Career levels for software engineers refer to their role or position within a company structure or team. The job career level and job title of a professional would depend on their years of experience in the field, technical skills, as well as an internal or external promotion during their career. Software development firms or tech companies ideally create a hierarchy or ladder to outline the particular career level of a software engineer.
Software engineers desiring to climb this ladder can additionally explore training programs from Revature to acquire the skills and knowledge needed to progress in their careers.
Revature briefly underlines the career hierarchy for software engineers
Specific job titles for software engineers differ from one accompany to another. However, there are certain levels of seniority for software engineers that those titles fit into. Professionals interested in coding and/or software development must have a good understanding of these levels. As a fresh tech graduate, one is likely to move through the primary three career levels for software engineers over their first five to six years in the industry.
A large number of software engineering graduates enter the workforce as first-level engineers and work as an intern or junior software engineers. At this stage, one needs to develop their technical abilities, as well as work on resolving and troubleshooting software and code-related issues. Usually, the job title of a professional will reflect first-level engineering status for around two years.
Entry-level software engineers are often considered to be at level two. These professionals have a good understanding of the fundamentals of software development, programming, and engineering. A lot of their job resolves around completing programming tasks like testing software systems, troubleshooting code, and taking part in code reviews. Software engineers at this level generally take two to three years to develop their professional and technical skills, prior to getting promoted to the role of a mid-level software engineer.
Mid-level software engineers essentially expand upon their foundational skills and knowledge. They develop a deep understanding of the best possible practices for developing computer software and writing code. Such professionals are ideally familiar with varied coding languages and are also comfortable with popular software tools. They usually work independently or assist other software engineers with certain projects or troubleshooting problems. Professionals at this level of their career ideally have three to six years of industry experience.
After software engineers have somewhere between four and seven years of experience, they usually are selected by their employer to progress forward and move up in level and job title. The professionals, who advance beyond level three of engineering, and ultimately move forward through the technical career ultimately become senior engineers. These professionals may earn titles such as senior staff engineer or principal engineer.
If one feels that they do have adequate experience, but are not getting enough opportunities or the right promotions, they can always get enrolled in the training programs offered by Revature. Talent development companies offer training programs for almost all software engineering skill levels. Learning new, industry-relevant skills would help software engineers to explore lucrative opportunities and progress in their careers efficiently.
