Software engineering

A software engineering degree sets you up with technical IT skills that can be used in various IT and web-based careers from applications developer to web designer

Job options

Jobs directly related to your degree include:

• Applications developer
• Cyber security analyst
• Game developer
• Information systems manager
• IT consultant
• IT technical support officer
• Multimedia programmer
• Web developer
• Web designer
• Software engineer

Jobs where your degree would be useful include:

• Application analyst
• Business analyst
• Database administrator
• Forensic computer analyst
• Machine learning engineer
• Penetration tester
• Software tester
• Sound designer
• Systems analyst

Remember that many employers accept applications from graduates with any degree subject, so don't restrict your thinking to the jobs listed here.

Work experience

Relevant work experience is always useful and one way to get this is to complete a year in industry as part of your course. You'll typically be placed in a role that allows you to use the skills learned on your course while also building up new practical skills. These placements also help you to build your network which can be helpful for future jobs.

A range of experience is useful in areas such as hardware, operating systems, or software and if possible, you should tailor your experience to suit the career you'd like. It's helpful to create a skills portfolio to showcase your artistic work or your ability to code in programming languages as well as specific software tools you can use.

You can also consider becoming a student member of a relevant professional body such as BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT. This provides you with access to networking opportunities, industry insights, events and webinars and articles and research.

Search for placements and find out more about work experience and internships.

Typical employers

You could be employed by a company specialising in software engineering/development or other areas of IT, which may be broad in scope or specific to an area, such as app or website development.

It's also possible to be employed within a range of sectors in an in-house IT role, such as software engineer/developer. This can be for any company that has a need to develop and maintain its own software systems. A few examples of the types of organisations you could work for include:

• financial services
• government
• healthcare
• information technology
• manufacturing
• media 
• utilities.

Companies range in size from those with only a few employees to large multinational organisations.

Another option is to set up your own business or work as a freelancer, providing software or other IT-related services. This is more typical once you have built up significant experience.

Find information on employers in information technology, media and internet and other job sectors.

Skills for your CV

Studying software engineering provides you with specialist knowledge of a variety of programming languages, software design, information systems, databases and software architecture.

You'll also develop more general skills, which can be valuable in many careers, such as:

• verbal communication, to work as part of a team
• written communication, to write reports and express ideas clearly
• research skills, using different sources of information
• time management, to manage competing demands and projects
• problem-solving skills
• good project management ability
• information technology across different applications
• attention to detail  
• logic and an ability to follow processes and procedures.

Further study

You could undertake further study, such as a postgraduate qualification in software engineering, computer security, forensic computing, data science or another IT-related field to develop your specialist knowledge further.

It's not normally a prerequisite to have a Masters qualification to enter software engineering or related fields. However, a specific Masters could be useful if you'd like to move into a different field of IT and need to build up knowledge in this area. Further study, such as a PhD, could be helpful if you want to pursue a research career.

For more information on further study and to find a course that interests you, see Masters degrees and search postgraduate courses in software engineering.

What do software engineering graduates do?

Programmers and software development professionals (33%), cyber security professionals (19%), IT user support technicians (7%), IT business analysts, architects and systems designers (4%), IT operations technicians (4%), information technology professionals (3%), IT network professionals (2%) and IT quality and testing professionals are all among the top ten jobs reported 15 months after graduation.

For a detailed breakdown of what software engineering graduates are doing after graduation, see What do graduates do?

Graduate Outcomes survey data from HESA.