Software Engineering was recently listed by Time Magazine as still being the #1 career for pay/stress load. In spite of all the media hype about offshoring of these type of jobs, it's still a job that's in high demand. This article is for those considering Software Engineering as a career path.
You must love programming! If you're in junior
or senior high, and you haven't yet explored programming, do so. If
you're not interested in math or science to begin with, you should
probably explore other options.
Get all the math you can in high school like algebra,
calculus, and geometry, it might be worth it if you try trigonometry and
graphing. Try to advance to college level math before leaving high
school, you'll need a ton of math to complete any Computer Science
program and Engineering program.
Plan on getting a degree. With all the success
stories of college drop outs becoming billionaire CEOs in the 90's,
there is a certain lure that "as long as I think outside the box and
have outstanding problem solving and programming skills I don't need a
four year degree". It's difficult for entry level software engineers to
obtain a position without a four year degree.
Qualify your degree by what you want to do.
If your love is game design and you wish to enter that industry as a
game programmer, you'll need a Computer Science degree. If you want to
work for IBM, Intel, Microsoft, Google, etc., then a Computer Science
degree may be good for you. If you're looking to work for a
non-technical corporation building mostly business applications,
consider a degree in Management Information Systems or one of the many
business technical degrees now offered. This type of degree is best for
most, because it provides management and general business skills and
doesn't focus on a lot of information that will not be useful to most.
