Is Software Engineering Oversaturated?

No, Software Engineering is not oversaturated, there may be a lot of average software Engineers out there, but companies are not looking to hire average software engineers, they want to hire talented and highly skilled software engineers.

Talented software engineers are in short supply, there are very few talented software engineers and companies are competing to hire or keep these engineers. This is why there is a huge shortage of talented software engineers even though the software engineering field seems to be flooded.

Some companies are even offering money just to interview, this alone shows that there is a huge shortage of talented software engineers. Please note that software engineering is flooded with average programmers but there is a huge shortage of talented and highly skilled software engineers.

There are many people who use platforms like Bubble, WordPress, Shopify, Airtable, and many other platforms to build full-fledged software with less or no code.

Some people who use these platforms consider themselves Software Engineers yet they cannot work with any programming language or add any simple feature to an application without the help of a plugin.

Let us explore some of the stats and points that show that Software Engineering is not oversaturated. We will also look at how to separate yourself from the competition in the software engineering industry.

SOFTWARE ENGINEERING JOBS

If you are interested in Software Engineering, there are a lot of opportunities ranging from working for FAANG companies to building your own startup, Freelancing, working in the government, etc.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, ”Employment of software developers, quality assurance analysts, and testers is projected to grow 22 percent from 2020 to 2030, much faster than the average for all occupations.”

The Bureau further reports that “About 189,200 openings for software developers, quality assurance analysts, and testers are projected each year, on average, over the decade.”

Statista estimates that by 2030, the number of employed software developers in the U.S. alone is expected to rise to 1.84 million. This means there are more openings and there will be more openings for Software Engineers.

At the beginning of this article, I mentioned that some tech companies are offering money to interview, there are also other tech companies that have sweetened perks to land tech workers; a $250,000 signing bonus for an executive role (WSJ).

This data shows the amount of shortage of talented software engineers around the world. It also shows that there is a demand for software engineers. ultimately, this means that the software engineering field is not oversaturated.

According to Data analyzed by CompTIA, “in total, employers across the 10 markets covered in the report posted nearly 900 000 job advertisements during Q1 2021 in their efforts to hire for a range of technology professions.“ The key categories considered for hiring include:

• Software Developers, Programmers, and Web Developers
• Systems Analysts and Cybersecurity
• IT Support Specialists and Technicians
• Network and Systems Administrators and Technicians

But wait, if Software Engineering is flooded and there are a lot of openings for software engineering jobs and yet a huge shortage of Software Engineers, what on God’s green earth is happening?

Well, it is as I said in the beginning, there are very few talented Software Engineers and many average developers.

I must emphasize that companies are looking for highly skilled talented software engineers, not average developers who cannot bring much to the table.

HOW TO STAY AHEAD OF THE COMPETITION

So, how do you separate yourself from the rest of the developers and get more opportunities your way? In the article Tips to Become a better developer, I have looked at some of the things you can do to separate yourself from others.

I will look at other things that you can do to stay ahead of the competition.

LEARNING

If you want to be a successful Software Engineer, you must love learning, there are always new tools, languages, libraries, and frameworks to learn.

Software Engineering is a fast-paced field, if you become comfortable with what you already know and you stop upgrading yourself, you will become irrelevant in no time.

THE BLOOMTECH STRATEGY

I love the strategy that Bloomtech employs to guarantee a job for its graduates. I have discussed it at length in the article Why the Bloomtech Strategy Works. If you follow it faithfully, you are guaranteed of being ahead of your competition.

ALGORITHMS AND DATA STRUCTURES

Most Developers shy away from Algorithms and Data Structures, but you should not. Learning and understanding algorithms and data structures will help you when interviewing for software engineering roles.

Most tech companies require a good understanding of Algorithms and Data structures. You can use Leetcode to test your algorithm understanding or you can read books such as Cracking the Coding Interview or Grokking Algorithms.

PORTFOLIO

Have a portfolio of the projects you have worked on, there are times when words will fail and your portfolio will speak for you. Being able to showcase what you can do is a great way to invite opportunities even when you are sleeping.

You can start a website, a youtube channel, a podcast, or any platform that can allow you to showcase your work. A website is a great place to start.

CHALLENGES

Taking part in online challenges and hackathons is one of the best ways of inviting opportunities, not only will you be able to win amazing prizes and cash, but you will also be able to get the attention of employers. You can try out Hackathons of your liking on Devpost the home of Hackathons.

CONCLUSION

Software Engineering is not flooded with talented developers, it is flooded with average developers. Talented Software Engineers are in high demand all around the world.

If you want to make a difference as a Software Engineer, you must do more than what any average engineer is willing to do.

Many companies out there are looking for highly skilled software engineers, it is up to you to up your game and land yourself that dream software engineering role.

It is going to take a lot of dedication and hard work to rise above the rest of the developers, but that is the thin line between the top-rated and the average software engineers.