Comparing Two Careers Side By Side

Create your own side-by-side comparison by using the two careers you selected for the
career deep dives in activities Deep Dive: Career #1 and Deep Dive: Career #2.
Enter the information on below:

Career #1

Career #2

Career Name:

Manage information technology

Communicate with staff or clients to
projects or system activities.
understand specific system requirements.
Develop testing routines or procedures. Provide advice on project costs, design
concepts, or design changes.
Assign duties or work schedules to
Document design specifications,
employees.
installation instructions, and other system Monitor computer system performance related information.
Responsibilities:
to ensure proper operation.
Verify stability, interoperability,
Modify software programs to improve portability, security, or scalability of
performance.
system architecture.
Provide technical support for software Collaborate with engineers or software
maintenance or use.
developers to select appropriate design
Collaborate with others to resolve
solutions or ensure the compatibility of
information technology issues.
system components.
Communicate project information to
Evaluate current or emerging
others.
technologies to consider factors such as
Apply mathematical principles or
cost, portability, compatibility, or
statistical approaches to solve problems usability.
in scientific or applied fields.
Provide technical guidance or support
Design software applications.
for the development or troubleshooting of
Supervise information technology
systems.
personnel.
Identify system data, hardware, or
Collaborate with others to determine
software components required to meet
design specifications or details.
user needs.
Analyze project data to determine
Provide guidelines for implementing
specifications or requirements.
secure systems to customers or installation
Assess database performance.
teams.
Prepare data for analysis.
Monitor system operation to detect
Coordinate software or hardware
potential problems.
installation.
Direct the analysis, development, and
Teach others to use computer
operation of complete computer systems.
equipment or hardware.
Investigate system component suitability
Provide recommendations to others
for specified purposes and make
about computer hardware.
recommendations regarding component
Identify information technology
use.

project resource requirements.

Reading Comprehension
Understanding written sentences and
paragraphs in work related documents.
Active Listening Giving full
Skills: attention to what other people are
saying, taking time to understand the
points being made, asking questions as
appropriate, and not interrupting at
inappropriate times.
Critical Thinking Using logic and
reasoning to identify the strengths and
weaknesses of alternative solutions,
conclusions or approaches to problems.

Perform ongoing hardware and software

maintenance operations, including
installing or upgrading hardware or
software.
Configure servers to meet functional
specifications.
Develop or approve project plans,
schedules, or budgets.
Define and analyze objectives, scope,
issues, or organizational impact of
information systems.
Develop system engineering, software
engineering, system integration, or
distributed system architectures.
Design and conduct hardware or
software tests.
Establish functional or system standards
to ensure operational requirements,
quality requirements, and design
constraints are ***ed.
Evaluate existing systems to determine
effectiveness and suggest changes to meet
organizational requirements.
Research, test, or verify proper
functioning of software patches and fixes.
Communicate project information
through presentations, technical reports or
white papers.
Complete models and simulations, using
manual or automated tools, to analyze or
predict system performance under
different operating conditions.
Direct the installation of operating
systems, network or application software,
or computer or network hardware.
Train system users in system operation
or maintenance.
Perform security analyses of developed
or packaged software components.
Develop application-specific software.
Active Listening Giving full attention
to what other people are saying, taking
time to understand the points being made,
asking questions as appropriate, and not
interrupting at inappropriate times.
Critical Thinking Using logic and
reasoning to identify the strengths and
weaknesses of alternative solutions,
conclusions or approaches to problems.
Complex Problem Solving
Identifying complex problems and
reviewing related information to develop
and evaluate options and implement

 Complex Problem Solving

Identifying complex problems and
reviewing related information to
develop and evaluate options and
implement solutions.
Speaking Talking to others to
convey information effectively.
Judgment and Decision Making
Considering the relative costs and
benefits of potential actions to choose
the most appropriate one.
Mathematics Using mathematics to
solve problems.
Social Perceptiveness Being aware
of others' reactions and understanding
why they react as they do.
Coordination Adjusting actions in
relation to others' actions.
Monitoring Monitoring/Assessing
performance of yourself, other
individuals, or organizations to make
improvements or take corrective action.
Time Management Managing one's
own time and the time of others.
Writing Communicating effectively
in writing as appropriate for the needs of
the audience.

solutions.
Reading Comprehension
Understanding written sentences and
paragraphs in work related documents.
Operations Analysis Analyzing needs
and product requirements to create a
design.
Speaking Talking to others to convey
information effectively.
Writing Communicating effectively
in writing as appropriate for the needs of
the audience.
Systems Evaluation Identifying
measures or indicators of system
performance and the actions needed to
improve or correct performance, relative
to the goals of the system.
Systems Analysis Determining how a
system should work and how changes in
conditions, operations, and the
environment will affect outcomes.
Active Learning Understanding the
implications of new information for both
current and future problem-solving and
decision-making.
Monitoring Monitoring/Assessing
performance of yourself, other
individuals, or organizations to make
improvements or take corrective action.
Judgment and Decision Making
Considering the relative costs and benefits
of potential actions to choose the most
appropriate one.
Programming Writing computer
programs for various purposes.
Time Management Managing one's
own time and the time of others.
Coordination Adjusting actions in
relation to others' actions.
Quality Control Analysis Conducting
tests and inspections of products, services,
or processes to evaluate quality or
performance.
Instructing Teaching others how to do
something.
Learning Strategies Selecting and
using training/instructional methods and
procedures appropriate for the situation
when learning or teaching new things.
Persuasion Persuading others to
change their minds or behavior.
Social Perceptiveness Being aware of
others' reactions and understanding why

A Bachelor's Degree.

they react as they do.

A Bachelor's Degree

Education:

Salary:

$102,800

$83,410

I think some of the major differences of the two careers is the salary, and how much more
work and skills it takes on the Computer Engineer side of things.
The Software Developer career interests me more because I just recently got introduced
to the PS3 SDK and I want to dive deeper into the core operating system and start
developing homebrew applications that will benefit users.