How to become a Software Engineer in South Africa.

Software Development at the moment is 1 of the 10 scarce skills needed in South Africa according to SA’s Youth Portal. Furthermore 4 of the 10 scarce skills mentioned are in IT. Also read our blog: How to become a freelance Software Engineer

This is rapidly becoming the trend in South Africa, driven by the fact that software developers in the country are actually the highest paid in the world. According to Offerzen they found that junior developers earned more in Cape Town than they did in Johannesburg.

In 2020, it seems that the trend remained the same. At R27.5K, junior developers with 0-2 years of experience in Cape Town earned 10% more than developers in Johannesburg. Offerzen also found out that with 2-4 years of experience in Pretoria earned on average R33.5K which is less than developers in Cape Town, but more than developers in Johannesburg who earned R31.4K per month on average.

According to stackoverflow’s developers report 2020, About 55% of respondents identify as full-stack developers, and about 20% consider themselves mobile developers.

But how can I become a software developer or software engineer?

Firstly to be a Software engineer, typically you need a combination of education, training, certifications and skills to earn a position as a software engineer.

The IT industry is quite different to most, in the sense they do look at education, but more so can you actually do the job and pass the test! Tech startups or even corporates hire a software developer with some knowledge of a programming language they need – that’s how high in demand the workplace is for programmers. Most of our graduates land a good junior developer job based on practical portfolio of work and that they get internationally accredited and recognized. I.e PCEP™ – Certified Entry-Level Python Programmer

What do Software Engineers Do?

According to Indeed Software engineers develop systems and software for businesses. These products range from business applications and games to network control systems and operating systems. Overall a software engineer’s responsibilities may also include:

• Working with users to determine their software needs.
• Designing, developing and testing a system application. In turn according to the users’ specifications.
• Drawing diagrams and models that help developers create the appropriate code for the system.
• Document the system or application.
• All in all Maintain the system or application with updates and fixes as necessary.
• Give recommendations of software upgrades for existing systems or applications.
• Collaborate with developers and other engineers to create software.

In turn what are the options for education?

University route (Traditional) – All in all this is where you study for 3-4 years to get a degree or diploma. In turn this is a good route, if you got time, money and resources. But it’s not really needed, as many graduates get good paying jobs with ‘just’ an international short course certificate (less than 1 year). Don’t get us wrong, Degrees in Computer Science are great, but often just focus on the theoretical.

Modern trend – In turn this is short courses or coding bootcamps. Overall with just 3-6 months of full or part-time education. Thus that’s how long it takes to become a software developer in South Africa. In turn you learn practical skills in software development. Thus you cover practical examples of the the fundamentals of Computer Science. All in all IT, Software Development is one of the few fields where you don’t need a formal qualification (degree or diploma) to get a job. Overall most software developers are self-taught, nearly 90%. the Great thing is at School of IT, you can become a internationally recognized and accredited as a Software Engineer or Software Developer in under 6 months! Furthermore we assist you in getting a developer job in the industry.

Best programming language for a Software Engineer to know?

All in all every software developer in this day and age needs to know python! Why? Overall Python is a high-level programming language used for general-purpose programming. In turn with a simple syntax, Python has automatic memory management and dynamic features that make it suitable to be used in a variety of applications in the software development companies such as gaming, web applications, language development, prototyping, etc. All in all its considered an easy language to learn, Learn python with School of IT

Conclusion of How to become a Software Engineer in South Africa

Overall if you solving problems, using logic, then a career in software engineering or software development is for you! Thus with School of IT, you can become a internationally recognized and accredited Software Engineer in under 6 months!