I am working towards a second bachelor's degree in Computer Science and I am interested in finding a job where I can work my way up to becoming a software engineer. My first degree has nothing to do with computer science and I have no work experience in computer programming or software engineering. I work as a computer systems analyst, but that has nothing to do with software engineering. Do you have any suggestions how I can find a job where I can work my way up to becoming a software engineer? What kind of things should I have in my skill set so that I can qualify for a large percentage of the job openings for software engineers?
Diversity and expertise That's a hard question because nowadays more than ever a software engineer needs diverse skills. From soup to nuts is the answer. What is obvious from job ads and such is programming language skills such as C++, JAVA, etc. Equally important, less specified, and harder to get experience from in school are requirements analysis, OO design skills, configuration management, working in teams, communication skills, spec writing skills, software integration and test skills, domain knowlege of the appplication, processes such as CMMI, and all the associated software tools an organization is using. This is ultimately what people are REALLY looking for in spite of whatever the job req states. You can't bite off everything at once so try to focus on the core skill sets that are stated and at the same time gain some peripheral knowlege of what the other key areas are. For instance if you want to work for someone that uses CMMI you don't need to be a process expert but at least know something about it. For instance CMMI stresses continuous process improvement by defining and following formal processes such as design documentation, codes reviews, yada, yada, yada. Most of the buzzwords out there are truly not rocket science you just need to find out what they are. OO Design - you should know what use cases, sequence diagrams, and activity diagrams are. If you are not an expert you can at least pick up a book and find out what the basics are. Having a few core skills and peripheral knowlege of many, many others are the key. Use your present work experience to tie in to what you want to do as a software engineer. Chances are there is a great deal of overlap. Good luck!
