subject: Training Individuals for Software Engineering Jobs [print this page] Training Individuals for Software Engineering Jobs
There is no denying the fact that there has been a rapid increase in the number of software products been used these days. The software engineering sector has gradually attained the status of an industry. There has been an increase in the number of software systems that are currently in use and therefore the increase in software engineering jobs is quite evident. Reliability and quality are some of the factors that are taken into account while developing software systems. When marketing software amongst prospective clients, the one feature that can tilt the purchase decision in favour of the software is the extent to which it is user friendly. Other factors that also play an important role include the availability of professional solutions, cost of software and the time it takes to accomplish a task and also overall software maintenance. Graduates in software engineering should be aware of these requirements when they apply for jobs in the sector.
In fact software engineering courses, round the world, should be designed in a way that they do not end up been a theoretical account. Instead they should teach the students things that they would need to do when they join the industry as a professional. Software engineering courses should ideally aim at:
Training students to be able to find solutions to complicated and software intensive projects
Teaching marketing strategies that are practice oriented and therefore can be applied to solve real time problems
Making the students realise the importance of working in a team, focus on team roles and thus provide the necessary training
Training students to make use of CASE or Computer Aided Software Engineering tools
Teaching them the basics of software project management
Teaching software project management
Software engineering courses have developed enormously over the past decades. These contain the basic theories, practical training models, comprehensive curriculum that is up to date and is coherent. The fields that are taken into account include:
Software project management
Software planning
Software life cycle models
User interface design
Object oriented software development methods
Software quality assurance
Software engineering industry insiders are of the opinion that the chances of success in the field for a fresh graduate depends on the extent to which the employer can place the incumbent into a software development team in action. Their integration with the existing team becomes easier when they have the ability to combine their skills with practical knowledge.
Software engineer jobs are mainly available in computer consulting firms and with software vendors. Companies are usually assigned projects and since the task of most of the engineers are project oriented, there are many who work as independent contractors, taking up projects on their own and then doing the work themselves. There are several companies that have set up virtual offices as telecommuting is one of the popular ways of carrying out business in the software engineering industry. Their employee base is scattered round the world and many of them even work from their homes.
