Are you the type of person who likes to analyze a problem and find a solution? That's just what you'll be doing if you become a principal software engineer. In this role, you will evaluate the end-user's needs and then develop the perfect software solution. More specifically, you'll look at a problem and the ultimate business goals. Based on these goals, you'll develop, document, and test software that meets those needs.
You'll also be expected to maintain and upgrade existing software or recommend new technologies that can help increase productivity. Since principal software engineers often oversee the technical aspects of project, they are also asked to provide technical guidance to development teams.
To succeed in this field, you'll need to have basic programming knowledge, analytical skills, logical thinking, and specific knowledge of mathematics Proven experience in software development methodologies along with high-level programming languages, like Java, is typically required as well.
To get into this field, principal software engineers most commonly study computer science, electrical engineering, or computer engineering. Most hold a bachelor's or master's degree
Principal Software Engineer Overview
Principal Software Engineer Careers
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a principal software engineer. For example, did you know that they make an average of $60.65 an hour? That's $126,152 a year!
Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 21% and produce 284,100 job opportunities across the U.S.
What Does a Principal Software Engineer Do
There are certain skills that many principal software engineers have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed analytical skills, communication skills and creativity.
When it comes to the most important skills required to be a principal software engineer, we found that a lot of resumes listed 11.5% of principal software engineers included software development, while 10.4% of resumes included python, and 8.0% of resumes included java. Hard skills like these are helpful to have when it comes to performing essential job responsibilities.
When it comes to searching for a job, many search for a key term or phrase. Instead, it might be more helpful to search by industry, as you might be missing jobs that you never thought about in industries that you didn't even think offered positions related to the principal software engineer job title. But what industry to start with? Most principal software engineers actually find jobs in the technology and telecommunication industries.
How To Become a Principal Software Engineer
If you're interested in becoming a principal software engineer, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 43.1% of principal software engineers have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 44.6% of principal software engineers have master's degrees. Even though most principal software engineers have a college degree, it's impossible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Choosing the right major is always an important step when researching how to become a principal software engineer. When we researched the most common majors for a principal software engineer, we found that they most commonly earn master's degree degrees or bachelor's degree degrees. Other degrees that we often see on principal software engineer resumes include doctoral degree degrees or associate degree degrees.
You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become a principal software engineer. In fact, many principal software engineer jobs require experience in a role such as senior software engineer. Meanwhile, many principal software engineers also have previous career experience in roles such as software engineer or consultant.
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Principal Software Engineer Career Paths
As you move along in your career, you may start taking on more responsibilities or notice that you've taken on a leadership role. Using our career map, a principal software engineer can determine their career goals through the career progression. For example, they could start out with a role such as principal engineer, progress to a title such as project manager and then eventually end up with the title product director.
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Average Salary for a Principal Software Engineer
Best Paying Cities
Recently Added Salaries
Job TitleCompany  | Company | Start Date | Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
Randstad Principal Software Engineers-Remote Principal Software Engineers-Remote | Randstad Randstad | 01/30/2021 01/30/2021 | $160,00001/30/2021 $160,000 |
Salesforce.com, Inc. Senior, Lead, or Principal Full-Stack Software Engineer-Application Development Senior, Lead, or Principal Full-Stack Software Engineer-Application Development | Salesforce.com, Inc. Salesforce.com, Inc. | 01/29/2021 01/29/2021 | $231,65701/29/2021 $231,657 |
Parsons Corporation Software Engineer, Principal Software Engineer, Principal | Parsons Corporation Parsons Corporation | 01/29/2021 01/29/2021 | $126,00001/29/2021 $126,000 |
Salesforce.com, Inc. Senior/Lead/Principal Front-End Software Engineer (Experienced) Senior/Lead/Principal Front-End Software Engineer (Experienced) | Salesforce.com, Inc. Salesforce.com, Inc. | 01/27/2021 01/27/2021 | $98,60001/27/2021 $98,600 |
Verizon Principal Software Engineer Principal Software Engineer | Verizon Verizon | 01/27/2021 01/27/2021 | $115,10001/27/2021 $115,100 |
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Principal Software Engineer Resumes
Designing and figuring out what to include on your resume can be tough, not to mention time-consuming. That's why we put together a guide that is designed to help you craft the perfect resume for becoming a Principal Software Engineer. If you're needing extra inspiration, take a look through our selection of templates that are specific to your job.
Learn How To Write a Principal Software Engineer Resume
At Zippia, we went through countless Principal Software Engineer resumes and compiled some information about how best to optimize them. Here are some suggestions based on what we found, divided by the individual sections of the resume itself.
View Detailed InformationTop Colleges for Principal Software Engineers
1. California State University - Long Beach
Long Beach, CA • Public
2. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Cambridge, MA • Private
3. Stanford University
Stanford, CA • Private
4. Purdue University
West Lafayette, IN • Public
5. Harvard University
Cambridge, MA • Private
6. Duke University
Durham, NC • Private
7. California State Polytechnic University, Pomona
Pomona, CA • Public
8. University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA • Private
9. Minnesota State University - Mankato
Mankato, MN • Public
10. Western Carolina University
Cullowhee, NC • Public
Top Skills For a Principal Software Engineer
The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 11.5% of principal software engineers listed software development on their resume, but soft skills such as analytical skills and communication skills are important as well.
- Software Development, 11.5%
- Python, 10.4%
- Java, 8.0%
- Linux, 4.2%
- AWS, 4.0%
- Other Skills, 61.9% See All Principal Software Engineer Skills
Best States For a Principal Software Engineer
Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a principal software engineer. The best states for people in this position are Washington, California, Oregon, and Nevada. Principal software engineers make the most in Washington with an average salary of $169,572. Whereas in California and Oregon, they would average $153,096 and $127,899, respectively. While principal software engineers would only make an average of $126,785 in Nevada, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.
1. Washington
$169,572
Avg. Salary
2. California
$153,096
Avg. Salary
3. Oregon
$127,899
Avg. Salary
How Do Principal Software Engineer Rate Their Jobs?
Top Principal Software Engineer Employers
We've made finding a great employer to work for easy by doing the hard work for you. We looked into employers that employ principal software engineers and discovered their number of principal software engineer opportunities and average salary. Through our research, we concluded that Symantec was the best, especially with an average salary of $162,563. Fidelity Investments follows up with an average salary of $110,688, and then comes Microsoft with an average of $179,206. In addition, we know most people would rather work from home. So instead of having to change careers, we identified the best employers for remote work as a principal software engineer. The employers include CBRE Group, Microsoft, and Dell
Principal Software Engineer Videos
