Software engineers, commonly known as software developers, are now practically working in every industry. As the world is now getting digitized, there is more need for software developers to create specialized software applications. If you are thinking about why you should become a software engineer, it will be helpful in knowing what perks this career has. In this article, we will be covering the 15 major software engineer benefits that will make you want to be one.
What Is a Software Engineer?
A software engineer is a person who has technical and creative skills to make software programs. The software developed by them lets users perform some tasks on a computer, including playing a game and entering data into a database.
Software engineers spend most of their time developing and testing their software until it is perfectly suitable according to their client’s requirements. They may work on their own or with a team, in an office or remotely. Apart from creating softwares, they can update the already existing applications, perform quality assurance tests on software, and create the documentation for software systems as well.
Software engineers design and create the whole softwares and have to manage, operate, and function the performance of an application. Without a software engineer, you would not have been able to use social media apps, do your study research, or play any video games on the computer. They give proper help and support to engineers, technologists, and technicians, sharing their expertise and knowledge with these people.
These engineers are a great help in supporting; Go through the data intelligence, give customer services to their patients, cyber operations gather, and much more. Without software engineers, the whole technical and digital world would have collapsed.
They have expertise in C++, Java, Ruby Javascript, SQL, API design, ASP.NET, C, C#, PHP, data management and Perl, and know the way to program a strong code for an enterprise. We have mentioned a short overview of the main work a software engineer does:
- Help in building an infrastructure for client files.
- Lessen security violations for users.
- Develop softwares for increased storage of data for greater businesses.
- Execute, maintain, and enhance the performance of SDLC.
- Use designs, including experimenting and some repetitions.
- Create reports related to the specifications and activities of the projects in detail.
- Get in touch with the clients and customers on the status of project, proposal, and technical problems.
- Evaluate the interference with software and hardware.
- Give desktop and networking support.
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Major Software Engineer Benefits
Software engineering jobs have been getting more and more famous, and a career in this field is now a great option for many people. Have a look at the top benefits of choosing software development as a career path.
1- Access to Education
The greatest reason to become a software engineer or developer is access to education. There are many tools available free on the internet that make it easier to learn the language of programming that you prefer. Even though getting a degree in this field helps you launch your career, it is not really a necessity for you to have a degree in this field. Between books, videos, and online courses, many people can just know about the basic ideas to get their career started as a software engineer.
2- High Demand
Software engineers are highly demanded nowadays. Practically, every industry requires their own kind of software and engineers who can develop software according to their requirements. As in the 21st century this planet is getting digital and operated online, the need for software engineers is rising and will continue to rise. If you are looking for a career that has a future scope, software engineering is a great choice.
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Technology is now a huge part of everyones’ life and it is just expanding. New industries are now reliant on technology and the dependence on it is increasing at a quick speed.
The greatest thing is that all industries need software engineers, and you can choose your preferred industry to work in. You can pick your career in a lot of different industries like healthcare, technology, green energy, finance, military, automotive manufacturing, remote sensing, etc.
3- Career Options
When you choose software engineering as a career, there are many more options available for you. Such as, you can decide if you want to work as an independent developer or with a large company. Having this option lets you choose a lifestyle and work environment according to your requirements as well.
You also have the choice to work in a lot of different industries. Such as, you can build healthcare software or a video game. If you feel like changing your environment or the kind of software you’re developing, you can just switch to another field with these same skills.
There is also room for more advancement within this field. After you start as a beginner in this field, you can later advance as a senior programmer. Programmers can mostly then move into management positions where they just look after the development process instead of spending their time coding.
4- Remote Work
The ability to work from their home is really essential for candidates. Since almost all of the work of coders is done on a computer, developers are mostly allowed to work from their home. But, as long as a developer is able to connect well with their team, they can work from other locations as well like hotels, coffee shops, and shared workspaces. This flexibility can make software engineering a great career option.
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5- Travel
Working from home is the dream of a lot of people, but being a developer you can do a lot more than just that. All you need to have is an internet connection and a computer of your own so you’re not just restricted to your home. If you are an immigrant to some country, you can just go back to your family to visit them without taking time off from work. This career path also allows you to travel without taking off if you have your computer and internet connection. Software engineering jobs let you have regular income even when you’re traveling.
Besides that, many software engineers have to travel due to their work. Conferences are a part of development where major companies prefer promoting their products and innovations. As a software engineer, the company you are working for might even pay you for attending these conferences around the country so you can learn and network more.
6- High Salary
Salary is one of the main reasons why people choose this career.The average salary of a software engineer in the US is 125,689 Dollars per year. This salary can even increase if you’re developing your own software and have a great reputation in the industry.
As compared to other careers, a developer is in the higher wage bracket, and for someone who is just starting out, that’s a lot of disposable pay!
Here’s an overview for companies who pay their software engineers the highest.
- eBay $113,549
- Oracle $116,514
- Microsoft $116,967
- Intel $117,643
- Amazon $118,121
- Yahoo $125,366
- Apple $138,300
- Google $164,683
- LinkedIn $170,839
- Facebook $177,014
7- Scope in the Future
Our upcoming life has been projected in a way that it will accept AI, enterprise solutions, and robots with custom languages for handling data, operating, statistical analysis, functioning, analytical analysis and cyber security. New procedures are thought to start that need to be assisted by software engineers. That will bring a lot of opportunities for engineers as people will rely on them for support, integrated solutions, technical guidance, and creative ideas.
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8- Working Collaboratively and Individually
Working as a software engineer can allow you to work with a team or just alone. When you’re building a software, the overall project is mostly divided into smaller parts, with developers taking their specific tasks. This means that developers can spend time working alone and then get in touch with their team to discuss how their part fits into the project. It doesn’t matter if you like working alone or with others, you will get time to do both when you’re a software engineer.
9- Always Learning
An essential part of being a developer is continuing your learning. There are always new tools that you can learn and even better ways of software development. Developers need to spend some time staying up to date with the latest developments and news in the industry so they can create the best products possible.
If you like learning new things, software development can be a great field for you. You can learn new languages and new ways to use the new tools and old languages to make your process of development more convenient. Moreover, you will be able to learn more stuff about the industry you are working in.
A great thing about the IT industry is that it just keeps expanding and changing. You will never be the best in your field as next week someone will end up inventing a new thing that you will have to learn. And maybe that someone is you. Working as a developer means that you will always be learning more and more so you’ll never be bored. Who can ask for more as a career?
10- Problem-solving
If you live to solve issues, then this is the perfect career for you. Such as, software engineers may try to solve how a piece of software can perform a specific task for a client or how to type their code more efficiently. Developing challenges you to think differently and come up with better solutions for the issues of your employer or client.
11- Creative Outlet
Software development can surely be a creative outlet. As a software engineer, you can create any kind of software product on your computer. You will also have to find creative ways to solve issues through coding. Even though you will spend a lot of time writing the complex code, there is still a lot of creativity in this process, mainly if you’re working on your own projects.
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12- The Skills Are Transferable.
One of the best things about digitalization is that it is a universally used language. Ones and zeros can translate to any company and any country. Software engineering jobs globally all work the same way, so that tells you can move to another company, country and even field, and still have the required skills to find a great job. And mostly changing companies means a better pay rate as well.
13- Comfortable Working Environment.
Even if you don’t end up working from home, that’s not a huge issue. Having a job in the IT field means you will have a comfortable working environment. An air-conditioned office, a fast internet connection, a coffee machine, and a comfortable chair. These are all the things which will make your day go by faster and better.
14- Side Hustles
You can also have your side hustles if you want to. Whether that is picking up working on the side or having your own business.
Being a software engineer, the power to make money is totally in your own hands. The capability to increase your income depends on your ability to pick up freelance clients in your free time and weekends. Also, developing a SaaS product, consulting, creating online tutorials, and giving classes can also be great options for you.
15- Patience and Confident
Being a software developer needs a lot of hard work. They deal with a lot of technical problems that involve a lot of unknowns, perseverance and troubleshooting. The patience you develop while doing such work sets you up well for many other aspects of your life and your self growth.
Being a developer means you can build your business yourself, even more than one. If you can build your own softwares, you can start your side business from your bedroom. The only thing you need to have is a domain, fees for hosting, and time. You have a better career than lawyers, government officers, and doctors as they need to be physically available all the time to do their job.
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Other Software Engineer Benefits
Apart from the benefits listed above, software engineers have more benefits in this field including,
- In-office drinks and snacks.
- Paid access to training in the newest technologies.
- Tuition assistance.
While these benefits may not make any such difference for people, they can impact the process of decision-making when you combine it with more compensation.
Obviously, salary is not the only reason developers choose this field for themselves. Companies that show they work in the latest frameworks and best languages, offer a path for growth, have a suitable environment for the candidate, and respect that the balance of their work-life can vary, are more beneficial for a candidate than a company who pays more. By giving them a mix of them, employers can actually attract the most suitable candidates for their job-position.
Jobs Similar to Software Engineers
If you want to work as a software engineer, there are many more jobs in the field of IT that may be appealing to you.
Here are the 9 careers related to software engineering that you should consider:
1- Back-end developer
2- Cybersecurity analyst
3- Software tester
4- Development operations engineer
5- Front-end developer
6- Database administrator
7- Full stack developer
8- Systems analyst
9- IT supervisor
Benefits Offered by the World’s Biggest Tech Companies
1- Facebook
The engineer employee benefits offered by Facebook are some of the best ones in the market. Employees even have the access to on-site spa, doctor, barbershop, dentist, and optometrist which is available on-premises.
These benefits are just in addition to vision, health, and dental insurance, free meals, sick leave, maternity and paternity leave, paid time off, and gym as well.
2- Amazon
The benefits Amazon has to offer to a software engineer include vision, health, dental and pet insurance as well, health savings account, paternity and maternity leave, free snacks, free drinks, paid time off, and life insurance.
Employees are even provided transport allowance, immigration assistance, adoption assistance, relocation bonus, and obviously, a 10% discount on all purchases off of amazon.
3- Google
The employee benefits Google has to offer for developers are great. They offer insurance plans, legal consultations, child care, pet care, and therapeutic counseling. Google is also known for the great free meals it offers.
Employees also have access to medical staff, decompression capsules and massage therapists available on site. Also, the spouse of an employee who passes away is promised to get 50% of his salary for the next ten years.
4- Netflix
The benefits of a software engineer job at Netflix are comprehensive insurance, health savings account, paid time off, free meals, sick leave, maternity and paternity leaves, on-site fitness guides, and much more.
The company has gender-neutral washrooms and a mother’s room on site. Also, for its employees who are in the military, they provide total pay during any active duty or training period of the military.
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How Do Companies Decide What Benefits to Offer to a Software Engineer?
Companies who hire full-time developers must remember that any new person they are hiring will require a base salary and a benefit package. They have to keep a check of the extra expenses sustained due to providing the services. Companies with increasing employees are always in need to balance away these costs sustained with the requirement to create a great looking workplace and offer that appeals to the developer to join.
As a standard, the cost for a basic employee beneficial package will cost an extra 37% of the salary of a software engineer.
Here are the basic perks included in that cost:
- Medical insurance of the family.
- Cost of the workplace.
- Holidays.
- Annual Bonus.
- 15 days PTO.
- Social Security.
Companies who are looking forward to deciding the benefits to offer a software engineer should look at the benefits offered by the companies of competitors and evaluate if they can go higher than that or even stay at that exact level.
An alternate way to decide the benefits is to compare with the competitors, know their targeted employees and try making a change through intangible perks like the culture of the workplace and the responsibilities.
While big companies with a lot of income can provide great packages to developers, medium sized ones have the benefit of quicker upward mobility, company ownership and responsibility for better decision-making. They should never be shy from aiming to get great developers for this reason only. There are a lot of developers who are willing to make a change instead of being a part of big companies.
Are You Thinking of Becoming a Software Engineer?
Have you just discovered a passion for software programming and are thinking it’s now really late to choose this career path? Don’t you lose hope as you are not late at all. It doesn’t matter what your age is and if you have completed your degree a long time ago, you can still become a great software engineer. If you’re looking for a job as a software engineer, you can find it on Jooble.
Actually, around 45% of computer engineers in the United States don’t have a degree in software development. According to Statistics, 42% have a BS degree in IT, 13% come with a Masters degree in IT and just 2-3% come with a Ph.D. in IT.
How to Be a Software Engineer Without an Academic Degree?
If you want to be a software engineer without a degree, firstly you should get some training that can be done on the internet. Learn how to code yourself with the help of courses and lessons on the internet. They are totally user-friendly and reliable. We have listed some self-teach coding classes down below:
- codeacademy.com
- code.org
- w3schools.com
For Newbies, it will be a bit harder and will take some time, but when you know how to use the languages for programming, you would want to learn more and more. Next, enhance your experience by creating a portfolio by working for non-profitable organizations, small companies who just started. Just don’t stop working on it and start going through the codes of other people as well.
Look for a community on the internet by forming your blog to help other people with your accomplishments and achievements. Create a game, or a random application and don’t stop practicing. Congratulations, you are now officially a software engineer. It must be unbelievable but it is actually that simple.
You can now pick how you are willing to use your experience in the market and bring some change to the lives of people. There are infinite options, you just have to choose.
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Where Can a Person Work as a Software Engineer?
1- At a Large Company
The first option is working for a big scaled company, in any field or industry you know. Don’t worry, large scale companies will actually be inspired by the fact that you trained and learned yourself. Honestly, nowadays companies want more than just degrees. They care more about your experience such as what you do other than your academic qualification and look for skills like engineering, operational analysis, technology, critical thinking, problem-solving, creativity, customer service, mathematics, client management and your love for programming.
Many large scale companies need technology skills of some specific software so ensure you are experienced in as many as possible including:
- IIS
- JIRA
- MS Office Technologies
- VMWare
- SQL/Oracle databases
- SharePoint
- Citrix Server
- Windows Operating Systems
- Remote Desktop
- Rational TestComplete
- Rational Robot
- Rational Jazz Suite (RRC, RTC, RQM)
2- As a Freelance Software Engineer
Working as a freelance software engineer is also a great option as it gives you an opportunity to work with the technology that you prefer. It has a perfect work flexibility to offer, but you should keep looking forward to the existing trends of development in the market while you use your business, marketing, time management, accounting, and critical thinking skills.
3- Start Your Business
If you want to start up your business, being an IT engineer will help you in revolutionizing and working on your business startup. It puts you together with great experience as a software engineer so you can work in a fast-paced, new, and exciting environment of a business startup.
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Summary
A chance to have software engineering as your career comes with great benefits like high salary, high value in the market, future scope, and flexible opportunities. We challenge you to look for a career which is better than this. It’s always a win for you. If you are interested in computers and have a passion for programming, congratulations, you have initiated the correct career for yourself. So you better start working practically to enhance your future. Also, if you want to hire a software development company, contact us.
FAQs
What benefits do software engineers get?
Common benefits of Software engineers in the US include health and life insurance, profit-sharing, great bonuses every month, paid vacations, and many more.
Is software engineering a boring job?
It makes sense if you’re worried about the day-to-day of a career before you start working on it. People who are interested in this field always ask if this career is a boring one. Overall, software engineering is not at all boring. It has a 4.2 job satisfaction score and ranks really high in surveys related to employee satisfaction.
