Software jobs involve design and creating software for your employers or clients. Software development is a relatively new field – just 50 years ago, the phrase “job in software” was unheard of. But today, with everyone and their grandmother using computers and applications on computers, which includes your phone, whether iphone, android or some other phone, desktop, laptop and even parts of your car, there is a great demand for software engineers.
Types of Software Jobs
You can classify different software jobs according to the type of work they involve, and according to the domain of the job.
In the former classification, you have jobs in software development, quality assurance (QA) or testing, infrastructure jobs or IT jobs, and jobs in configuration management, also called as source control jobs. Software development is the actual design and development of software, this is what we think when we think about software. Quality assurance involves making sure that the software developed is up to the requirement and standard of quality require of it. Infrastructure or IT is the administration of the technical infrastructure of a company, this can involve both hardware and software expertise, though it usually requires expertise in relevant software.
The domain of the job means the type of software you develop or maintain – networking, database, mobile or phone applications, web development and web design, hardware, animation, 3D or graphics design. Other jobs include technical writing and customer service in IT. Other technologies that make for difference in jobs are Unix/Linux, knowledge of Java or.NET, languages such as Python, Perl and C/C++.
Searching For Software Jobs
A number of online resources help you search for jobs in software engineering. Sites like monster.com have listings of latest positions. Craigslist too has a section where jobs in software are posted by different companies. The advantage of Craigslist is that the jobs are posted locally – so if you want a information technology job in San Francisco Bay Area, for example, you can check the Craigslist page for that location. Networking with former classmates, friends, co-workers and clients is also a good way of landing a job interview.
Salary for Software Jobs
Companies like IBM, Apple and other giants pay top dollar for good developers – the average salary at these companies tops $100,000. Even in smaller companies, as long as you are good at what you do, you will earn more than your average college graduate.