Who is a Systems Engineer?

A System Engineer is responsible for the functioning and working of a system as he is the one who takes care of all the phases of system engineering. System engineers are experts in all fields from making plans to their deployment for the final product of the system.

The system Engineer often has to work with Project managers and the engineering team. System Engineer is the main link of communication between the project manager and the engineering team for the purpose of communication.

Introduction

System Engineering is about engineering a composite system, which means the System Engineer will build a system by keeping an eye on all the phases of system engineering. System engineering can be done in domains such as technology, chemical, or mechanical. System Engineering is mainly about solving problems. System Engineering mainly focuses on how we can design and manage IT systems for solving problems.

Who is a Systems Engineer?

System engineers play an important role in the success of an organization as they are the reason for the correct working for all the systems. To become a system engineer one needs to monitor the working of systems and continually take the right steps of the operation to make sure that the system is performing well.

A System Engineer’s primary goal is to assess the performance of systems and make changes to achieve a smooth production system for the organization. System Engineers have to deal with work processes and risk management tools to enable the correct working of the systems. 

Systems Engineer job description

In this part, we will see an example of how a System Engineer’s job description can be made and what are the expectations of an organization from a system engineer.

Example of a Job Description for Software Engineer

Job Description:

We’re looking for a Systems Engineer for solving operations, scaling, and performing automation on our platforms. His role will be to identify and solve issues, and improve the working of the system to meet the operational needs. You will have to coordinate with all the departments for the successful implementation of projects. You should be excellent in software design & development, troubleshooting, and configuration management. You will have to work with core production support personnel in IT for the development of the system. You must be excellent in hardware/software operation of systems. You’ll have to resolve operational issues of the system. By joining us, you will work closely with our great team of software developers who will help you grow in the software field and will also learn things from you. You should be able to define System Requirement specification based on stakeholder requirements. You will have to perform design optimization and support activities to reduce the cost of engineering the system.

Basic qualifications for Software Engineer:-

• Candidates who have completed their Bachelor’s/Master’s in Computer Science or other Engineering related fields.
• Candidates who have completed thier PG program in software development
• Candidates must be excellent in operating and designing systems.
• Strong Communication Skills and exemplary written skills are a must for the role of System Engineer.
• The candidate should be excellent in problem-solving and troubleshooting skills.
• Strong soft-skills are must such as leadership, team-management, and presentation delivery, flexibility.
• The candidate must have knowledge of coding and scripting.
• Strong understanding of areas of computer sciences such as data-structures, algorithms, OOPs concepts and databases.

Preferred qualification:

·      Master’s degree or PhD in Electrical Engineering or other related engineering fields.

·      Candidates with a minimum of 3 years of experience.

·      Strong programming skills in C/C++ or other languages.

·      Excellent analytics skills.

·      Candidates who have strong knowledge of designing efficient algorithms.

·      Who is able to deal with undefined problems; must be a good problem solver.

·      Candidates with excellent metrics and operational skills are preferred.

Roles and Responsibilities

The System Engineer has to coordinate with several departments of the organization to smooth the production process. They are responsible for taking several steps in order to minimize the risk of system crash or malfunctioning of the system.

Tasks:

–       Designing of a complex and efficient system for the organization.

–       Preparing catalog lists of requirements for engineering the system.

–       Modelling of the system design, its simulation, optimization, and manual creation of the system.

–       Preparing the documentation and functional description of the systems designed.

–       Managing and configuring the controls of the system.

–       Execution of the tasks involved in the engineering of the system.

–       Presenting designs of systems

System Engineer’s responsibilities include the following

• Solve the problems related to systems and make sure they are working correctly.
• Design efficient and complex systems which are capable of doing hard tasks.
• Minimizing risks and issues in the systems.
• Monitoring the working of all the systems.
• Coordinating with project management teams and the engineering team for the success of the project.
• Taking proper steps to enhance the security level of systems.
• Testing and maintaining operating systems and applications.
• Assessing risk management factors in systems and solving them effectively.

Systems Engineer Salary Trends in India/US:

System Engineer’s salary depends on multiple things such as the role of responsibility, experience level, educational qualifications, and job location. The average starting salary of a fresher system engineer is 403,230 Rs per year in India and $80,359 in the US as per the website payscale.co.

In addition to all these factors, a company’s reputation, size, and region also matters while considering the salary. 

System Engineers also earn a very good income by freelancing. As the www.freelancermap.com website’s rate index of September 2020 gives the information of hourly rate of system engineer which is $88. 

• Systems Engineer Salary: Based on Company

Different employers hire System Engineers on different payroll as they have different rules to set the salaries. Let us see the companies name and average salaries they provide to System Engineers.

Average Salary Based on the company in India:

• Tata Consultancy Services: Average Salary 4,17,515 Rs. Per annum

• Infosys : Average Salary 3,55,114 Rs. Per annum

• IBM: Average Salary 375,669 Rs. Per annum

• CGI Group Inc. : Average Salary 460,000 Rs. Per annum

• IBM Global Services: Average Salary 360,000 Rs. Per annum

• Cerner Corporation: Average Salary 598,219 Rs. Per annum

• Atos Origin: Average Salary 296,138 Rs. Per annum

• HCL Technologies Ltd. : Average Salary 335,096 Rs. Per annum

• Cisco Systems Inc. : Average Salary 1,000,000 Per Annum

• Tech Mahindra ltd: Average Salary 210,000 Rs. Per annum

• Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp: Average Salary 375,000 Rs. Per annum

• Airbus: Average Salary 1,393,678 Rs. Per annum

• Accenture: Average Salary 500,000 Rs. Per Annum

• Wipro Technologies Ltd.: 190,000 Rs. Per annum

• Cognizant: Average Salary 411,500 Rs. Per annum

Average Salary based on company in US:

• Lockheed Martin Corp: Average Salary $79,747 Per annum

• Raytheon Co. : Average Salary $75,331 Per annum

• Northrop Grumman Corporation: Average Salary $8,339 Per annum
  
• The Boeing Company: Average Salary $88,592 Per annum
  
• Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC): Average Salary $141,487 Per annum

Sources: payscale.com

• Systems Engineer Salary: Based on Experience

Experience is the most important factor when it comes to deciding the salary structure. The more experience you gain, the more salary you will get. Experience doesn’t mean just doing the job, it means getting more knowledge in that field. So ultimately, more knowledge will make you earn more. 

Entry-level Engineers: Engineers who don’t have any experience or very less experience such as 0-2 years are at this level. The average salary in India for an entry level engineer is up to 332,518 Rs. Per annum and in the US, it’s $72,373 per annum.

Mid-level Engineers: This level of engineers have experience of 3-5 years and the average salary in India for this level engineers is up to 562,612 Rs. per annum while in the US, its $88711 per annum.

Experienced-Level Engineers: This level of engineers have experience of more than 6 years. And the average salary in India for this level engineers is up to 821,997 Rs. per annum while in the US, it’s $103,269 per annum.

Sources: payscale.com

• Systems Engineer Salary: Based on Skills

Skill is also one of the most important factor when it comes to salary. The more skills that you are perfect in, the more salary you will get. System engineer has to play multiple roles and that’s the reason you must have skills that will define your role.

Extraordinary skills other than system engineering such as team management skills, decision-making skills, problem solving skills and presentation skills will help you get more salary . Different employers post the required skills in their job notifications and they also provide the preferred candidates who have additional skills. So it will be a plus point to have more skills. 

Average Salary Based on Skills in India:

• System Engineering Skills: Average Base Salary is Rs. 366,399/year
• Java Skills: Average Base Salary is Rs. 425,500/year

Average Salary Based on Skills in United States:

• System Engineering Skills: Average Base Salary is $82,711/year
• Technical Analysts: Average Base Salary is $82,002/year
• System Administration: Average Base Salary is $76,137/year
• System Testing: Average Base Salary is $87,637/year
• Requirement Analysis: Average Base Salary is $87,284/year
• Microsoft Active Directory: Average Base Salary is $70,610/year

Sources: payscale.com

Skills Required to be a Systems Engineer

·      Strong communication and writing skills are a must.

·      Project Management skills

·      Team Management skills

·      Broad Technical Knowledge

·      Programming Knowledge

·      Understanding of System Architectures

·      Strong Understanding of system security and integration

·      Industry-specific knowledge

·      Strong decision-making skills

·      Strong knowledge of coding and scripting

·      Problem Solving Skills

·      Team Coordination skills

A Day in the Life of a Systems Engineer

System Engineer is a very senior role which requires deep knowledge and experience of working on different systems. A System Engineer has to study different technologies and various application areas. That’s the reason, System Engineering is a very difficult and challenging role. As a system engineer in a software developer team, the day-to-day tasks involve creating and managing complex systems. A System Engineer’s life is totally different, as he has to handle various teams and maintain coordination between business development teams and IT teams. System Engineer’s daily tasks of all the day long in office time includes the following:

• Setting everything in order such as all the systems.
• Turning on the PC and checking the requirements lists of the project that he is working on. 
• Starting development of the project.
• Doing the coding, testing and research activities to check if the system is working correctly or not. 
• Making changes for the system to work correctly.
• Resolving issues that come up while testing.

So these are the tasks that a System Engineer goes through each working day.

How to Become a Systems Engineer?

The first step towards your System Engineer’s journey is to complete your bachelor’s degree in computer science or relevant field of IT. To complete your bachelor’s degree it will take around 4 years of education in which you will learn programming skills and architecture of computers or systems. After that if you want to enhance your knowledge in any specific field, let’s take an example of system engineering, you should go for a Master’s degree in Software Engineering specialization which will add more value to your resume as well. 

Employers often prefer those candidates who are from the highest education background and who are experienced. Therefore a Master’s degree will increase your chances of selection as a System Engineer. 

A System Engineer has to do multiple tasks related to business and engineering. Therefore, you can also pursue your Master’s degree in Business Administration as well. That will also improve your resume. Apart from these, you should look for certifications in cybersecurity systems, software systems, Cisco certified security systems, Microsoft certified system engineer and CompTIA A+. These certifications are very popular in the IT industry and are so valuable too. You can go for any certification of your interest. It will ultimately benefit you.

Let us see the steps to become a System Engineer:-

1. Complete your bachelor’s degree in system engineering.

The very first step you need to take is to complete your bachelor’s degree in the system engineering field or other related IT field. It will take up to four years to complete your bachelor’s degree.

2. Earn a Master’s degree in the same domain as System Engineering.

After completion of your bachelor’s degree, you have a choice of further study or work. If you choose further studies, like doing a Master’s in System Engineering, then it will definitely benefit you in your salary as well as the job. 

3. Do Internships with reputed firms and get some practical knowledge.

The next step is to gain some practical knowledge. You have studied most of the theoretical part in your college or university. After that you should look for internships to get hands-on experience or some practical knowledge. 

4. Gain experience from organizations.

After completing internships or training, you should start looking for job opportunities. You can choose the company of your choice from the options available. By doing jobs, you will get experience and will get more familiar with organizations. 

5. Complete professional certifications in relevant fields.

This step is an option for you, if you want to study side by side while doing a job, then it would be great for you to keep upskilling yourself for your professional life as well. You can choose professional certification courses and can study weekly. These certifications will help you in promoting yourself in your organization. The popular certifications include the following:

• Cisco Certified Security Systems 
• Microsoft Certified System Engineer 
• CompTIA A+

6. Apply for new System Engineer openings in well reputed organizations.

After gaining experience, you can try to apply for jobs in Big IT companies. In most of the cases Big IT companies only require experienced people for their openings and it will ultimately benefit you with more salary and reputation too.

What are The Advantages of a Systems Engineer Course?

1. Employability: System Engineering course will secure your employability as System Engineers are in-demand in multinational IT companies. So the System Engineer course will help you get employed in big IT companies.
2. High-Demand Career: As the systems are used in almost every industry, the number of system engineers available are not much. And most of the companies are in search of the best system engineers. So, it is a high demand career opportunity.
3. High Salary: System Engineer is a very professional and well-paid job. The starting salary for this role is also not bad. And after gaining experience the salary becomes more as you can get more details about salary in the Salary Trends section of this page.
4. Opportunities from Developed Countries: Most of the companies from developed countries require System Engineer for their organization. As they need the best engineer for their company, they give more salary according to the skills and certifications that a system engineer has.
5. Professional Course: System Engineer is a professional role in any organization. Therefore the course of System Engineer is also professional. It is not just a basic course, it is a very valuable course that will help you start your professional journey.

FAQs

• What are the roles that a system engineer has in an organization?

System Engineers are responsible for checking systems, solving their issues, designing and implementing new systems, upgrading them, and maintaining systems. Apart from these, a System Engineer also has to coordinate between the project management team and the engineering team. 

• Is Systems Engineering a good career choice?

System Engineering is a very good career if we see it from a professional perspective or from a highly demanded career perspective. It will be a good career option for you, as it is a highly demanded job role in well reputed firms. 

• What are the skills required for a system engineer?

As we discussed in our blog, the requirements to become a System Engineer, you can read that section of this blog. Let us see some key skills which are most important for a system engineer:

• System Designing Skills
• Communication Skills
• Programming Skills
• Problem Solving skills
• Error Resolving Skills

• Is system engineering hard to study?

It totally depends on your knowledge and the organization that you are working for. As we already discussed it is a challenging job, so you have to do multiple tasks in this job. But if you have proper knowledge in this field, then it will seem easy for you. 

• Which is a better choice between software engineer or system engineer as a career choice?

Software Engineer is a different role and System Engineer is also different, both the roles have their importance at their place. You just need to find your field of interest first, after that you can choose any of them according to your interests. A System Engineer has to develop and manage the overall development of a system while a software engineer has to develop new software for the organization and remove bugs from the software that they already have. 

• Is System Engineer an important role for an organization?

System Engineering is a very important role for any organization as they are the one who coordinates with the project management team to deliver the required system by working with the engineering team. They are responsible to make all the processes of a project smooth.

Conclusion

System engineers are in demand in our country as well as in other countries too. So there is a large number of opportunities for system engineers. They play a most important role for organizations. Choosing a System Engineer as your career choice can be the best decision for you from a financially and secure job’s point of view. But the most important thing is interest. If you are really interested in this field, then only you should go for education in system engineering, otherwise, you should decide your career based on your interest.