software engineer salary

[HB2HSV]

Originally Posted by Charles

I am an engineer, therefore I am efficient. I would be very disappointed with a B or an A because that means I studied too hard - I would have been wasting time; you can pass with a C; a C meets requirements - it is sufficient. Just like a good requirement is necessary and sufficient.

Sounds like the "lowest bidder" rationale.

That explains why we are where we are with respect to the way we build cars vs. the Japanese & the Germans. Now we may have to go to the Russians to buy a ride to the Space Station because we can't design rockets anymore.

C meets passing grade, e.g., lowest requirements in school. But at work they raise the bar, hence all "C" graduates go in the path of management. While the "B" graduates work design problems and the "A" graduates work the research problems.

Now I can't imagine why all the "A" and "B" graduates get upset when their project fundings, and jobs, get cut???

[DvlsAdvc8]

Originally Posted by alcate

I have been trying to research the salary range for a C++ software engineer with 4 to 5 years of experience at one of the major contractors in Huntsville with not much luck. I was wondering if there might be any engineers on this forum who could help me out.
Thanks!

I'm a software engineer, except 7 years experience. I was hired to lead a small group of C# developers (without having specific C# experience myself - but coming from a very large, organized, Java dev group). The salary depends on the specific job description/requirements, the quality of your experience (some require a specific skill set, others a more diverse skill set) and whether its a leadership position. The contract itself can also play a part.

I know the folks we've brought in right out of school over the last two years were at about 50k without any special characteristics (you occassionally find a new grad that knows more than you expect or has some special qualities - leadership, personality whatever); 4-5 years experience would probably be 65k to 75k without clearance, certs or specific experience that may push you higher; really depends a lot on contract/project and how well your skills and personality match what they're looking for. Figure on annual raises a bit above inflation, plus decent bumps here and there when one's title/responsibilities change.

[blondandfun]

Originally Posted by HB2HSV

That explains why we are where we are with respect to the way we build cars vs. the Japanese & the Germans. Now we may have to go to the Russians to buy a ride to the Space Station because we can't design rockets anymore.

Ease up on C students. We were just victims of a teacher too stupid to just say that an integral is just the area

In other words, it's not that we didn't get it, it's just that we didn't get the LANGUAGE of it.

Just like most people in the US don't know what engineers do... We're too busy bashing each other and trying to impress people.

I can guarantee you engineers in Germany know how to communicate engineering 4x better... They see it more than just as a LANGUAGE, which is 90% of what you study in engineering school here.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by blondandfun

Ease up on C students. We were just victims of a teacher too stupid to just say that an integral is just the area

In other words, it's not that we didn't get it, it's just that we didn't get the LANGUAGE of it.

Just like most people in the US don't know what engineers do... We're too busy bashing each other and trying to impress people.

I can guarantee you engineers in Germany know how to communicate engineering 4x better... They see it more than just as a LANGUAGE, which is 90% of what you study in engineering school here.

When I was in undergrad EE, most of my profs were foreigners from China, India, Iraq, Poland and France. It was tough to understand them. However, the mech and civil profs were mostly Americans and they were better communicators - classes were more interesting too, maybe because of that. Same in grad school, I had this Iranian computer engineering professor. He was tough to understand, and I had like three different classes with him, all tough ones too.

[HB2HSV]

Originally Posted by blondandfun

Ease up on C students. We were just victims of a teacher too stupid to just say that an integral is just the area

In other words, it's not that we didn't get it, it's just that we didn't get the LANGUAGE of it.

Just like most people in the US don't know what engineers do... We're too busy bashing each other and trying to impress people.

I can guarantee you engineers in Germany know how to communicate engineering 4x better... They see it more than just as a LANGUAGE, which is 90% of what you study in engineering school here.

Hey I am not proud and will admit that I received a few "C"s in my classes I had to go take classes like accounting, finance & swimming 101 to boost up my GPA

Looking back, I think the biggest difficulty I had was the class size. In general requirements class such as Calculus, Chemistry & Physics we were in a class size of 300 students or more. It was hard to see what the profs were writing let alone asking questions. The teaching assistants (TAs) will post office hour at 1 hour a week for 300 students! It was a "sink or swim" environment for the students.

I guess different people with different learning styles accel in different environments. I am more of "interactive learning" type of person (I suspect most of us who post on forums like these are), so I enjoy asking questions as way of learning. I did well in laboratory classes. In fact, I was hired as summer student working in a chemical company research lab because I could recall laboratory procedures during the interview.

I agree that most of U.S. engineering undergraduates are poorly equipped to deal with the working world. Most of us have very poor writing skills fresh out of college. I credit my school for 'whip' me into shape in this area. They would take out 1 point for every misspelled word and poor grammar. You'll have to do a re-write when it's below 60 points. That was the day of manual typewriter, and I had to do re-writes on every report.

[HB2HSV]

Originally Posted by Charles

When I was in undergrad EE, most of my profs were foreigners from China, India, Iraq, Poland and France. It was tough to understand them. However, the mech and civil profs were mostly Americans and they were better communicators - classes were more interesting too, maybe because of that. Same in grad school, I had this Iranian computer engineering professor. He was tough to understand, and I had like three different classes with him, all tough ones too.

I think every engineering students have complaints like yours, I myself included.

But blame this on the 'system'. When you & I went to college, you may recall a big portion of this country would go straight to work steel mills, auto assembly plants, etc., right after high school because the union pays is quite lucrative. America was built on the solid blue collar working class skills & labor. Made-in-America was something to be proud of.

Likewise, entry-level engineering graduates could make great starting salary, something like $29K a year! Why, shoot, you could buy a fancy car, a house, and wine & dine pretty ladies with that kind of money! Why would you want to delay your access & gratification to that kind of money by going to graduate school?

[HB2HSV]

Originally Posted by blondandfun

.... We were just victims of a teacher too stupid to just say that an integral is just the area.

Just "got" your joke

But technically speaking, an integral is just the area under the curve

[zenjenn]

C meets passing grade, e.g., lowest requirements in school. But at work they raise the bar, hence all "C" graduates go in the path of management. While the "B" graduates work design problems and the "A" graduates work the research problems.

My thoughts EXACTLY!