Mr. Isaac L., Software Engineering Intern at SparkPost
Published 01 Dec 2019
Tags: computer-science, engineering, math, undergrad-studentWhat education is needed for a student looking to work in your discipline? What schooling or education did you receive to prepare you for this career?
This field does not require an undergraduate education, however, degrees in computer science and mathematics help open doors and prepare you for success. I’m currently an undergraduate student double majoring in computer science and mathematics.
What does a typical day at your job look like? What sort of projects do you work on?
My day starts by going to work and starting coding. Shortly after I get to work, we have a meeting discussing what we accomplished yesterday and what we are going to be working on today. I work on my code and projects for a few hours, and then we have another meeting called ‘code sync’ where we show what we wrote that day to the rest of our team. This allows us to receive feedback by asking one another about certain code decisions and to ensure that we have optimized our code. Getting feedback from coworkers improves the quality of our code and causes us to think critically about all of the work we do. At the end of the day, I code some more and then head home.
Why did you choose to pursue this career?
I’ve always liked math and problem solving, and software engineering brings problem solving and math together into one opportunity filled career that is in demand.
What advice would you give to a high school or college student interested in pursuing this field of work?
In high school, focus on what you are interested in by taking relevant classes. A good class for those interest in computer science and software development is Computer Science A AP. In college, make sure to focus on understanding fundamentals such as data structures. Be sure to network and apply for many jobs to get experience as a student.
What one quality do you think is important to be successful in your field of work, and why?
It’s important to have curiosity on why things work, and wanting to know what makes something function. That causes you to work harder and put more effort in. When you get started in computer science, there’s a lot to learn, so you need to make sure to pay attention and always work to understand what’s happening in the code. There’s always room for improvement, so listen to the advice of coworkers and professors.