You Will Have Meetings. Lots of Them.
by, Judah Diament Periodically someone asks me if Software Engineers (SE) spend their days sitting in front of their computers, or if they interact with other people. There are two assumptions, both wrong, that go into the question, and it's important to address both assumptions so that students in all majors/fields have a more accurate understanding of what the working world is like. This will be a brief post because it's a really simple point, albeit a fundamental one. It is often assumed that an SE sits in front of his computer all day writing code. It is equally assumed that people on other career paths (law, accounting, finance, human resources, marketing, etc.) do not spend hours a day sitting in front of their computers. Both of these assumptions are wrong. Collaborating with others: If you work in a large company, no matter what your career/role/field is, you will collaborate with many people, sit in many meetings, and make many presentations. The more junior yo...