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Systems Software Developer

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AVG. SALARY

$92,110

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EDUCATION

Bachelor's degree

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JOB OUTLOOK

Increasing

Interviews

Insider Info

The room is quiet until someone yells, "Hey, put on another song!" After a brief pause, the raucous music starts again and so does the dancing. It's a simple task to fill a room with music these days -- thanks, in part, to software engineering.

"Students might not realize all of the applications that use software," says Bob Baber. He is a computer science professor. He points out that even the music playing devices that we all use have software that has been designed in them.

In the morning, you blindly plop a couple pieces of bread into the toaster. You twist a few dials and in a minute, the toast comes out golden brown. Perfect again. Do you ever pause to wonder how the bread is just right every single time? If you've got a newer model, it could be a computer that's cooking your bread to perfection.

"Computers show up in ovens, microwaves, dishwashers and even toasters," says Baber.

Each of these different computers needs to have software to operate. That's where software engineers come in. In the future, Baber says there will be more and more software engineers working on this type of technology.

"There will be less work in the classical types of applications, like banking systems," he adds.

"Software is appearing in almost everything," agrees Ken Kyler. He is a software engineer in Maryland. "Your car has more software in it than early computers had."

"Even things like GPS devices have computers in them," says Baber.

Outside the home, computers are being used more and more to run manufacturing and industrial processes. Companies like automobile manufacturers, tomato sorters and boxers, toy makers and textile producers all use computers in their automated machinery.

Each computer inside a manufacturing plant must have software designed and customized for its use. As operations change within the plant, software engineers must also help update the computer applications.

"On a larger scale, more and more industrial processes are controlled by computers," says Baber.

The Internet is another area that is providing more employment for software engineers. "Mainstream businesses are now forging ahead into the web," says Kyler.

He just completed creating an online credit card system for a national nonprofit website.

"This is a web-based application to accept donations as well as handle online orders," he explains. "For another large nonprofit, I assisted in creating an application that uses the U.S. Geological Survey's data to map levels in rivers for fishermen and boaters. It was web-based as well."

Kyler does a great deal of work for nonprofits. He finds helping these types of organizations rewarding. He also likes the engineering and problem solving involved in his work.

"I enjoy the intellectual challenge of solving problems for people and helping them use the web more effectively," he says.

He says the most challenging part of his work is explaining what he does to his clients. "The most difficult thing is communicating my needs as a developer to them. Most people don't understand what a software developer needs to know and as a result, they tend to get frustrated by the amount of detail we need."

You may think a software engineer is holed away writing code and designing programs. But the job often involves interacting with clients and other workers. Communication skills are important because many of the jobs are too large to be handled by one person.

"Software engineers have to be able to work together in teams," says Baber. "Many of these applications are designed in a group."

Technology and computer languages change quickly. Software used to navigate the Internet is always evolving and improving. Software engineers need to keep up with demands from clients and with changes being made by other designers in the field.

They have to keep up with progress. "I was working as a webmaster, then a multimedia producer and then got a job as a software engineer," says Dawn Skwersky. She is a software application engineer in Brookline, Massachusetts.

After recently being laid off at the software company, Skwersky moved on to another company to continue her work in web development. "I think it was a natural progression," she says.

Skwersky enjoys the rapid changes found in her area of work. "I enjoy the challenges of learning new ways to develop each day," she says. Although Skwersky is deaf, she says she has found no barriers in software engineering.

"To enjoy this work, you have to be quick and be a problem-solver, just like any other type of engineer," adds Baber.