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 you are, the more time you will spend being a "worker bee" at your computer and the less prominent your role will likely be in meetings and presentation, but they will still happen.
Sitting in front of your computer: When you are not meeting with others, you will be sitting in front of your computer, no matter what career/field you choose. Your field will influence what you do on the computer. Lawyers may search and/or edit legal documents, accountants and financiers may work with numbers in Excel and other tools, designers may create in Adobe Creative Suite and other design programs, SEs will write/test/deploy code, and everyone will spend more time than they ever wanted to, over the course of their careers, creating presentations and reading/writing emails.
If you don't want to sit in front of a computer for large amounts of time, you should look into roles that do not involve working for large corporations - doctor, electrician, farmer, retail business owner, etc. If, however, you want to work in large companies, be prepared to spend many hours a day in front of your computer, and many hours in meetings and collaborating with others.
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 you are, the more time you will spend being a "worker bee" at your computer and the less prominent your role will likely be in meetings and presentation, but they will still happen.
Sitting in front of your computer: When you are not meeting with others, you will be sitting in front of your computer, no matter what career/field you choose. Your field will influence what you do on the computer. Lawyers may search and/or edit legal documents, accountants and financiers may work with numbers in Excel and other tools, designers may create in Adobe Creative Suite and other design programs, SEs will write/test/deploy code, and everyone will spend more time than they ever wanted to, over the course of their careers, creating presentations and reading/writing emails.
If you don't want to sit in front of a computer for large amounts of time, you should look into roles that do not involve working for large corporations - doctor, electrician, farmer, retail business owner, etc. If, however, you want to work in large companies, be prepared to spend many hours a day in front of your computer, and many hours in meetings and collaborating with others.