Software engineering is a growing and exciting profession, predicted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics to grow by 22% in the 2019-2029 decade. Salaries are extremely attractive in this field, too, which is one of the reasons why so many people are choosing to learn software engineering and software development. There are many types of software engineering careers and jobs, and here are some of the most common ones.
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Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality Engineer
According to TechRepublic, jobs available for augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) engineers soared by 1,400% in 2019. With the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, there is little chance of this trend reversing, as retailers are leading the use of AR and VR to offer virtual shopping experiences. For instance, brick-and-mortar beauty retail giant Sephora made the headlines in 2018 when they launched an app that allows customers to virtually try on makeup products. The pandemic has spurred on many other brick-and-mortar retailers to offer similar services in order to try to compete with online-only stores for Software Engineering Careers.
Machine Learning Engineer
Machine learning is the process of teaching a computer to derive information directly from data without relying on a model. Machine learning is already widely applied in fields that use artificial intelligence (AI), such as face recognition, object and motion detection, natural language processing, and computational finance. Many people confuse AI and machine learning, and the best way to distinguish them is probably to think of AI as the wider field concerned with creating intelligent machines that can simulate human thinking and behavior and of machine learning as the subset of AI concerned with teaching machines how to learn directly from data for Software Engineering Careers.
Computer Vision Engineer
A computer vision (CV) engineer is a little like a computer’s teacher. Working at the intersection of machine learning and artificial intelligence, CV engineers help computers detect information from images, and one of the fields in which computer vision startups have made tremendous breakthroughs is that of medical imaging; for instance, computer vision technology has been used to detect skin cancer. Therefore, this might be the perfect job for someone who loves tech and also wants to help other people. This is another rapidly growing field of software engineering: TechRepublic predicted that both computer vision and gaming engineering jobs would grow by 146% between 2019 and 2020.
Gaming Engineer
This one is surely going to be a lot of people’s dream job! A gaming engineer’s job is to work on potentially any stage of the development of a video game. Contrary to the stereotypical image of the lone geek who spends most of their time interacting solely with computers and other devices, gaming engineers—like most other software engineers—typically work as part of a team that might comprise of programmers and game designers as well as other engineers. This is why some software engineering courses, such as an online masters in software engineering, adhere to the Association for Computer Machinery’s curriculum standards by teaching their students how to work well together remotely on complex projects.
Search Engineer
A search engineer will either be employed by a search engine such as Google to develop the search engine or by a company wanting their web content to be search-engine-optimized, meaning that it will achieve the best possible rankings in search engine results. Search engine optimization is a key part of most companies marketing strategies these days, so job prospects in this field should remain very good for a long while. To be a successful search engineer you will need to stay on top of online trends, as using the most popular keywords is a must for search engine optimization.
Cybersecurity Engineer
Contrary to popular belief, not everyone who works in cybersecurity is a hacker! The job of a cybersecurity engineer involves checking for vulnerabilities in computer systems, responding to and resolving security events, and looking for unusual activity patterns. Although most cybersecurity engineers don’t actually need the same skills as a hacker, there are stories out there of ‘hackers’ who were hired to work in cybersecurity, the most famous one being Kevin Mitnick, who now owns his own security consultancy firm Mitnick Security Consulting LLC.
Data Engineer
A data engineer is responsible for building software for the purpose of collecting and validating information. After validation, the data is passed on to data scientists, who use tools such as statistical modeling to analyze the data. According to the Dice 2020 Tech Report, data engineers were one of the most sought-after tech experts out there, with the number of open positions growing by 50% between 2018 and 2019.
Blockchain Engineer
A blockchain is a decentralized shared database that stores information in immutable ‘blocks’ of data. The first widespread application of blockchain technology was in creating the cryptocurrency Bitcoin in 2009. As well as being used for the creation of more cryptocurrencies since, blockchain technology—which is also known as distributed ledger technology, or DLT—has been applied to other innovative digital products such as non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Non-fungible tokens are unique cryptographic tokens that exist on a blockchain and can be used to represent ‘real world’ tangible assets, such as artwork, which are traded using their NFT equivalents. Given the rapid rise of both cryptocurrencies and NFTs in recent years and the extremely high monetary value currently associated with these technologies, the position of blockchain engineer is set to be both lucrative and in demand for some time to come. Especially if we are talking about freelance blockchain developers open to working on startup projects.
Front End/Back End/Full Stack Engineer
Every piece of software needs to be developed so that it works successfully both in terms of the user interface (the so-called front end) and of the server, application, and database which enable the software to work (the back end). Those who develop both sides of the software are called ‘full stack’ engineers. With front-end and back-end languages and frameworks becoming more and more differentiated, the use of full-stack developers is in decline, which is probably why TechRepublic only predicted a 5% growth in full-stack engineer positions between 2019 and 2020, as opposed to 17% for both front-end and back-end engineer jobs.
