The technology I chose here at New England Tech is the IT Program, with my main focus being in software engineering. That is to say, that ultimately I want to be able to get a professional career as a computer programmer. Computer programmers write code to create software programs; they turn the program designs created by software developers and engineers into instructions that a computer can follow. Programmers must debug the programs—that is, test them to ensure that they produce the expected results. If a program does not work correctly, they check the code for mistakes and fix them. Some programs are relatively simple and usually take a few days to write, such as mobile applications for cell phones. Other programs, like computer operating systems, are more complex and can take a year or more to complete.
In almost all professional careers there is room for advancement, and with advancements raises will naturally occur. There are a wide range of salaries earned each year, and if you lined up in order, from highest to lowest or lowest to highest, all the salaries of people working in a particular occupation, the median salary is the one that falls at the midpoint of that range. The median annual wage of computer programmers was $71,380 in May 2010. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $40,820, and the top 10 percent earned more than $114,180. Employment of computer programmers is expected to increase by 12 percent from 2010 to 2020, about as fast as the average for all occupations. Since computer programming can be done from anywhere in the world, companies often hire programmers in countries where wages are lower. This ongoing trend will limit growth for computer programmers in the United States. However, companies may continue to hire computer programmers in low cost areas within the United States. This is a troublesome concept, but the growth for programming careers in New England looks very promising.
Over the past years essential requirements such as education and experience have become more demanding in almost all professional careers, especially in technical fields. Most computer programmers have a bachelor’s degree; however, some employers may hire workers who have an associate’s degree. This is mainly because the employer expects the programmer to keep up with changing technologies. Computer programmers may take continuing education and professional development seminars to learn new programming languages or about upgrades to programming languages they already know. Most programmers learn only a few computer languages while in school. However, a computer science degree also gives students the skills needed to learn new computer languages easily. During their classes, students receive hands-on experience writing code, debugging programs, and many other tasks that they will do on the job. There are other significant qualities that a programmer must have in order to be efficient in the workplace. These qualities are as follows, analytical skills- computer programmers must understand complex instructions in order to create computer code, concentration- programmers must be able to work at a computer, writing lines of code for long periods of time, detail oriented- computer programmers must closely examine the code they write because a small mistake can affect the entire computer program, and trouble shooting skills- an important part of a programmer’s job is to check the program for errors and fix any that they find.
The work environment for a computer programmer is very straight forward. They usually work alone in an office or a room with other programmers. They are also required to work in a team with other computer specialist, when a big company project is