How to become a software engineer

They develop, design, test, and maintain software applications. And they are proficient in engineering languages and principles and provide software solutions. 

It’s also a lucrative career path, too: Software engineers make $130,160 per year or $62.58 per hour, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). And, the job outlook looks good too, with the field projected to grow 25% from 2022 to 2032, at a faster rate than the average for all occupations, according to the BLS. 

“If you can dream it up, you can use software as a tool to create,” says Kadie Jaffe, a software engineer for Walt Disney Animation Studios and a college admission consultant for Quad Education. 

From the healthcare industry to the real estate industry and beyond, the skills of software engineers are in high demand. Jaffe, who has a bachelor’s degree in computer science, works in the film industry and uses software that helps support filmmaking. She has software engineering credits on Frozen II, Strange World, Raya and The Last Dragon, and Wish.

“Software is infused with everything, and we are using it more and more,” says Jaffe. “The opportunities are just tremendous.”

To enter the world of software engineering, there’s a few steps to get there. Whether you’re a novice or making a career change, the steps below offer insight into various paths that can lead you to gain knowledge and experience to work in the field.

1. Plan your career path beforehand 

Planning your career path means figuring out if you plan to work for a thriving tech company or startup, or if you want to manage people or be an independent contractor. You’ll need to know whether you want to specialize in a programming language or become a development team leader. 

Another thing to keep in mind: Software engineering is a broad term with a range of tech-related roles like video game development to cloud computing as well as specializations, like back-end, front-end, or full stack. 

For example, back-end developers create and manage the systems that handle data processing and operations on websites. Front-end focus on user interface and make the parts of the website users visually see and use. Full stack are experts in back-end and full-end development and are experienced with all parts of an application or website. These roles are important to keep in mind depending on your interests.

Whether you are considering a career change or just starting out, it can be helpful to set goals and reach out to working software engineers. Finding a mentor, looking at the job market in your location, and working with a career counselor can all be helpful ways to plan your career.

2. Pursue relevant education 

Software engineers must acquire the necessary skills and experience to work in the field. Here are three ways to get there:

Teach yourself

The self-taught option requires strong motivation to learn software engineering skills and there are free or affordable online courses to get you started. For example, online learning platform edX, a Massive Open Online Courses, provides free courses from institutions worldwide. Users can learn the fundamentals of computer science, coding, and more to begin a career as a software engineer. 

Here are some pros and cons for the self-taught option:

Enroll in a bootcamp

Students can learn the skills needed to work as a software engineer. The length of time to complete a bootcamp can vary and may range from 15 weeks (at Flatiron School) to nine months (at Springboard) to 11 months (at NuCamp). On average, the cost of an online bootcamp is $11,118 and in-person bootcamp costs $11,906, according to Course Report. Bootcamps offer a structured curriculum taught by skilled instructors with hands-on interactive instruction and peer-to-peer interaction. Students can complete projects to build their portfolios and get access to career coaching.

An example of a bootcamp is Fullstack Academy, which offers the Full-Time Software Engineering Immersive, a 12-week course for students of varying beginning skill levels. 

Pursue an actual degree

Obtaining a college degree is a common route to becoming a software engineer. Most pursue a four-year bachelor’s degree in computer science or software engineering and learn software design and testing. Students can also specialize in subjects like artificial intelligence, data science, and game design. 

And going this route is not cheap: During the 2022–23 academic school year, annual undergraduate tuition and fees cost on average $10,940 for in-state students and $28,240 for out-of-state students at four-year public universities, according to the College Board.

“If what you want is kind of a guarantee of a really, really high paying job and career long term, working in some of the biggest software companies or being an entrepreneur and running your own technology based software company, those are really good reasons to get a proper degree in software,” says Shreya Kumar, a software engineer with a PhD in computer science and an associate teaching professor of computer science and engineering at the University of Notre Dame. 

Certifications

Software engineers typically have several certifications. Having experience in different certifications can demonstrate your specialized skill level, particularly if you are lacking a college degree.

While some companies like Google don’t require applicants to have a computer science degree for most of their software engineering or product manager roles, having additional certifications can help a software engineer to be competitive. 

Here is a list of some common certifications:

Certified Secure Software Lifecycle Professional: The CSSLP focuses on software safety and development giving users skills in detecting cybersecurity vulnerabilities in the software development cycle. The CSSLP course and exam costs $599.

Professional Software Developer Certification: This is a professional competency test covering the major concepts of the engineering process and is administered by the IEEE. The test costs $390 for IEEE CS members or $485 for nonmembers. 

AWS Certified Developer: The Amazon Web Services exam is for software engineers that would use AWS to create web applications. The exam costs $150.

Certified Software Engineer: This exam is offered by the Institute of Certification of Computing Professionals. There are five levels of testing for IT professionals. A $45 membership fee is required followed by a $350  exam fee. 

Professional Scrum Developer: Passing this test shows you know the fundamentals of applying the Scrum framework in software development and have skills in self-managed development to design and architecture. The test costs $200.

3. Gain real-world experience and make connections, too

Gaining real-world experience can help build your portfolio and expertise in the field in early preparation for the job market. Both Jaffee and Kumar say a good way to add to your experience is working on side projects.

Some ways to gain personal experience can be through side projects, internships, or volunteering. Internships provide an introduction to the workplace and allow the opportunity to get hands-on experience and hard skills in software engineering.

Students already in a degree program can reach out to their department to find out about any internship opportunities. Bootcamps can also provide help lining up an internship.

 Another option is joining hackathons through Takai, which lists upcoming hackathons worldwide that are hybrid and online. Dedicated hackathon groups can also be found on Facebook and X.

“A good side project to do is make your website resume,” says Jaffe. “You’re developing your skills and you’re also putting it out there.”

Networking early on is also a good strategy. For example, you can use social media and The Hive Index to search for groups that will connect you with other software engineers or to join meetups. Networking is important through alumni groups, local meetups, conferences, and coding workshops, which all may connect you with some internship opportunities.

Kumar says most big companies like Google, Facebook, and Microsoft typically have internships listed on their website. 

“An advantage of doing internships is often the companies where you do the internship will offer you a full time position because they’ve already tested you out a little bit,” says Kumar. “The real win is turning that internship into maybe another internship the year after until you are almost a senior.”

Some great resources to start your internship search at are Handshake, Glassdoor, Zippia, LinkedIn, and Meetup.

4. Showcase your skills

Once you build that real-world experience, it’s time to show it off. 

Having a portfolio is a good way to show potential employers your skill set. It should be very detailed about the type of projects worked on and the skills and technologies applied, highlighting the programs, languages, and systems used. Your portfolio should showcase not only all the work you’ve done for clients but also the type of clients you have worked for.

You can list a proficiency level for all of your languages, ranging from proficient to familiar. Your resume should list any special training, meetups, events, or conferences you’ve participated in as well. You can also have a separate section on your resume to show your personal projects.

A good resource to list on your resume is GitHub, a developer platform that allows users to store, track, and work together on software projects. 

“Some very standard things that a lot of employers expect to see are examples of projects that people have worked on. And often a lot of people will have their GitHub account,” says Kumar. 

HackerRank is a platform that offers coding challenges as well as a skill assessment tool for job recruiters to evaluate the coding skills of potential job candidates. LeetCode is a platform for preparing for coding interviews with mock interviews. Technical interviews typically include coding tests, algorithm questions, and system design challenges.

“These websites are really great places to go and practice a lot of these tools, a lot of programming challenges. And then some of these websites also let you get ranked,” says Kumar. “To some employers that can be an interesting standing for your lack of work experience.”

College campuses and bootcamps typically have career services that can help with resumes, mock interviews, and filling out job applications. To build your software engineer resume, you can use Harvard College Bullet Point Resume Template or Overleaf. A good sample resume is How to write a killer software engineering resume.

5. Apply for jobs

Now that you’ve got some experience and training under your belt and a polished resume, it’s time to start the job-hunting process. Career fairs and company websites can be good starting points when searching for jobs. For job guidance you can get the help of tech mentors, career counselors or get interview prep on Merit.

While entering the job market may be daunting, it’s important to remember that software engineers are employed by just about every type of industry. And, whether you narrow down your choices to one industry or are open to many, job applicants will likely find numerous employers looking for software engineers.

“It’s still the industry with the most amount of opportunity compared to a lot of other industries,” says Kumar. 

Apart from applying directly on job sites, popular job sites to visit are Authentic, GitHub, F6S, LinkedIn, and Otta.

The takeaway 

Becoming a software engineer may have different paths to get there—self-taught, bootcamp, or college degree—but all lead to a promising and lucrative future. Plan your career path early, including a specialization, to prepare, secure, and succeed in software engineering roles.

This means gaining proficiency in key programming languages, obtaining experience through internships, personal projects or contributing to open source projects to hone your tech skills. Build a strong portfolio, keep up-to-date with your skills, network within the industry, and seek out opportunities for further development even after employment.

“Plan for the field that gives you the most amount of freedom and flexibility,” says Kumar. “I think this field really does.”

See how the schools you’re considering fared in Fortune’s rankings of the best master’s degree programs in data science (in-person and online), nursing, computer science, cybersecurity, psychology, public health, and business analytics, as well as doctorate in education programs and MBA programs (part-time, executive, full-time, and online).