The demand for software engineers is continuously increasing and it’s a high-paying job as well. If you’re are a beginner and looking for how to become a software engineer after 12th. Then this guide is for you.
To become a software engineer you have to do a relevant course or degree after the 12th. In this career guide, You’ll learn step by step guide on how to become a software engineer after 12th and what skills are required to be successful. Moreover, at the end of the guide, you will get answers to software engineer FAQs
Let’s get started, and dive into how to become a software engineer after 12th!
Before you know that how to become a software engineer after 12th, you must know what is a software engineer.
What is Software Engineer?
Software engineering is the branch of engineering and it mainly focuses on the design, development, implementation and maintenance of software. A person who uses the principles of software engineering to design, develop, implement, maintain & test software is called a software engineer.
Software engineers are graduated in computer science engineering and information technology. They have amazing programming skills that are used to develop software.
In our daily life, we use an immense amount of software like video games, applications for personal, business & government use, operating systems and other software’s. All these software’s are designed by a software engineer. Apart from designing software engineers also maintain and test software to ensure the proper functionality of the software.
I hope now you got an idea of what is a software engineer is. let’s explore the answer to how to become a software engineer after the 12th.
How to Become a Software Engineer After 12th?
Well, we’re going to explore courses and degrees that you can pursue to fulfil your dream.
So if you’re a science student then you can directly follow these steps to become a software engineer. But if you’re commerce, arts or any other stream student, then the path to becoming a software engineer is a little different for you. Firstly we will discuss how to become a software engineer after 12th science. And then, we will explore how to become a software engineer after 12th commerce, arts or any other stream.
Step 1: Know the Eligibility Criteria to become a Software Engineer
To take admission in engineering degrees you must have 55% marks in 12th with physics, chemistry and mathematics. After completing 12th you can prepare for JEE main exams and through this exam, you can take admission in top engineering colleges of India based on your JEE main rank.
It is a national level exam and is conducted every year in April. If your rank is high then you can pursue your engineering degree in a well-reputed college or university. So it’s a great opportunity for you!
Step 2: Pick a best course for you
In the process of exploring how to become a software engineer after the 12th science? The next you need to do is a course or degree relevant to software engineering. There are many diploma courses and professional degree courses to become a software engineer. Further, you can also do a masters’ degree and a doctoral degree to be more educated in software engineering.
Courses with Duration For a Software Engineer
The courses duration depends upon the type of course, you’re opting for.
So let’s explore each course one by one to know eligibility criteria and what is the specific duration of each course.
Diploma Courses For a Software Engineer
After completing 12th with physics, chemistry and mathematics you can go for diploma courses and the duration of diploma course is usually three years. To be a software engineer following are the diploma courses.
- Diploma in Software engineering
- Diploma in Computer Programming and software engineering.
Bachelor’s Degree to be Software Engineer
The next option is a bachelor’s degree and it is a professional degree course. The duration of a bachelors’ degree course is 4 years. If you want to be a professional software engineer then a bachelor’s degree is a great option for you. Under a bachelor’s degree, you can do the following degree courses to be a software engineer.
- Bachelor’s Technology in Computer Science and Engineering ( B.tech CSE )
- Bachelor’s Technology in Information Technology ( B.tech IT)
- Bachelor’s Technology in Software engineering (B.tech Software Engineering)
Other courses that you can choose are below
- Bachelor’s of Computer Application (BCA) | 3-year course
- Bachelor’s Science in Computer Science ( BSC CS) | 3-year course
- Bachelor’s Science in Information technology (BSC IT) | 3-year course.
Master’s Degree For a Software Engineer
To take admission for a master’s degree, you must have 55% marks in equivalent bachelors’ degree. If you want to do M.tech then you must have 55% marks in b.tech and for M.sc 55% marks in B.sc are required. To take admission in M.tech you can prepare for the GATE exam as after the 12th you prepared for JEE main exam. Based on GATE scores, you got admission to an engineering college. To get admission to a top college or university rank high in GATE exams.
Following are the Master’s Courses that you can do
- Masters of Technology in Software Engineering (M.tech)
- Masters of Engineering in Software Engineering ( ME)
- Masters of Science in Information technology (M.sc IT)
- M.sc in Software Systems
- Masters of Computer Application (MCA)
The duration of the master’s course is 2-3 years and it depends upon the master’s course you’re choosing.
Doctoral Degree Course
You can also do a doctoral degree to be more educated in the field of software engineering This Means you can also pursue P.hD in Software engineering. To take admission in P.hD you must have 60% marks in both bachelors degrees and masters’ degrees. The admission of P.Hd exams is done through fellowship exams like CSIR, DST and ICAR.
Now, you know what is eligibility criteria and courses are required to become a software engineer after the 12th. Let’s move further and explore “how to become a software engineer after 12th”.
Step 3: Build Strong Skills
Till now you have learnt various courses that will answer you that how to become a software engineer after 12th. You can choose a course to be a software engineer. But if you want to know, how to become a software engineer after the 12th that can get placed in IT companies & MNCs.
Then apart from the course, you must have skills. It means practical knowledge that will help you to be a successful software engineer. Whenever you will go for an interview in any company they just do not see your degree and marks but they will also look for a skilful person who can perform a job efficiently.
Now, how you can perform a software engineer job efficiently?
The simple answer is when you have software engineering skills, communication skills and soft skills.
Skills Required to Become a Software Engineer
The following are the skills that would help you
- Basic knowledge of hardware and software
- Programming languages like C, C++, Java
- Great piece of knowledge of computer-aided software engineering tools.
- Software designing skills
- Excellent software testing and debugging skills.
- Software maintenance
Apart from these practical skills, you must have the following soft skills
- Good Communication and Presentation skills
- A positive attitude will help you to work in any company
- Ability to work with teammates
- Willingness to learn new things and adaptability to change with environment and software.
- You are able to meet deadlines.
Are you enjoying while exploring how to become a software engineer after the 12th? Yes! continue exploring & the next part is most interesting i.e. career options.
Step 4 : Choose a best Career For you
After developing a strong skillset, next, you need to think that what you which career you want to choose.
Career Opportunities for a Software Engineer
The demand for software engineers is increasing day by day as software are used in every industry. To design, develop, maintain and test software, software engineers are required. The below is the list of various career opportunities for a software engineer.
- IT Industries
- MNCs
- Public sector
- Startup or business
- Banking Sector
- Finance and Insurance sector
- Teaching Profession
- Freelancing
IT Companies and MNCs
After completing a course or degree you have a pool of career options as I’ve listed above. Based on your interest and in which profession you want to make your career and you can choose the option that best fits you.
If your dream is to do a job then you can go start your career in IT Industries. Plenty of jobs is available for software engineers in IT companies with different designations and salary package. The scope of the software job is not only limited to IT companies you can also work with MNCs as a software engineer. But to work with multinational companies you have to match their requirements. If you want to be part of MNCs then start developing skills according to their requirements.
The top designations for a software engineer are Software executives, software developers, software designers, software programmers, system designers and many more.
Public, Banking and Finance Sector
Apart from IT industries, you can also work with other fields like the public sector, banking, finance and insurance sector. These sectors also hire software engineers to design, develop and maintain software.
Startups or Business
Another great option is starting your own business. If you want to be your own boss then a startup is a great fit for you. You can start a business for developing and designing new software and any other software services like repairing, testing and maintaining software.
Freelancing
The next career opportunity is for those who want to work from their comfort zone. Do you want to be self-employed? YES! it is possible to work as a software engineer by sitting at your home and this is called freelancing. You can create your profile on a freelancing website and start working on freelancing projects.
Teaching Profession
You can also work in colleges and universities if you like teaching others and you can make a career teaching profession as well.
These all are different career options for a software engineer. I hope these options will help you to choose what you want to be as a software engineer.
Step 5 : Bonus tips for How to Become a Software Engineer after 12th
Now, you reached the end of this career guide and I’m pretty much sure that you are passionate to be a software engineer, that’s why you read the whole article. I would like to give you some bonus tips for “how to become a software engineer after 12th”.
- If you have a dream to be a software engineer then that’s a great idea. But it will come true only when you start working on your dream.
- Just start from a very basic level, don’t be dependent upon your college or university. Because they will teach things according to the academics only.
- If you want to be a successful software engineer then be a self-learner.
Are you thinking that how you can start self-learning?
Don’t worry nowadays it’s very easy to learn anything you just need an internet connection. Use the internet to learn programming languages and other necessary skills like communication and interview skills.
I hope now you have an idea that how to become a software engineer after 12th and what are the available career options. If you have any queries related to how to become a software engineer after 12th? Then feel free to ask in the comment section.
Additional Notes