Software Engineers Remain Top US Job

D H NG writes "In a study by Careercast.com, software engineers retain their position as having the top jobs in 2012. The #1 and #2 positions remain the same from last year. One surprise entry was human resources manager in the #3 position. The worst job was lumberjack, beating out last year's roustabout."

My thoughts on this

[Anonymous Coward]

The article specifically mentions being a software engineer at a startup or startup like environment is a great job to have, because you get to sit in cafes with your macbook air all day.

As a software engineer at a startup, I understand that sentiment. I do have a lot of flexibility. I can work from anywhere, come in at any time, leave at any time. The work I do is fun, and considering that there the management hierarchy is essentially flat, I get to make important customer facing decisions AND implement them.

There is a big downside to this. There is a very high risk when you work into startups. You could be rolling in success one month, and the next month you could be forced to shutdown. TFA and most comments on startups looking inside out, don't often write about the stress that comes with this kind of risk. And you know what? We have a lot of fun, but we have plenty of 60 hour weeks too, when shit hits the fan.

Re:Lumberjacks

[Black Parrot]

I don't know about that worst job. I mean, I'm a lumberjack and I'm OK.

Yeah, I thought I saw you in a bar last weekend.

High School Course in Software

[wdhowellsr]

I started programming in High School thirty years ago and yes it was GW-Basic but it was programming. There is such a high demand for developers that companies are starting to hire junior developers with two years experience in .Net and C#. We need to start offering programming as an elective in all US schools, even it it is just html, javascript and css as a starter.

You start teaching High School freshman using Microsofts Express software, by their Junior year they will be interning at Fortune 500 companies and very likely will start working at graduation. Depending on their abilities and especially if they are a natural programmer, there is no limit on what they can make.

This should also be true for any other language currently being used in the business world.

"How do you know if you've never tried it?"

Define terms please

[wombatmobile]

"Software Engineer" can mean so many different things. It could be heaven. It could be hell.

As someone who has been in startups since the 80s

[perpenso]

What is interesting about software engineering right now is that we are at a point where someone, solo or with a couple of buddies, can realistically develop a product and reach an audience. We have not been able to do that very easily in a while.

In the stone ages of personal computers, the 1980s, a few guys working out of their garage could literally develop software, put a 5.25in floppy in a ziplock baggy with a xeroxed manual, and take it to the local mom-and-pop and brick-and-mortar computer shops that were around back then. Some friends and I *literally* did the above. You could talk to the manager, do a quick demo, he'd often buy a few put it on the shelf and after they sold give you a phone call to order some more. Repeat as necessary, increasing your geographic coverage.

Then came a couple of decades where the small computer shops were replaced by big chain stores and later online. During those times it was really difficult to reach customers. Even with the internet you were still largely limited to selling to a relatively small technically inclined niche. The general public did not get onboard until very recently.

Today with the general public largely accepting pure digital distribution via the various app stores the little guy(s) can actually reach a decent audience. For example Perpenso Calc for iPhone iPad [perpenso.com], a calculator app offering RPN, scientific, statistics, business and hex functionality. A product like this shows up in a store search right next to HP and TI offerings. So yes, its a pretty good time to be a software engineer.

Re:they got one thing right!

[u38cg]

Hmm. I work as #2 on the list, and all I can say is that when the list went round the office the methodology was rather robustly challenged :p

This is just a PR stunt from some careers website. I wouldn't get overexcited about it.

Re:My thoughts on this

[lightknight]

Did they mention that part of the reason you are in the cafe isn't for the atmosphere, but because the logistics involved in transporting that much caffeine and sugar to the office are untenable? How about the part where you begin cutting the caffeine with nicotine and other stimulants as you try to make a product deadline?

Let's be honest: it appears a romantic job, being able to do what you want, having no dress code, and still being paid. But reality dictates that if it were easy, there'd be more Software Engineers than there are.