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Build a Successful Career as a Software Engineer

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software engineerGraduates: Act Today for a Lifetime of Rewards

Choosing to be a software engineer is a great life choice that will make you feel proud. It offers a great career path, high salaries, and huge job satisfaction. But how do you break into being a software engineer, and excel in your career?

Technology doesn’t wait – now is the time to start mapping your route to success. If your goal is to have a great career in software engineering, read on. We’ll show you how.

How to Break into the World of Software Engineering

If you’re currently studying to become a software engineer, then you’ll be keen to make it all worthwhile. Perhaps your parents have made many sacrifices to give you the best opportunities in your education. You can make them proud, and glad they’d invested in your future. Follow these steps:

1.     Learn how to code!

Learning how to code is a prerequisite for any graduate with aspirations of getting into software engineering. Programming languages are fundamentally changing and there is a new demand for people who can work with multiple languages. How much you know could ensure you stand out from other candidates.

2.     Get involved on campus with STEM clubs and organizations

The best way to be prepared for a future in software engineering is by joining STEM clubs, and other organizations on campus, that will help you learn about software engineering careers. These clubs offer more than just fun – they can also provide helpful networking opportunities and resources that will make you stand out when applying for jobs.

3.     Compose a stunning resume and cover letter

Your resume and cover letter are what potential employers will first see about you, so make sure you put in some time to polish these pieces before submitting them – and avoid resume mistakes that eliminate you as a candidate.

Do not forget to include keywords related to your chosen profession and skillset so they can find you as soon as possible! Links to your social media and relevant work will also look fab.

4.     Take advantage of a staffing agency’s connections

It can be difficult to get the attention of employers, especially if you’re fresh in the field of software engineering with no experience.

Staffing agencies will have the connections you need to help you find a job that fits your skillsets as a software engineer. They will know about different opportunities before they have been advertised online or through job boards. They also help you prepare for interviews, check your resume, and give you the support you need.

Developing Your Career

So, you broke into an awesome career! Perhaps by now you have a family to support, and a future to build and be proud of. Here’s how!

1.     Get involved in professional development activities

This can help you develop new skills and improve your existing skills in a rapidly-changing industry.

2.     Learn how to lead a team or project

Master the art of leading people and technical projects to motivate, inspire, and become valuable to your team and employer.

3.     Build your soft skills and technical skills over time

Developing your technical skills requires deliberate practice over time to remain up to date with the latest trends, languages, and processes.

4.     Network, network, network

Learn from others, share industry knowledge, and create professional relationships that enrich your career with opportunity and support.

5.     Know your worth as a software engineer

When you know your worth, you will have the confidence to negotiate for a higher salary and be more confident in yourself when applying for a position throughout your career.

6.     Know the unique value you bring to the table

Know why employers should choose you over other software engineers. Whether it’s technical ability or soft skills, know how you can make a difference to their company.

7.     Don’t stagnate

The world of engineering is always changing – if you don’t keep up with it, you will quickly become irrelevant. Always be learning something new or trying something new.

Let Us Help You Maximize Your Career Potential

At Irvine Technology, we champion your mindset to be proud of your achievements and passion as a software engineer. Employers want people like you. Talented candidates who want to succeed and strive to achieve to the best of their ability.

In forming a long-term partnership with a staffing agency who specializes in your field, you’ll discover that your efforts never go to waste, as we continually ensure you’re positioned in the most rewarding role, with the most motivating employer.

What are you waiting for? Submit your resume today and get your career in motion.

7 Tips to Improve Your Software Engineer Career

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software engineerThe Tech Industry Doesn’t Wait

You began a career as a software engineer thinking a strong future would be guaranteed. However, steering a promising future in software engineering lies solely on one person: you.

You’re right to believe software engineering is a booming sector. As demand increases for healthcare and security software, and all businesses and homes ramp up their IT usage, software engineers are more in demand now than ever before.

Now is the right time to search for software engineer jobs. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects job growth of 21% between 2018 and 2028. That’s rocketing speed in comparison to the 3.7% growth projected for all occupations over the same period.

Organizations are seeking the best software engineers to increase business growth. In this article, we discuss how to ignite your own career path and enjoy the best opportunities in software engineering.

Master the Basics

Many employees strive for status instead of ability. The key is to first master your role to become the standout software engineer employers identify for their talent pipeline.

Don’t run before you can walk. A successful, enjoyable career can only grow on solid foundations.

Take on Responsibility

Don’t sit and wait for opportunities to showcase your abilities and work ethic. You need to up your game as a software engineer and voluntarily nominate yourself for challenges such as:

  • Fixing bugs or improving work processes
  • Launching a product, or building an opensource project
  • Writing integration tests or building test automation procedures for product features
  • Solving coding practice problems
  • Sharing your ideas
  • Volunteering to take on tasks others have avoided

Invest in Learning

Continuously learn new technologies, techniques, languages, frameworks, and skills to thrive in one of the fastest-changing industries today. Consider where you need improving, or where you’d like to strengthen your expertise. You’ll need to commit time and invest in skills improvement, but you’ll reap the rewards as a standout candidate who’s highly valuable to employers.

Enhance Your Soft Skills

Being great at your job isn’t all about being technical. In software engineering, soft skills are high on the agenda for employers. Being able to communicate and collaborate effectively can make all the difference to your career, so give those skills the attention they need.

Leave Toxic Bosses and Workplaces

Who you work for has a huge impact on how your career develops. Always take time to speak to your boss and discuss your short-term and long-term goals. If you still feel unsupported, unchallenged, and held back, be bold. Don’t be afraid to seek software engineer jobs with employers who will invest in your future.

Optimize Your Social Media Presence

A well-optimized social media profile is your platform to showcase your professional attributes to executive search recruiters and hiring companies. It also helps you to connect with like-minded people in your field. Without social media, you’re culling potential opportunities. Having a poorly maintained social media presence can be even more damaging. Commit to a couple of hours each week maintaining a high-end presentation of yourself online.

Partner with a Specialist Staffing Agency

Many of the best software engineer jobs aren’t on jobs boards. The best employers are more refined in their approach to hiring the right skillsets for their software engineer vacancies. They partner with specialist staffing agencies like Irvine Tech Corporation. As a software engineer, you should do the same. You’ll be:

  • Presented with opportunities you may not have discovered otherwise
  • Supported and guided with expert advice throughout the process
  • Matched up only with employers and opportunities that compliment you, helping you enjoy a longer-lasting career with them
  • Able to take advantage of multiple contract types that can greatly enhance your skills, network, and further opportunities

Short-term assignments are a fantastic way for software engineers to fast-track their careers. You may be assigned to critical, project-focused roles, where you’ll learn new skills, broaden your network, and potentially get your foot in the door with your favored employer. Your career will accelerate to greater heights, faster, when partnering with experts like Irvine Tech Corporation.

Fast-Track Your Software Engineer Career Today

It’s time you progressed in your software engineer career. Why wait? Start with these seven tips and watch your career path evolve. Most crucially, submit your resume to Irvine Tech Corporation. It’s time to put the accelerator on your software engineer career and start reaping the benefits of your in-demand skills and work ethic.

5 Reasons Hiring for Diversity Will Improve Your Software Engineer Team

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Widen Your Search and See Your Team Surge Forward

You look around your software engineer team. It’s a good team, but it lacks something that could make it a great team. Diversity.

Diversity is linked to:

  • Better performance
  • Increased profits
  • Greater creativity
  • Increased innovation
  • Escalated business growth
  • A strong competitive stance for the most talented software engineers

As well as these industry-beating advantages, a report by McKinsey and Company identified financial advantages to companies incorporating ethnic and gender diversity into their workplaces.

Now you want to know a little more about how diversity can improve your software engineer team before developing your hiring strategy.

Diversity Is the Key That Opens the Door to Outperformance

You want your team to excel. You want your business to develop with new solutions and ideas. You don’t want to merely survive; you want to thrive and surge ahead of your competitors.

If this is the case, don’t fear a clash of individuals in your team. Diversity brings together a galaxy of ideas in a culture you create as a team and company. Here are five benefits that diversity delivers.

1.     Diversity Improves Your Bottom Line

Your software engineering team must be innovative to empower business growth. The tech industry thrives on change and creating solutions. When you have a diverse workforce, you have a diverse set of minds and perspectives.

Diversity has a direct impact on the forward motion of your business. A study by BCG revealed how companies with more diverse teams enjoy 19% higher revenue, because of innovation.

Diversity is not just a factor you should consider, but an integral cog in generating revenue. The more diverse your team, the bigger your bottom line is likely to be.

2.     Diversity Improves the Collaboration of Your Software Engineer Team

Candidates want to work for a company with a diverse culture. Though thought processes and individual cultures vary greatly, diverse teams feel safe sharing ideas and varied views in an environment where diversity of opinion is encouraged and respected.

With such a free-flow communication channel between software engineers, engagement is high, which results in increased productivity.

The result is innovative and successful results as a team, delivering faster and higher-quality outcomes together. With new perspectives and experiences brought to the table, personal learning and development also soars.

3.     Diversity Reduces Your Employee Turnover

Your software engineers will thrive in an environment that allows them to do so, no matter ‘who’ they are. As they develop and learn from their colleagues, and progress professionally, they’ll likely stay with a company who supports them. Your team will suffer less employee attrition, and morale will strengthen.

With reduced employee turnover, you’ll reduce the expense of hiring costs to replace staff. This allows you to invest more back into the business, developing your software engineering team further and sharing your financial success with your employees.

4.     Diversity Is Great for Your Culture

Improving diversity in your organization must not be misunderstood as a compliance obligation. This will not enhance your culture.

A strong culture expresses the genuine and transparent belief that gender, race, religious belief, background, and so on, are not barriers to personal and professional growth, enhancing team performance.

When you create a powerful culture that welcomes diversity, you encourage all team members to develop greater understanding and empathy. This enhances collaboration and promotes sharing of ideas and experience, enhancing individual and team skills.

5.     Diversity Improves Your Employer Brand

You nurture your employees. You care for their thoughts and ideas. You want them to succeed, as individuals and as a team.

In return, they want to work for you. You’ll see the most talented software engineers wanting a long-term career in your company, where they feel they can develop in a supported, fast-moving, competitive environment.

Your diverse employer brand will also, in turn, promote business from clients. They will reap the benefits of your more innovative software engineering team, and will want to do business with an organization who promotes diversity.

Get Started on Creating a More Diverse Software Engineer Team

The benefits of developing a more diverse software engineer team are well documented. You should experience improved engagement and performance, higher employee retention, and an increase in innovation and creativity. Your bottom line should improve, and your employer brand will attract the most talented candidates for your open vacancies.

Don’t miss out on incredible software engineers. Widen your search for the best candidates from a diverse pool of talent, benefitting from our help to find them.

We’re an award-winning information technology and staffing solutions provider. We want to understand your business and cultural needs, and we’re here to help you hire the tech talent you need for your diverse software engineering team. Contact Irvine Technology Corporation today.

What’s Best for a Software Engineer: Contract or Permanent?

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Advice to Help You Decide Your Next Career Move

Many software engineers have the career goal of working in contract jobs. Certainly, the money that you could earn as a contractor is attractive. And you should have greater flexibility to arrange your work around life, rather than your life around work. However, contract work is not best for all software engineering professionals.

In this article, we examine the difference between contract and permanent jobs. This will help you decide which is best for your life and career objectives today.

What Is the Difference Between Contract Work and Permanent Work?

Contract work is time limited. Often, you’ll be hired to work on specific projects. Contract periods are typically three, six or 12 months. Companies hire contractors to fill skills gaps they have, cover leave, to work on specific projects where short-term specialization is needed, or to help upskill existing staff.

As a permanent worker, your job is full-time with a fixed salary. Your tax and other deductions are taken from your salary before you receive it.

The Pros and Cons of Contract Work

The major draw to contracting is the money that you can earn. Because the company you work for does not have the legal obligation to provide benefits such as health insurance and pension provisions, nor are they responsible for your tax an unemployment insurance, they can (and do) pay contractors higher hourly wages.

You’ll also be your own boss, with flexibility between contracts and a better work/life balance. However, when one contract ends there is no guarantee that you will walk into another. Additionally, in poor economic conditions, employers often lay off their contract staff first.

Here is a summary of the main pros and cons of contract work:

Pros of Contract Work Cons of Contract Work
Larger salary Your job security is not guaranteed
You are your own boss No employer benefits such as health and pension
You have flexibility between contracts There’s no career ladder to measure your progress
Your skills are appreciated Administration of paperwork (and tax) is your responsibility
You can benefit from a wide variety of work (and so will your resume) No guarantee of work
Better work/life balance You must market yourself
You stay out of office politics You are easier to lay off

 

The Pros and Cons of Permanent Work

Job security and employer-provided benefits are the two major advantages of permanent work. Your employer will also pay for your training. You won’t need to market your skills (unless you want to change jobs).

While the opportunity to progress will provide a measure of success, career progression is not always assured – especially if there are few internal promotion opportunities.

In exchange for the benefits of permanent work, you will forego the higher earning potential of contract work, flexibility, and choice of work, and are likely to be drawn into the game of office politics.

Here is a summary of the main pros and cons of contract work:

Pros of Permanent Work Cons of Permanent Work
Job security Lower earnings potential
Regular salary No choice of the work you do
Employer benefits such as health and pension You may get paid leave, but it is limited by your employer
A defined career path Personality clashes and office politics
Training and development opportunities You must conform to your employer’s work hours
Lenders prefer permanent workers Your salary increases are determined by your employer
Employment protection Your skills may not be fully appreciated, and you may not do work that most appeals to you

 

How Do You Decide Between Contract and Permanent Work?

Before deciding whether contract or permanent work is the right course for your career as a software engineer, you should take time to assess your current needs and your future goals. Consider what quality of life you want today, your longer-term life goals, and how you could best achieve these objectives.

As a contractor, you could set up as your own or operate through an agency that offers contracting and consulting services. If you choose the former option, you will have the added responsibility of marketing your services and the additional paperwork requirements. If you work as a contractor or consultant through an agency, you benefit from many of the advantages of contract work and some of the advantages of permanent work – such as ‘employer’ benefits and 401(K) provisions.

If you are at the stage of your career where you are undecided as to your next move, contact Irvine Technology Corporation today. We’ll help you with your perspective, and can introduce you to some of the best permanent and contract roles available in software engineering.