According to the magazine, there are about 44,800 average annual job openings for Software Engineers.
For more information on a career as a Software Engineer, visit: Visit http://computingcareers.acm.org/?page_id=12
