Text 3. Specialty Areas

Computer Applications Software Engineers.

Computer applications software engineers analyze users' needs and design, construct, and maintain general computer applications software or specialized utility programs. These workers use different programming languages, depending on the purpose of the program. The programming languages most often used are C, C++, and Java, with Fortran and COBOL used less commonly. Some software engineers develop both packaged systems and systems software or create customized applications.

Computer Systems Software Engineers.

Computer systems software engineers coordinate the construction and maintenance of a company's computer systems and plan their future growth. Working with the company, they coordinate each department's computer needs -- ordering, inventory, billing, and payroll recordkeeping, for example -- and make suggestions about its technical direction. They also might set up the company's intranets -- networks that link computers within the organization and ease communication among the various departments.

Systems Software Engineers.

Systems software engineers work for companies that configure, implement, and install complete computer systems. These workers may be members of the marketing or sales staff, serving as the primary technical resource for sales workers and customers. They also may be involved in product sales and in providing their customers with continuing technical support. Since the selling of complex computer systems often requires substantial customization for the purchaser's organization, software engineers help to explain the requirements necessary for installing and operating the new system in the purchaser's computing environment. In addition, systems software engineers are responsible for ensuring security across the systems they are configuring.

Exercise 11. Memorize the following words and word combinations.

Exercise 12. Read and translate the text.

Text 4. How to Become a Software Engineer

Steps

You must enjoy programming! If you're in junior or senior high, and you haven't yet explored programming, do so. If you're not interested in math or science to begin with, you should probably explore other options.

Plan on getting a degree. With all the success stories of college drop outs becoming billionaire CEOs in the 90's, there is a certain lure that "as long as I think outside the box and have outstanding problem solving and programming skills I don't need a four year degree". It's difficult for entry level software engineers to obtain a position without a four year degree.

Get all the math you can in high school. Try to advance to college level math before leaving high school, you'll need a ton of math to complete any Computer Science program and Engineering program.

Qualify your degree by what you want to do. If your love is game design and you wish to enter that industry as a game programmer, you'll need a Computer Science degree. If you want to work for IBM, Intel, Microsoft, Google, etc., then a Computer Science degree may be good for you. If you're looking to work for a non-technical corporation building mostly business applications, consider a degree in MIS (Management Information Systems) or one of the many business technical degrees now offered. This type of degree is best for most, because it provides management and general business skills and doesn't focus on a lot of information that will not be useful to most.

Supplement your class work with personal research. Search job boards and note what technologies are hot and buzzing. The colleges simply can't keep up with everything, so you'll need to buy additional technical books and teach yourself.

Unless you're planning to get your foot in the door through an intern position, try to find side projects while in school. No one wants to take a risk and hire someone fresh out of school without projects under their belt. Internships are great at taking care of this problem, but unfortunately a lot of students can't land an internship or do so only to discover they would prefer to work elsewhere. The only way to give yourself options is to find some non-classroom work to put on your resume.

Develop contacts with software engineers. If possible try to develop some software projects under their guidance.

Understand that software engineering is not the same as programming. Every software engineer knows how to program, but not every programmer is a software engineer. The principal difference is that software engineering is typically a group effort, with differing and often fluid roles and responsibilities for the group members. Engineering projects have timelines, release dates, and considerable interaction between people responsible for its various components.

Exercise 13. Memorize the following words and word combinations.

Exercise 14. Read and translate the text.