Software Engineer Career Pathway
A software engineer works on the designing, building and maintenance of software systems. Software engineering as a job is extensive and varied. If it's online, it's had a software engineer involved: websites, video games, mobile apps.
You can order your food online, study, organise your to-do list online, bank online, do your accounting for your business online and socialise online. The list truly is endless. Behind all of these everyday things, we've come to expect code and software. And when it's designed and made well, most of us don't give much thought to it. But when there are issues, they can range of privacy and security, to not being able to complete the task you need (renew your licence or book in for a haircut!)
Two prominent software engineering jobs are Systems Software Developers and Applications Software Developers. And depending on skill level, software engineers will complete different tasks, working in the frontend or backend (or both) of software programming.
What does a Software Engineer do?
Software engineering can be quite a collaborative job. For some software engineers, they work closely with product managers, designers and other engineers. The day to day of a software engineer could be a mixture of reading, writing and fixing code, as well as catch-ups with team members about projects. Some days could look like all day coding, and some could be all-day meetings. Again, this is depending on specialisation, and whether or not you're working on client-facing apps, within databases or developing systems.
For more junior/entry-level software engineers, some everyday tasks include learning new languages, like Ruby or Python and maintenance of existing code, debugging and refactoring. Debugging is the process of working out where in the code an issue is, isolating it, re-writing and retesting. Bugs happen, and it is a process of creativity (and perseverance) to fix. Refactoring preserves functionality while changing code that impacts design/structure. As for more senior software engineers, some everyday tasks include deciding on frameworks, architecting API endpoints and data models, mentoring junior engineers and reviewing code. While by no means an exhaustive list, the above are ubiquitous regardless of the industry you work within.
Career outlook at a glance
37
Median age of the Australian Software Engineers (in years)
55,200
Software Engineers workforce in Australia
16%
Female share of Australian Software Engineers
Source: Jobs and Skills Australia. 2024.
Where do Software Engineers work?
Software engineers often work in an office, their clients office, at an agency or freelance. Just over 42.2% work in New South Wales, 31.7% work in Victoria, and 12.2% work in Queensland.
How much do Software Engineers earn in Australia?
According to Seek, the average annual salary in Australia for a Software Engineer is between $110,000-$125,000. 1
They work an average of 41 hours per week.
1 Seek. September 2024. Software Engineer Salary
Specialisations
Software engineering specialisations include computer applications engineer, database designer and systems architect. As for specialties within software engineering, you could have a focus on mobile or web-based software, or your specialisation could be even more granular at an industry-level, for example, you could work exclusively in the healthcare sector or within the emerging creative class (on app development such as Patreon, as one example). You might be an expert in one language, although many will say you should know several to stay competitive. Or at least, be willing to learn more programming languages as technology evolves day by day.
Related job titles
- Analyst Programmer
- Developer Programmer
- Software Tester
- Other Software Applications Programmer
What education do you need?
Ask around, and it becomes clear that there are many, many paths into software engineering, all completely different. Studying a Bachelor of Computer Science is one pathway to take to become a software engineer. Sometimes, some people are entirely self-taught, although most software engineers in Australia have a vocational level certificate.
There is an increasing demand for software engineers, and one look at the devices we use in our everyday lives can help to show why. There are applications we use in our daily lives that were never around ten years ago. Today you can order food (securely) at the tap of a couple of buttons, get a car to drive you from point a to b and track your to-do list from your mobile.
Smartphones have changed the way people do business and communicate, from WhatsApp to Facebook Marketplace, right around the world. Not to mention the impact digital innovation has had and will have on law, medicine and consumer products over the next decade.
SCU Online courses
Whether you're a software engineer looking to move into a more senior leadership role, or even into more project management role, SCU Online has a range of courses designed to help you achieve your career goals.
Our MBA is 100% online and is designed for those looking to take the next step in their business career. Are you looking at moving beyond your software engineering career, combining advanced business knowledge and skills to create your own software company? An MBA has endless career application. Postgraduate study is what you make it.