The sudden shift to remote working had a lot of companies depending on the strength of their software for productivity, task delegation, workforce tracking, maintaining databases, infrastructure or system development, and many more.
Many companies are beefing up their IT teams to support their computer network system. Tapping on the right people for IT positions is crucial to maintain efficacy and have a check-and-balance system. These ensure the continued functionality of the tools you use in the company. One of the most sought-after roles today in this department is a software engineer.
If something crashes or goes wrong within your organization’s application portfolio, or you need someone who develops systems for specific tasks, software engineers are the folks you reach out to.
Are you looking to hire a software engineer in your organization? Here’s a visual rundown of what a software engineer is and the skills you need to keep an eye on when recruiting one. Take note of the skills you need in a software engineer for an efficient IT recruitment process.
The Importance of Having a Software Engineer
Software engineers—whether freelancers, full-time or part-time, or vendors—are in high demand today, both for start-ups and large enterprises. With more and more businesses developing their own apps, websites, and platforms, software development is a rising field in today’s workforce.
In essence, a software engineer is responsible for designing and developing computer software and applications. They work closely with computer programmers to help implement the code to operate the software or application they designed. Excellent software engineers are adept at the following:
- Computer science (software engineering is in the branch of computer science; hence, they’re computer science professionals)
- Programming, coding, databases, and solid knowledge of a software development environment
- Information analysis
- Algorithms and data infrastructures
- Software design and development
- Debugging software and testing software and applications
There are various types of software that software engineers can build, including operating systems, computer games, mobile applications, business applications, websites, and network control systems.
If your business offers Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) systems or specializes in software design and development, it’s critical that you employ software engineers in your software development team. They can help improve and turn your vision for your offering faster and more productively.
These engineers work with different people, such as colleagues, other engineers and developers, and clients, so they need strong interpersonal and communication skills to address issues and solve them productively.
Working with an excellent software engineer can help your business improve workflow, provide new software solutions, stay above the competition, and remain relevant to customers. They can give you a fresh set of eyes, realize your vision for your business, and enhance certain aspects of your products or services that will benefit you long-term.
The Different Types of Software Engineers
The software engineering field is broad. There are different roles based on applications and positions that can assume various roles. The bottom-line: software engineers exist to provide a smooth experience to the users of an application or software. Below are some of the most popular types of software engineering roles in demand in the job market:
- Front-End Engineer
This role pertains to software engineers who specialize in developing a software or application’s user interface (UI). The UI covers the visual aspects of a product or service, such as the design of an application. Front-end engineers design and build layouts from the perspective of the user, ensuring easy navigation and functionality.
Front-end engineers also deal with code that runs on different devices and operating systems and fix bugs to ensure the application is responsive and everything flows seamlessly, regardless of the device used.
- Back-End Engineer
Back-end engineers, meanwhile, are responsible for creating and maintaining the technology that powers the user-facing side of a website or application. Their back-end code provides support to everything front-end engineers make.
Users may not see the work of back-end developers, but they work to deliver the functionality that satisfies the user experience (e.g., improving website speed and stability, enhancing security structures, etc.). Their work is always running in the background–think of them as the people “behind-the-scenes.”
- Full-Stack Engineer
A “full-stack” in the software engineering world refers to the collection of a series of technologies required to complete a project. This type of software engineer refers to the skilled engineers who manage both front-end and back-end work.
Full-stack engineers are jack-of-all-trades who started with either front-end or back-end in their career, moved on to learn the other role, and learned to combine the two skills. Full-stack developers can get a project done from start to finish on their own.
- Quality Assurance (QA) Engineer
A QA engineer, also known as a software engineer in test, is responsible for writing and reviewing software to approve an application’s quality. Their work includes:
- Detecting errors and preventing flaws from occurring
- Checking if the product complies with the requirements
- Evaluating risks
- Analyzing test results
QA engineers run automated tests, tools, and procedures to ensure that the products, services, and processes operate as they should. Simply put, they make sure that the software development team is on the right track and doing the right things.
- Security Engineer
Security engineers specialize in developing systems and procedures to test a software system’s security. If they find possible vulnerabilities, they recommend improvements to the management.
In a nutshell, they work as “white-hat” ethical hackers who penetrate security systems to identify possible security threats and vulnerabilities, such as through malicious cyber attacks. They are part of the company’s defense against breaches or any unauthorized access attempts.
- DevOps Engineer
DevOps (development and operation) engineers are responsible and familiar with the tools and technologies necessary for developing and building systems and the deployment, integration, and administration of back-end software and distributed systems.
DevOps engineers ensure updates are released efficiently, minimize the hours spent on repetitive tasks by automating them, and assess how well and reliable the systems are.
Hire the Right Software Engineer for Your Business
Software engineers are needed across almost every industry, business, and function, especially in a growing digital-based world. If you or your customers or clients encounter a problem with your software or application, the quick and effective fix you need can only be provided by a competent software engineer.
These talented individuals work with creative and scientific processes. Software engineers are outstandingly good at both left and right-brained thinking; their analytical and problem-solving skills allow them to identify problems other people couldn’t see.
