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What type of jobs can you get with a Software Engineering Degree?

Hello there :hello:

I am thinking about applying to study Software Engineering. However, after doing my research I keep reading that all jobs will go to India and that companies will outsource jobs to India. Is this true because I really want to make sure that I'm not risking it and wasting 3 years doing a course and graduating only to find out that somebody from India is working for
50p p/h doing the same job. And also Is software Engineering a respectful degree?

BUMP

Which uni would you predict you'd get into? You might get a good job out of it but it is a highly specialised subject and I believe it's a highly competitive sector.

Also, no need to bump after 16 minutes.

Reply 3

miser

CNET

Software engineers ranked number one in the listing, which is based on stress levels, flexibility in hours and working environment, creativity, and how easy it is to enter and advance in the field, according to an explanation hosted on CNN Money.

Read morehttp://news.cnet.com/8301-10784_3-6060607-7.html#ixzz1nRt4oXkz

(Source: http://news.cnet.com/8301-10784_3-6060607-7.html)

A software engineering degree itself I think is generally more sought-after than a computer science degree for software engineering roles, and is considered (at least at my university) to be more challenging than the computer science course, but at the same time more traditional universities (Oxbridge, etc) don't tend to offer software engineering degrees (and also their computer science degrees I believe are also more theoretical rather than technical, but I am not sure).

There is significant overlap with a computer science degree so your job prospects will still be quite broad upon graduation, and you will be able to apply for various job positions such as a programmer, web developer, etc., so long as you have the requisite amount of experience to compete against your competition.

Personally, in hindsight I would have preferred to have done a computer science degree because of the technical orientation; software engineering applies more abstract concepts on top of the student's understanding of computer science's role in software development, and so you end up studying life cycles and professional concerns such as law and e-business, which are not particularly interesting to me.

In my course we mostly studied computer science concepts, a small amount of maths, software development (mostly Java), embedded systems, operating systems, software design, software engineering principles.

If you want a career as a software engineer then I would recommend it, but otherwise computer science will probably give you a more flexible career path.

Reply 4

MUN123

Original post by miser

I'm going to be graduating from a software engineering degree this summer, and the jobs you can get are quite high wage if you stick to software engineering as your profession. A list of the 'Best Jobs in America' a few years ago published by Money Magazine and Salary.com ranked software engineering as the #1 profession:

(Source: http://news.cnet.com/8301-10784_3-6060607-7.html)

A software engineering degree itself I think is generally more sought-after than a computer science degree for software engineering roles, and is considered (at least at my university) to be more challenging than the computer science course, but at the same time more traditional universities (Oxbridge, etc) don't tend to offer software engineering degrees (and also their computer science degrees I believe are also more theoretical rather than technical, but I am not sure).

There is significant overlap with a computer science degree so your job prospects will still be quite broad upon graduation, and you will be able to apply for various job positions such as a programmer, web developer, etc., so long as you have the requisite amount of experience to compete against your competition.

Personally, in hindsight I would have preferred to have done a computer science degree because of the technical orientation; software engineering applies more abstract concepts on top of the student's understanding of computer science's role in software development, and so you end up studying life cycles and professional concerns such as law and e-business, which are not particularly interesting to me.

In my course we mostly studied computer science concepts, a small amount of maths, software development (mostly Java), embedded systems, operating systems, software design, software engineering principles.

If you want a career as a software engineer then I would recommend it, but otherwise computer science will probably give you a more flexible career path.

What university do you go to?

Reply 5

MUN123

Original post by alexs2602

I have applied to De Monfort, UEA, Universiy of east London, University of Greenwitch , Kingston University.

I have got offers from Kingston University and UEA just waiting for the others.

Reply 6

ch0llima

To be perfectly honest, 99.9% of CompSci graduates end up in development roles anyway because it's an artefact of how the subject is taught in this country. Out of everyone I know who studied CompSci/Computing of some kind, I reckon there's only about 6 who aren't doing some kind of coding or development and those 6 are all in postgraduate study or on some kind of project management/consultancy grad scheme.

I'll get trolled and flamed to death for saying this, but I even know Oxbridge graduates who have got their CompSci degrees and what do they do? Work in the IT graduate scheme in banks or for some "small company", hacking away at someone else's ancient and badly written Java for £30k a year. Students are definitely steered towards development and software engineering and I have to say that one thing that shocked me upon hitting the real world is that all these incredibly bright and talented graduates, with 2.1 degrees from excellent universities, are doing generic cookie cutter jobs like that when aged 30+ - you'd think the sky would be the limit for these people, no?

I honestly don't know a single person who has a Software Engineering degree and, seeing as so many CompSci grads end up in programming roles anyway, I'm not sure that I see the point in restricting yourself when you can take the more flexible course and end up in the same job - at least doing CompSci allows you to change your mind and branch out.

TL;DR - CompSci is a wider and more varied field of study which just takes you into the same jobs anyway. Hardly anyone studies Software Engineering as a undergraduate degree (although I know one guy who did it at MSc level and is now a "researcher" i.e. works for the university in an academic capacity but without doing a PhD) and I wonder if there's any real point.

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 7

miser

Original post by MUN123

What university do you go to?

UWE in Bristol.

BUMP

BUMP

You might have more luck in front end and back end web development. It should provide the same technical thrill whilst not being easily outsourced as often you need to be working closely with the team.