{"id":573,"date":"2018-07-25T17:14:02","date_gmt":"2018-07-25T22:14:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onlc.com\/blog\/?p=573"},"modified":"2022-07-06T15:53:26","modified_gmt":"2022-07-06T20:53:26","slug":"software-engineers-become-one","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onlc.com\/blog\/software-engineers-become-one\/","title":{"rendered":"Software Engineers: What They Do and How to Become One"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">By loose definition, a Software Engineer is someone who employs the principles of computer science, engineering, and mathematics to design and create computer software solutions to complex problems. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But a software engineer is not someone who merely knows how to use computer languages to write software; an engineer is a well-rounded practitioner who has the skills to manage and provide the total solution. This means they may have expertise in networks, operating systems, communications, computer languages, databases, and project management principles. To be an engineer, you need to be able to master all of the competencies involved in the entire systems development lifecycle.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">SDLC<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Solutions Development Life Cycle encompasses the stages involved in producing computer software solutions. The six stages are:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Planning<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Defining<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Designing<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Building<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Testing<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Deployment<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Analysts, project managers and developers\/programmers are usually only involved in only one or two of these stages while a <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.onlc.com\/outline.asp?ccode=XBASQA\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">software engineer<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> should be able to participate in each step or manage the entire SDLC with proficiency. Experience is probably the number one virtue of an engineer. The exposure to the many different scenarios and potential pitfalls involved in the process of producing software are invaluable over the course of their career.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Software Engineer Requirements<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To begin the process of becoming a software engineer, you\u2019ll need to spend 2 to 6 years in pursuit of a bachelor\u2019s degree from a reputable, accredited institution. Some relevant degree paths include:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Computer Science<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Management Information Systems<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Computer Engineering<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Electrical Engineering<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Software Engineering, <\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">or some other form of computer technology<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In most cases, you will then obtain a position as a programmer\/analyst where you will learn the requirements and the actual technical disciplines required to build software. From there you might be involved in project management, testing management, and software deployment and support. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To be a well-rounded engineer, you will need at the very least some exposure, but more likely deep experience in each of these disciplines in the different phases of the solutions development lifecycle. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.onlc.com\/certification-computer-training.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Obtaining a few certifications<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> along the way couldn\u2019t hurt either.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Software Engineer Certifications<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Getting certified is always a great idea, and this is especially true for a position in computer technology. Most of the time, professionals begin their careers dealing with a specific technology discipline such as <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.onlc.com\/microsoft-technical-certifications.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Microsoft<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> technologies, Unix, or <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.onlc.com\/comptia-linux-plus-certification-training-classes.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Linux<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. A well-rounded engineer will have some experience with all of them, but most tend to specialize in one leading technology. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you go down the Microsoft path, many different types of certifications that will let prospective employers know that you have mastered their technology.\u00a0<\/span> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.onlc.com\/comptia-certification-training-classes.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">CompTIA<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> also offers certifications in many different computer technologies and software development. Their A+, Network+, and Security+ certifications are all resume boosters. CompTIA also offers a LINUX+ cert if you choose to go down that path.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How Long Does It Take?<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Like many things in the technology world, it depends. Expect to earn a bachelor\u2019s degree in 4 to 6 years. Then you will need at least another 4 to 6 years of good substantial work experience working under the guidance of skilled software engineers before you\u2019re ready to take the reins of a software solution project. The underlying education is vital to give you the understanding, technology, and concepts to be able to do the job. However, the experience of actually doing the job will provide you with invaluable, hands-on experience.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">No matter what path you take to becoming a software engineer, you will need vast amounts of training. The best way to get the training or certifications necessary to become a software engineer is by utilizing a training specialist like ONLC. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.onlc.com\/contact-onlc.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Contact us<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> today to find out how we can help you along your path to becoming a software engineer. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By loose definition, a Software Engineer is someone who employs the principles of computer science, engineering, and mathematics to design and create computer software solutions to complex problems. But a software engineer is not someone who merely knows how to use computer languages to write software; an engineer is a well-rounded practitioner who has the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":574,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-573","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-certifications"],"aioseo_notices":[],"modified_by":"blogadmin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onlc.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/573","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onlc.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onlc.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onlc.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onlc.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=573"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.onlc.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/573\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1194,"href":"https:\/\/www.onlc.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/573\/revisions\/1194"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onlc.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/574"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onlc.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=573"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onlc.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=573"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onlc.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=573"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}