So, you’re interested in the design and development of computer software but not sure how you can translate your passion into a viable career? Well, becoming a software engineer might just be the career path that you should consider!
We had the opportunity to chat with a Senior Software Engineer at Atlassian, so we’ll give the low-down on all the skills you need to become a great software engineer, what a typical day of a software engineer looks like and how you can get on the path to becoming one.
Let’s get straight into it!
Meet Vasyl
What is a Software Engineer?
Steps to Becoming a Software Engineer
Future Outlook
Best Thing & Worst Thing
Advice for Aspiring Software Engineers
Meet Vasyl
Vasyl is a Software Engineer who has been working at Atlassian for the past five years.
Studies and Experience
An amazing fact about Vasyl is that his knowledge of software engineering skills was entirely self-taught!
“At that time, there weren’t many courses available in Ukraine to learn about software development, and there weren’t many resources available online in comparison to today,” said Vasyl.
After a month of teaching himself HTML, CSS and creating his very own website, Vasyl started applying for jobs and made a CV explaining that he was looking to learn and grow his skills in this area.
Soon after, one of the companies responded, scheduled an interview, and gave Vasyl his first software job as a front-end developer.
What made you want to work in this industry?
Unlike most traditional routes, Vasyl’s reasons for wanting to work in the software engineering industry were driven by romance!
“In 2008, I wanted to treat my then-girlfriend, now-wife and mother of my daughter, with gifts, but I didn’t have much money at the time.
“I started searching for job positions, and I stumbled upon an opening for a front-end developer, which required knowledge of HTML, CSS and creating websites. I found this to be really interesting, and I started learning these skills straight away, creating a quick website about myself to test out my abilities,” shared Vasyl.
What is a Software Engineer?
Software engineers are involved in the design, development, and production of computer software systems. The maintenance and improvement of software is a vital role of a software engineer in response to the ever-changing advancements in technology and user requirements.
You’ll need to have a strong knowledge of computer programming and coding, software development, computer hardware, and most importantly, an innovative and passionate spirit.
Roles and Responsibilities
“A usual day in a software engineering company starts with a stand-up, which is a meeting where we call out what we did yesterday, what we’re going to work on today and whether there are any issues that need attention,” said Vasyl.
Vasyl’s work as a software engineer is currently focussed on improving the performance of issue view in Jira, a product developed by Atlassian.
“We don’t have strict tasks to complete unless we discover a slow part of the product that requires improvement. We do a lot of debugging by diving into the internal browser processes of how things are rendered, and we try to find some things that we can improve,” Vasyl explained.
“We also do a lot of profiling. We try to find slow pieces of the code and of the entire process of rendering particular parts of the application, and then we try to dig into the actual code and see if there is an actual issue or not.”
Apart from debugging and profiling, Vasyl told us that his role involves monitoring the performance side of things to ensure that the program is running smoothly.
“Every day after stand up, we look at the monitoring report to analyse whether what we released the day before has degraded or improved the performance,” said Vasyl.
Which industries can this career be found in?
With software engineering growing more and more in demand, there are various industries in which you can find enriching work. Some of the most popular options include:
- Professional, Scientific and Technical Services
- Financial and Insurance Services
- Information Media and Telecommunications
- Manufacturing
- Healthcare
Characteristics and Qualities
According to JobOutlook, the major skills that you’ll need in a career as a software engineer include:
- Operations analysis
- Systems evaluation
- Reading comprehension
- Critical thinking
- Deductive reasoning
Vasyl told us that efficient multitasking is an important skill for any software engineer to have while working in a deadline-driven work environment. As an engineer, having good time management skills is essential for prioritising pressing matters and maintaining a healthy work-life balance.
“I’d say I developed a skill to break down complex tasks into either small tasks that could be done in parallel, or small chunks that I need to do one by one to complete the big task. This is the key to being able to complete any task, no matter how complex it might be,” said Vasyl.
Steps to Becoming a Software Engineer
What should you study?
To be a qualified software engineer, the most common pathway is to complete a Bachelor’s or postgraduate degree in an IT area, such as software development or computer science, but most preferably in software engineering.
Some degrees you can consider include:
- Bachelor of Software Engineering (Honours) at Monash University
- Bachelor of Software Engineering at RMIT
- Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) (Software) at UNSW
- Bachelor of Engineering Honours (Software) at USYD
- Bachelor of Computer Science at UQ
- Bachelor of Computer Science at WSU
- Bachelor of Information Technology at Macquarie University
- Bachelor of Information Technology (Computer Science) at QUT
However, having a degree isn’t the only pathway to becoming a Software Engineer!
You can also seek employment by completing a Vocational Education and Training (VET) qualification. Additionally, there is a range of online courses and resources available to self-teach yourself, which is exactly what Vasyl did!
Ultimately, the most important experience to have in order to become a software engineer is plenty of hands-on experience developing software applications and practising your coding skills.
How long does it take to become a Software Engineer?
A full-time study duration at university is typically four years for a Bachelor of Software Engineering. Students interested in adding on a Masters are looking at an extra two years of study.
Industry Knowledge
When you enter the industry, the expectations from software engineering companies are to have some basic skills and knowledge of the technology used, alongside a huge desire to learn.
The main software applications you will use may include code editor, VS Code and WebStorm for frontend developers, IntelliJ for backend developers and Terminal regardless of the operating systems.
Some key areas of expertise include computer programming and coding, software testing, mobile applications, and debugging in terms of industry knowledge.
What will this career look like in the future?
How in-demand is this career?
According to JobOutlook, the very high skill set required of software engineers means that there is very strong job growth in the industry. As technology growth continues to accelerate, there is an increasing demand for innovative software and mobile applications to meet the needs of people around the world.
As such, there has been a rapid rise in the market for software engineers to provide solutions and make improvements to software programs.
Are there opportunities to grow or specialise?
As a software engineer, you will have plenty of opportunities to improve and grow in this career, yet the main factor is your desire to learn. Vasyl tells us that Atlassian has different levels for a software engineer career, and that there are clear tasks that each role needs to complete to move up.
“Our team leads are the ones who help us find the right tasks to help prove that we are growing and reach the next level, and they match us with next-level people who can advise us,” shared Vasyl.
Software engineers will be held to greater standards for possessing a higher skill set on senior and principal levels. They’re expected to not only complete the tasks at hand, but to think in advance about what the product is going to need well into the future.
Salary
| Annual Salary | Future Growth | Skill Level Rating |
|---|---|---|
| $104,000+ | Very strong over the next 5 years | Very high skill |
Influential Trends and the Future of this Industry
Vasyl told us that the future for software engineers will be driven by rapid innovation and strong advancements as technology continues to improve and evolve.
“The JavaScript that we had ten years ago could only make minor changes in a browser. Modern JavaScript is so powerful because it can do so many things in a browser and backhand applications. And that’s just a 10-year jump in technology,” said Vasyl.
With the rise of automation and digitisation in society, Vasyl expects that the progressive enhancements of software engineering will lead to its application in almost everything that we use.
“JavaScript can be used in areas of automation, as well as programming robots and programming 3D printers. Just last year, the SpaceX Dragon used JavaScript for its board computer,” Vasyl explained.
Best Thing & Worst Thing
What do you enjoy most about this job?
Vasyl told us that the best part of his job is being constantly challenged, and that’s what keeps him motivated to keep raising the bar in his quality of work.
“I love challenges, and I can say that being a software engineer for such a huge company with complex products used by amazing customers that are building the future of this world, such as NASA and Tesla, is very exciting,” highlighted Vasyl.
What do you feel is the worst part of this job?
For Vasyl, the most frustrating part of his job is working with the legacy code — also known as a source code that is no longer supported by modern technology.
“Working with the legacy code is the least pleasant part of my job as its means that you need to explore and learn technology that will never be needed in the future,” said Vasyl.
Advice for Aspiring Software Engineers
If you’re anything like Vasyl and you’re curious about navigating through the web, creating new software, and solving challenging problems, there is no better advice than to start researching how to develop your skills.
“If you find that you’re curious about this career path, find an online course that can provide you with some basic information about how to develop websites.
“If you enjoy that content, enrol yourself in a proper course where you will have a teacher to guide you through your journey by explaining challenging concepts and providing you with a bigger picture of what industry requirements you will need,” Vasyl said.
What do you wish you had known before you started working in this career?
Vasyl explained that in terms of actual knowledge required in the field, he went into the industry without knowing what he had to learn to advance his career.
“When I first started working, my focus was working on websites, and I didn’t even discover JavaScript until more than a year after. If I had known this was the next step that I needed to progress my career, I would have learnt it earlier, and that’s something a mentor can help you with,” said Vasyl.
Vasyl added that he wished he had known that there were so many people in the industry who would be willing to provide support and mentoring for graduate and junior engineers.
“If I had known that I could reach out to people in the industry and ask them for help, I definitely would have done that, but I didn’t know that they would be willing to spend time and help me,” said Vasyl.
Job Flexibility
“There is absolutely room for flexibility, and working from home has worked well. I was on parental leave for six weeks, and when I returned to work, I was still able to spend time with my family by talking with my manager and exploring different work schedules,” said Vasyl.
With the shift to remote work, Vasyl tells us that the team has adapted to working asynchronously and have been given greater freedom to accommodate their work schedules to their daily lives.
“In my current team, the working standard is from 10am to 6pm, but many people start working from earlier depending on their schedules,” he added.
What is the workplace culture like?
As one of the world’s largest software companies, Vasyl told us how amazed he was to discover such an innovative and supportive workplace culture.
“When I joined Atlassian in 2015, I had just relocated from Ukraine, and I was so fascinated to find people sitting and talking about innovation of all kinds and what amazing products we can develop during lunch breaks. Everyone is always thinking about the future.”
Vasyl then said, “They are always encouraging us to seek guidance, and they offer support if someone is struggling, not only through work-related advice but also personal wellbeing.”
Curious about the different types of engineers that exist? Check out our article here!
Ashley Sullivan is a Content Writer for Art of Smart Education and is currently undertaking a double degree in Communications (Journalism) and a Bachelor of Laws at UTS. Ashley’s articles have been published in The Comma and Central News. She is a film, fashion and fiction enthusiast who enjoys learning about philosophy, psychology and unsolved mysteries in her spare time.
