Yes, software engineering is a good job based on virtually any criteria, including salary, quantity of job openings, as well as overall job satisfaction.

The U.S. News and World Report rank Software Engineer or Software Developer in its top three job titles in the U.S. year after year – the only tech role to be listed so high – while predicting that software engineering will be a good career well into the future as the demand for software development related jobs could only go up in the long term.

Major reasons to become a software engineer

Salaries in software engineering

Although the best Software Engineers are driven by passion and not money or the lure of a six-figure salary, there’s no denying that a high salary is an attractive part of the job. Indeed pegs the average Software Engineer salary in the U.S. at $108,000 per year plus $4,000 in additional compensation. That salary will be much higher at the right company or in the right city – Silicon Valley tech giants like Facebook, Google, and Apple are known to offer more than $150,000 per year in salary for a Software Engineer. A Senior Software Engineer makes an average salary of $130,000 per year according to Indeed – another figure that jumps much higher in places like New York and Silicon Valley.

A passion for programming and coding

Most Software Engineers have, at some point, spent time coding and programming purely for fun – they enjoy scanning code for errors and other programming puzzles. The best software engineering pros love to build things and they love to fix things, and they enjoy the day-to-day work of being a Software Engineer. Of course, the programming they have to do at work won’t always be as stimulating as the projects they would devise at home, but Software Engineers likely still take some satisfaction in computer programming.

Job security

Software Engineers can rest assured that their skills will be in high demand for the foreseeable future. The U.S. News’ forecast predicted the software engineering job field would grow by more than 21 percent – or 315,000 jobs – by 2029, while others like the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics have predicted even more robust job growth based on the number of companies needing new or updated apps, computer systems or web products.

Work-life balance

The high demand for Software Engineers has created a situation where companies have to compete for the top software engineering talent, and as a result, work-life balance has become a popular point of emphasis. Most companies now offer flexible hours for software engineering jobs, as well as the possibility of remote work. Part of why software engineering is such a good job is that it’s hard to find a job that combines the potential for a six-figure salary while also allowing enough free time to have a healthy life outside of work.

Perks

Perks are another benefit of the demand for Software Engineers. Many software engineering jobs offer perks like stock options, unlimited paid time off, free gym memberships, remote work arrangements, and more. More senior jobs will offer the most perks, but even entry-level software engineering jobs are said to offer perk packages to lure in the top job candidates.

Great for people who want to work on cross-functional teams

Software Engineers get to work with a broad array of different people with different jobs, technical and non-technical alike. Software Engineers will work with Developers, Designers, and company leadership while also likely commanding a development team of people with different strengths and specialties. Software engineering is a great career if you’re a people person.

Author: Dániel Szegvári