good luck getting an honest answer on here Vinny. My advice to you would be to study what you are passionate about. If you really want to pursue Software Engineering and are good at it, you may have to keep your mind open to relocation opportunities.

do a local search on Seek using Software Engineer as key words to get an idea on the number of jobs in your area.

www.seek.com.au

Vinny, http://acsfoundation.com.au/bdi/index.cfm?page=Adelaide might be of interest as well

Do you currently take an interest in programming? Have you built any websites or developed any apps for your phone in your spare time?

Yeah I do have an interest in programming, currently I am doing my Year 12 IT course doing a range of different aspects of IT

I haven't developed any applications but I have helped build a website using Javascript and HTML

Coding languages I know thourougly: Javascript, Visual Basic, HTML/CSS (even though they are not official coding languages) Flash, jQuery and SQL.

Coding languages I have a brief knowledge of: C++ and Python

If you find its something you do for fun outside of school, say you'll spend a few hours coding on the weekend because you enjoy it... then that's a pretty good indicator. You might not even need to bother with uni...but some of the software developers in here might have some better advice there. Back in the early 2000's you didn't really need a degree but the industry is more structured now.

You might not even need to bother with uni...but some of the software developers in here might have some better advice there.

UNI is good, but experience is worth more.

Both of the statements I agree with, you don't need a uni degree to write software and experience is worth more. The theoretical foundation sure is frequently useful though.
Biggest problem you'll find if you don't get one though is that almost any position worth applying for will ask for a bachelor degree so you could be shut out.

You'll definitely need to be open to moving to Melbourne or even Sydney, the IT job market in Adelaide is worse than Brisbane.
One last thing - the game development industry in Australia has imploded over the last decade, unfortunately.
If you're absolutely determined then you'll probably need to showcase an exceptional portfolio of work done after hours and then look overseas.

go to uni and study software eng + something else at the same time, then even if your'e a complete failure at programming you can work something else during the day and still be a nerd

done

Get a job as a sharepoint coder on 120k+, enjoy life. :P

Tertiary Computer Science, Software Engineering, and IT degrees in general are struggling with record low numbers at the moment. YOu need to look three to five years out and realize that when you graduate, there's not going to be a surplus of graduate Software Engineers - which for yourself would be a good thing.

The one thing I strongly recommend is to make sure you don't end up being a "[insert language here] developer". A good developer will pretty much pick up any language you throw at them - there'll be a short learning curve but ultimately it's just syntax. If you can switch between Java, C#, C++, Perl, PHP, Ruby etc without any hassles, you're half way there.

Similarly, don't fall in to the trap that the old time C++/GNU purists do that .NET is some force for evil and if it's not STL, GTFO. Understand that it's just a framework - whether it's the .NET framework, J2EE/SE/ME JDK, STL - whatever. Have your brain decouple frameworks from languages. Purists will f*****g hate this, and that's why ten years down the track you'll have career options and they'll still be stuck throwing stones and stuck in a niche area.

it covers you for web dev, and application development, java is very similar syntax so android apps are an easier follow on.

Here's my summary of "the differences between C# and Java in 30 seconds" as someone who's primarily been Java for the last 10 years:

1. The C# thread model doesn't suck and isn't missing some seriously important but subtle features.
2. C# delegates.
3. C# properties

Last thing: Don't skip out on lectures and neglect final year. First year is a piece of cake. If you struggle at first year, you're in for a rude shock when you get to second and third year. Make sure you have your head thoroughly around those fundamentals or you'll find yourself transferring to Bachelor of Information Systems :P

1. The C# thread model doesn't suck and isn't missing some seriously important but subtle features.
2. C# delegates.
3. C# properties

4. C# lambda functions aren't gimped because of type erasure and checked exceptions

The lack of generic types in v1.0 implementations of both the CLR and JVM is just unfortunate in general. Non generic classes and interfaces still pervade the BCLs of both platforms. I look forward to the mainstream language successor that incorporates all the lessons of C# and Java, we should be about due for it in a decade or so. :)

Yeah but the oracle and java is totally justified. I just don't get the ms stack guys some days, but still ravens comments still stand dispute my ms bigotry and utter hatred.

dude.. software engineers are wanted globally and you can work from home

a mate of mine just got a 90k contract from his bedroom for a 3 month software stint - he works on an island in the Bahamas and the job was in South Africa

think big picture

also
https://angel.co/jobs#find/f!{%22roles%22%3A[%22Software%20Engineer%22]}

last edited by Superform at 21:25:25 29/Sep/14

A career in development is a life on continual learning (professional development), of trying to keep up to date with the ever changing state of the art, especially if you're doing Web Dev. That changes so so very quickly.

Very true. Though 90% of the s*** unleashed upon the world can typically be ignored because it comes and goes.
The trick is to figure out what that 10% is that's worth paying attention to. Sturgeon's Law of Software.

Also, graduates are near useless. seriously.

Only 'near' because somebody has to get up and head down to Zarraffa's, right? :)