<p>I am considering changing my major to Software Engineering. I go to Iowa State. I would like to hear about experiences of actual Software Engineers</p>
<p>Working software engineers or software engineering majors? And what about CS or IT? Just checking. I don’t know how many SE majors there are floating around. I know there are a couple of software professionals…</p>
<p>I mean people in the software engineering profession, like software developers, systems engineers, etc.</p>
<p>There are a lot of software professionals who maintain blogs about their experiences. I can make some suggestions depending upon your interests.</p>
<p>Not too much to tell about it…</p>
<p>I gather requirements, make a design out of the requirements, develop off of the design and get someone to test it.</p>
<p>That’s it.</p>
<p>^ Do you enjoy it? How long do you have to work, and how much do you get paid (if you don’t mind answering)? What college did you go to, and how was your experience majoring?</p>
<p>Please answer these if you have time! It would really be helpful :)</p>
<p>Sure, I am interested in the software engineering profession in general. I don’t have anything more specific than that. If you could direct me to those blogs that would be great.</p>
<p>Do you enjoy it? What are your prospects and is your job as a software engineer stable?</p>
<p>“Do you enjoy it? How long do you have to work, and how much do you get paid (if you don’t mind answering)? What college did you go to, and how was your experience majoring?”</p>
<p>1) I love it
2) I work a basic 8-hour day
3) I have been at 6 figures for over 10 years. Obtained a TS/SCI+Poly Clearance 5 years ago and that added close to $40,000 extra. I still work for a company. If I wanted to go straight independent, I could bill at $100-$115 per hour.
4) Michigan State (undergrad-math)…Univ of Wisconsin (grad-engineering)
5) Both degrees are pretty broad. I took Computer Science at both levels but NEVER majored in CS…and that was by design.</p>
<p>what does “by design” mean? You planned out your major so that it included CS courses?</p>
<p>And aren’t security clearances hard to get, especially since a lot of companies are unwilling to help employees get them?</p>
<p>[Matt</a> Cutts](<a href=“http://mattcutts.com/blog/]Matt”>Matt Cutts: Gadgets, Google, and SEO), Google Search
[Jeremy</a> Zawodny](<a href=“http://jeremy.zawodny.com/blog/]Jeremy”>Jeremy Zawodny's blog), Craigslist, formerly Yahoo Search
[Ted</a> Ts’o](<a href=“http://thunk.org/tytso/blog/]Ted”>Ted's Soapbox on Linux, File systems, and the World - Theodore Ts'o), Google</p>
<p>These are just a few that I read. Let me know if you want more.</p>
<p>[Embedded</a> Systems Design - Embedded.com](<a href=“http://embedded.com/]Embedded”>http://embedded.com/)
[Coding</a> Horror](<a href=“http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/]Coding”>http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/)
[Joel</a> on Software](<a href=“http://www.joelonsoftware.com/]Joel”>http://www.joelonsoftware.com/)
[Code</a> Monkeyism | Programming is Hard by Stephan Schmidt](<a href=“http://codemonkeyism.com/]Code”>http://codemonkeyism.com/)
[Stack</a> Overflow](<a href=“http://stackoverflow.com/]Stack”>http://stackoverflow.com/)</p>
<p>“what does “by design” mean? You planned out your major so that it included CS courses?”</p>
<p>Now this may not be a popular opinion, but I feel that there is a lot of “fluff” in a complete Computer Science program…undergrad or grad. Add to that, universities (for the most part) will NOT give you the best training for some of the more I.T.-like computer science areas like database systems, networks and using operating systems.</p>
<p>I am only speaking on MY experience. I constructed a graduate engineering program that leaned more toward systems engineering and project management. I knew that I could always attend an Oracle or SQL Server training class to keep my database skills sharp.</p>
<p>The same as an undergrad. All you REALLY need to take from the undergraduate computer science program is: Programming I, II, Algorithms, Data Structures, Operating Systems…then take something specialized like databases, networks or scientific programming.</p>
<p>Let’s face it, the number of job openings in “compiler design” or A.I. is very small compared to databases, computer networks, scientific programming or maintaining operating systems.</p>
<p>^ As somebody with mathematical training, I’m surprised you don’t understand the value of topics which don’t necessarily correlate with employability. I can think of a few myself… like everything a math major takes in the math department, for instance.</p>
<p>I could understand an argument such as “CS programs contain fluff because some of the classes are easy”. I wouldn’t necessarily agree with this in general, but at least that would make sense. AI and compiler design have importance beyond actually doing those things. I mean, we take calculus not because we’re going to be doing integrals as a job, but because knowing about them, how to do them, what they mean, etc. is part of a learning process which gives people skills they need to do more interesting things.</p>
<p>I would seriously caution anybody against doing what you did lightly. I’m not saying you were wrong to do it, just that the university probably knows better than the student what coursework is important for a well-rounded (insert profession here). For instance, that’s why I double majored in physics… rather than just taking a handful of physics courses of interest to me. In hindsight, I could not in good faith say that I had a good knowledge of physics had I only taken mechanics and computational physics. I don’t feel very differently about any major, especially any technical major, least of all CS. I honestly cannot think of a single course I’ve had that hasn’t been worthwhile.</p>
<p>One could make the argument that there are “more worthwhile” courses one could take instead, but I disagree with this idea. Necessarily, the utility for higher-level and more specialized courses is going to be less than for basic, introductory courses… but you are being hired for your specialized skills, not for the foundational stuff. Generally speaking, I would recommend anybody who’s think about how preset programs (majors, minors, concentrations, etc.) can be combined to achieve what the student perceives to be a near-optimal effect. If you like physics, you don’t want to be able to say you’ve only studied mechanics and forgot E&M. If you like math, you don’t want to be able to say you’ve only studied algebra and not analysis. If you like CS, you don’t want to be able to say you’ve only studied algorithms and not software engineering (or vice versa).</p>
<p>Sorry for the rant. This is not meant to be confrontational. Just saying.</p>
<p>Hey GLOBALTRAVELER, thanks for answering!</p>
<p>So about your previous post about some CS classes not being useful…I plan on majoring in computer science at the University of Michigan. For a lot of the required courses though, they let you pick which part of CS you want to focus on, as well as branch out and take other engineering, math or science courses. I’ll probably be taking a lot fo math and some extra physics too, and I guess like you said, focus on "databases, computer networks, scientific programming or maintaining operating systems. ". Do you think this would be a good idea?</p>
<p>One question about software engineering though…does it require a lot of creative designing (as in how a software looks, making it look nice, etc)? Or does someone else come up with this stuff, and you have to figure out a way to develop it?</p>
<p>Also, what’s a “security clearance”? How hard is it to obtain one? Is it a very time consuming process (to obtain a clearance), or is it just something you do while you work?</p>
<p>Thanks!!</p>
<p>AuburnMathTutor</p>
<p>Well, umm…I was more of an Applied Math major so I am not one for a lot of theory.</p>
<p>I will admit, my slant on this board is to give a different viewpoint of colleges and employment. I think we have enough posters (and it is a good thing) to give the more utopia view of “study everything, ace everything and embrace everything in the academia” almost blindly. I get that.</p>
<p>I guess the best way to put this is that in college athletics, you have coaches (Knight, Coach-K, etc) that teach you everything for college but may not put too many players into the pros. I rather take the Roy Williams or Calipari approach and show folks how to use college for the pros…and use a few lesser-known tips in case one has a bump or two along the way.</p>
<p>PS: I did not take your posting (it wasn’t a rant) as confrontational. I fully expect this since I am kind of going against the widely accept paths that most folks post.</p>
<p>Yosup…</p>
<p>I would have at least TWO focus areas: one that you REALLY like and one that is in market demand (as backup). I do not know U of M’s tuition but I know it is “high as hell” so one would want to get as much out of that tuition.</p>
<p>I am not being lazy, but I think this link will give you the info about security clearances. I would have ended up saying almost the same thing…</p>
<p>[Security</a> Clearance Secrets – About Military Security Clearances](<a href=“http://usmilitary.about.com/cs/generalinfo/a/security.htm]Security”>http://usmilitary.about.com/cs/generalinfo/a/security.htm)</p>
<p>Ok thanks. U of M tuition isn’t that bad. For in-state students the total cost is around $25000 including books and other expenses, and I should get some good financial aid since my EFC = 0.</p>
<p>Ah okay. So anyone who needs a security clearance to do their job can request it? You don’t have to be a part of the military do you? o_O</p>