Does Your Team Need a Software Developer or Software Engineer?- A Few Notes on the Difference
Finding the right candidate for your team is critical, but tech positions can be quite nuanced and unique. So, do you need a software developer or an engineer? What is the difference?
We know that these positions are at the center of product development, innovation, and in the safeguarding of the software and programs we all know and use. How do these roles differ and work together to achieve high-performing teams and develop the world’s leading products and technologies?
There is clear overlap in the positions, but understanding what these two tech roles are and how they function within a larger team can help you assess your company’s hiring needs in the short and long term.
Let’s take a look at the specific roles of software engineers vs developers.
The Work of Developing New Products and Technologies
Things move fast in the tech world, and companies are always looking for the best way to improve their productivity. As McKinsey reports, increasing performance is — many times — a result of empowering software developers and engineers to do their jobs and creating the right environment for them to innovate and work together. It is what they call developer velocity and it’s a concept that might apply to companies that are seeking to hire new developers or developer teams without sacrificing momentum or stumbling on the onboarding or initial hiring stages.
Software Developers — Main Roles and Responsibilities
Software developers are working on writing, designing, and debugging software. Their daily tasks are likely to be involved in the day-to-day code architecture that is going to make a software application or web application functional, practical and user-friendly to the customer.
A software developer will be involved in a product’s development from start to finish, including its research, testing, and launch. A software developer is a key figure in a tech team and some teams will require more than one software developer to architect their applications and work together.
Software developers are divided into front end developers, full stack developers, and back end developers. This refers to whether they specialize on the front end aspect of applications (customer-facing interfaces) or work the back end (functional behind-the-scenes stuff.)
Software Developer Skills
A software developer needs to have a keen ability for mathematics and problem-solving. Typically, they are fluent in one or two coding languages including JavaScript, Python, CSS, HTML, C#, Ruby on Rails, and GoLang.
Other skills of a software developer:
- Naturally curious
- A problem solver
- Creative thinker
- Approaches issues logically
- Ability to write and test code
- Familiar with cross-browser compatibility
- Can work a front end or back end of an application
Software Engineers — Main Roles and Responsibilities
Software engineers are higher up on the tech team ladder because their duties extend further than those of a software developer. The role title changes to ‘engineer’ because the job requires the application of engineering principles and approaches to the area of computer science and the development of software and web applications. As IBM defines it, software engineers apply engineering principles to build software and to solve problems within that software.
Software engineers need more than a solid grasp of coding languages, algorithms, scalability, and more. They work with the same languages and technologies that software developers work with, but they do so in a more integrated capacity as they often have to engage in scaling and communicating their work to other departments or other parts of the organization.
A software engineer’s responsibility is a lot more heavily collaborative, as they are often in charge of a team of developers and manage entire teams or the development of an entire product. At the same time, software engineer roles are often used as a head of a tech team, as they are in charge of researching and testing.
Software Engineer Skills
The skillset of a software engineer is very similar to those of a software developer. Engineers need to have a natural knack for mathematics and possess an inherent curiosity coupled with a love of problem solving and a solution-oriented mentality. Engineers in any discipline must possess those qualities, as it is their duty to identify the problem and figure out realistic, practical, and scalable solutions to that problem.
Other skills of a software engineer:
- Naturally curious
- A problem solver
- Creative thinker
- Approaches issues logically
- Ability to write and test code
- Familiar with cross-browser compatibility
- Can work a front end or back end of an application
- Proficient in debugging software and systems
- Project management skills and big-picture thinking
How to Assess Your Company Needs for the Position
Depending on your company’s needs, size, stage of development, and short and long-term goals, you may be looking for a software developer or a software engineer. It’s possible that you start off needing only one software engineer and then have to expand to a whole tech team of developers that act as support for a growing operation.
And while some job descriptions or ads use the terms software developer and software engineer interchangeably, it’s not always accurate. It may be that your company would benefit from having one or the other. There are also financial implications, as software engineers — given their wider skill sets — have higher salaries and are far more competitive in today’s market.
One of the main factors is where your company is in the development or testing stage. Depending on where you are in your product development, you may need a software developer or an engineer. These roles are brought in in different stages of a product’s development.
If you are in the opening stages of researching and testing your product, you likely need a software engineer (and maybe even a team of developers led by an engineer) that can test and develop every aspect of the product before it is scaled and lead the way in terms of development trajectory.
Software Engineer vs. Developer: Find the Right Person for Your Team
Filling in your head engineer or head developer role is a crucial decision in your company’s development and growth. CodersLink has a 25,000+ network of highly trained and experienced developers, engineers, and IT roles. Hiring remote software developers and engineers means connecting to LATAM’s highest level of tech talent and is a cost-effective option.
Leave the finding of talent up to us. Our expert-level matchmaking means we take your role and find perfect candidates. Whether you are hiring a software developer or software engineer, we can help you link up with the perfect candidates. Connect with us to learn more.
