Table 1Transition record

software developertoapplication engineer

A software developer already meets 46% of what the application engineer role asks for. The move turns on 14 required skills not yet in the profile.

From software developer

46%

Overlap1

To application engineer

34 Skills carried over

14 Required, not held

65.7 Difficulty2

adjacent 0–30

moderate 30–55

substantial 55–75

career change 75–100

this move, 65.7

This move: 65.7 of 100 · substantial

1 Share of the application engineer role’s weighted skill requirement already met by the software developer profile. Required skills count in full, supplementary skills at 0.35. Directional: the figure for the reverse move differs. 2 Combines what is missing with how specialised it is, so a gap of general skills scores easier than the same number of narrow ones.

Table 2

Table 2 · What you already bring

Of the 34 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. A application engineer role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of a software developer background worth leading with.

Skill the target role also needs Area

already held identify customer requirements information skills
already held use software design patterns communication, collaboration and creativity
already held integrated development environment software information and communication technologies (icts)
already held use software libraries working with computers
already held collect customer feedback on applications information skills
already held software anomalies information and communication technologies (icts)

All 34 carried skills, including the 19 the application engineer role treats as required.

Table 3

Table 3 · What you would need to learn

The 55 missing skills fall into 11 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, numbered below in the order worth working in: the areas carrying the most required skills come first, and inside each one the required skills sit above the supplementary ones.

Skill to acquire Tier

01 management skills 3 required, 6 supplementary

required, not held define quality standards required
required, not held manage product testing required
required, not held process customer orders required

optional, not held carry out inventory planning optional
optional, not held create technical plans optional
optional, not held develop test procedures optional
optional, not held manage budgets optional
optional, not held manage distribution channels optional
optional, not held perform project management optional

02 information and communication technologies (icts) 3 required, 1 supplementary

required, not held algorithms required
required, not held computer science required
required, not held task algorithmisation required

optional, not held principles of artificial intelligence optional

03 communication, collaboration and creativity 2 required, 9 supplementary

required, not held identify customer's needs required
required, not held determine suitability of materials required

optional, not held adjust engineering designs optional
optional, not held compare contractors' bids optional
optional, not held create a product's virtual model optional
optional, not held handle customer complaints optional
optional, not held implement efficiency plans for logistics operations optional
optional, not held manage localisation optional
optional, not held meet contract specifications optional
optional, not held prepare production prototypes optional
optional, not held present artistic design proposals optional

04 information skills 2 required, 7 supplementary

required, not held analyse test data required
required, not held conduct research on trends in design required

optional, not held analyse supply chain trends optional
optional, not held archive documentation related to work optional
optional, not held analyse supply chain strategies optional
optional, not held conduct quality control analysis optional
optional, not held estimate duration of work optional
optional, not held maintain contract administration optional
optional, not held read engineering drawings optional

05 engineering, manufacturing and construction 1 required, 9 supplementary

required, not held computer engineering required

optional, not held human-robot collaboration optional
optional, not held manufacturing processes optional
optional, not held mechatronics optional
optional, not held model based system engineering optional
optional, not held precision mechanics optional
optional, not held production processes optional
optional, not held robotic components optional
optional, not held robotics optional
optional, not held transportation engineering optional

06 business, administration and law 1 required, 4 supplementary

required, not held product data management required

optional, not held cost management optional
optional, not held warehouse operations optional
optional, not held quality standards optional
optional, not held supply chain management optional

5 further areas in the appendix

Table 4

Table 4 · Where to start

The 3 entries a application engineer role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.

Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.

Appendix

Appendix · The rest of the record

All 34 skills that carry over

Skill Type

already held analyse software specifications skill
already held collect customer feedback on applications skill
already held computer programming knowledge
already held define technical requirements skill
already held engineering principles knowledge
already held engineering processes knowledge
already held identify customer requirements skill
already held integrate system components skill
already held integrated development environment software knowledge
already held interpret technical requirements skill
already held manage engineering project skill
already held perform scientific research skill
already held project management knowledge
already held software anomalies knowledge
already held technical drawings knowledge
already held use an application-specific interface skill
already held use software design patterns skill
already held use software libraries skill
already held use technical drawing software skill
already held ABAP knowledge
already held Assembly (computer programming) knowledge
already held ICT debugging tools knowledge
already held Microsoft Visual C++ knowledge
already held Perl knowledge
already held R knowledge
already held SAS language knowledge
already held TypeScript knowledge
already held VBScript knowledge
already held debug software skill
already held design user interface skill
already held develop software prototype skill
already held use automatic programming skill
already held utilise computer-aided software engineering tools skill
already held utilise machine learning skill

The 5 learning areas not shown above

Skill to acquire Tier

07 working with computers 1 required, 1 supplementary

required, not held conduct ICT code review required

optional, not held develop translation memory software optional

08 natural sciences, mathematics and statistics 1 required

required, not held advanced materials required

09 working with machinery and specialised equipment 2 supplementary

optional, not held install machinery optional
optional, not held run laboratory simulations optional

10 arts and humanities 1 supplementary

optional, not held linguistics optional

11 constructing 1 supplementary

optional, not held perform test run optional

41 supplementary skills, helpful but not required

Skill to acquire Tier

optional, not held analyse supply chain trends optional
optional, not held archive documentation related to work optional
optional, not held carry out inventory planning optional
optional, not held cost management optional
optional, not held develop translation memory software optional
optional, not held human-robot collaboration optional
optional, not held principles of artificial intelligence optional
optional, not held warehouse operations optional
optional, not held adjust engineering designs optional
optional, not held analyse supply chain strategies optional
optional, not held compare contractors' bids optional
optional, not held conduct quality control analysis optional
optional, not held create a product's virtual model optional
optional, not held create technical plans optional
optional, not held develop test procedures optional
optional, not held estimate duration of work optional
optional, not held handle customer complaints optional
optional, not held implement efficiency plans for logistics operations optional
optional, not held install machinery optional
optional, not held linguistics optional
optional, not held maintain contract administration optional
optional, not held manage budgets optional
optional, not held manage distribution channels optional
optional, not held manage localisation optional
optional, not held manufacturing processes optional
optional, not held mechatronics optional
optional, not held meet contract specifications optional
optional, not held model based system engineering optional
optional, not held perform project management optional
optional, not held perform test run optional
optional, not held precision mechanics optional
optional, not held prepare production prototypes optional
optional, not held present artistic design proposals optional
optional, not held production processes optional
optional, not held quality standards optional
optional, not held read engineering drawings optional
optional, not held robotic components optional
optional, not held robotics optional
optional, not held run laboratory simulations optional
optional, not held supply chain management optional

1 further entry not listed here

74 held skills the application engineer role does not ask for

Skill Type

not needed by the target role AJAX knowledge
not needed by the target role APL knowledge
not needed by the target role ASP.NET knowledge
not needed by the target role Ajax Framework knowledge
not needed by the target role Ansible knowledge
not needed by the target role Apache Maven knowledge
not needed by the target role Apache Tomcat knowledge
not needed by the target role C# knowledge
not needed by the target role C++ knowledge
not needed by the target role COBOL knowledge
not needed by the target role CoffeeScript knowledge
not needed by the target role Common Lisp knowledge
not needed by the target role Drupal knowledge
not needed by the target role Eclipse (integrated development environment software) knowledge
not needed by the target role Erlang knowledge
not needed by the target role Groovy knowledge
not needed by the target role Haskell knowledge
not needed by the target role IBM WebSphere knowledge
not needed by the target role ICT security legislation knowledge
not needed by the target role Internet of Things knowledge
not needed by the target role Java (computer programming) knowledge
not needed by the target role JavaScript knowledge
not needed by the target role JavaScript Framework knowledge
not needed by the target role Jenkins (tools for software configuration management) knowledge
not needed by the target role KDevelop knowledge
not needed by the target role Lisp knowledge
not needed by the target role MATLAB knowledge
not needed by the target role ML (computer programming) knowledge
not needed by the target role NoSQL knowledge
not needed by the target role Objective-C knowledge
not needed by the target role OpenEdge Advanced Business Language knowledge
not needed by the target role Oracle Application Development Framework knowledge
not needed by the target role PHP knowledge
not needed by the target role Pascal (computer programming) knowledge
not needed by the target role Prolog (computer programming) knowledge
not needed by the target role Puppet (tools for software configuration management) knowledge
not needed by the target role Python (computer programming) knowledge
not needed by the target role Ruby (computer programming) knowledge
not needed by the target role SAP R3 knowledge
not needed by the target role SPARK knowledge

34 further entries not listed here

21 gaps that are knowledge rather than practice

Knowledge gaps usually close through study. Practical skill gaps usually need something you can point at.

Skill to acquire Tier

required, not held advanced materials required
required, not held algorithms required
required, not held computer engineering required
required, not held computer science required
required, not held product data management required
required, not held task algorithmisation required
optional, not held cost management optional
optional, not held human-robot collaboration optional
optional, not held principles of artificial intelligence optional
optional, not held warehouse operations optional
optional, not held linguistics optional
optional, not held manufacturing processes optional
optional, not held mechatronics optional
optional, not held model based system engineering optional
optional, not held precision mechanics optional
optional, not held production processes optional
optional, not held quality standards optional
optional, not held robotic components optional
optional, not held robotics optional
optional, not held supply chain management optional
optional, not held transportation engineering optional

Index

Other moves recorded from software developer

Full index of moves from software developer

Note

How this record was compiled

Both occupations are taken from ESCO, which lists the skills and knowledge each occupation is expected to have and marks every one required or optional. Nothing here is a prediction about hiring, and nothing here knows that a particular employer wants a particular certificate. Treat Table 3 as a starting point for your own research rather than a syllabus. The full method states what these figures can and cannot tell you.