Not sure what you want to do after high school? You’re definitely not alone, and that’s exactly why we’re launching Next Gen Jobs, a column bringing you into some of the most popular — and unusual! — careers that people our age are considering. Each month, a SUNN contributor will shadow someone in the field they aspire to, and analyze what challenges and opportunities students wanting to enter that field will face. This month, we’re covering software engineering. Be sure to catch up on our behind-the-scenes peeks at finance and journalism.
If it has felt like a lot of your friends want to pursue software engineering, that’s not far from the truth. According to the National Science Foundation, the number of bachelor’s degrees awarded in computer and information sciences more than doubled between 2013 and 2023, rising from about 52,000 to 114,000.
As someone who majored in engineering science myself, those numbers don’t surprise me. Growing up in the Bay Area, which has a notoriously competitive, achievement-driven academic culture, software engineering seemed like the natural path for anyone who excelled in math or science. And Google was always near the top of everyone’s list, with its colorful campuses, reputation for attracting some of the world’s brightest minds and legendary perks — like gourmet meals and on-site fitness centers. Yet despite how common that ambition was and is, the day-to-day reality of the profession remained mysterious.
To find out what it’s actually like to work at Google, I spoke with Kaitlin Navarro, a software engineer on the Cloud’s infrastructure team. Her perspective offers a glimpse at what software engineering looks like today, and how she thinks future engineers can weather the AI storm.
A Day in the Life
Navarro is typically balancing multiple projects at once. Google Cloud is an online platform that lets businesses store data, run applications and use powerful computing tools without having to own or manage their own servers. It also includes tools for data analysis, AI and collaboration. Navarro helps build the internal systems that allow other engineering teams across Google Cloud to do their work more efficiently.
Some days begin with drafting design documents to understand a problem and collaborating with teammates to solve it. Others are spent writing code, testing systems and reviewing work with fellow engineers. Meetings punctuate her day, whether one-on-one conversations with her manager or discussions with teammates about larger technical challenges.
Every few weeks, her routine changes entirely. “When I’m on call, you have a week at a time where you’re kind of the go-to person if the system breaks,” Navarro said. “You have to be the one in charge of debugging the issue, bringing in other people and coming up with a solution.”
Building the Backbone
Navarro’s team matters to all of Google Cloud — even if it’s working in the background. Unlike engineers building consumer-facing products, Navarro works on infrastructure, creating the tools that help other engineers build products more effectively. “Our clients are really other teams within the company,” Navarro said. “We’re giving those engineers the tools they need to do their jobs.”
The work may happen behind the scenes, but its impact stretches farther than many people realize. “Behind every website or every app… there’s usually a software engineer behind it,” Navarro said.
Highs and Lows
For Navarro, the most satisfying moments are making life easier for other engineers. There was one project where a tedious internal process required employees to spend 45 minutes manually comparing thousands of lines of code. By redesigning the workflow into a single command, she dramatically reduced the time engineers spent on repetitive work, freeing them to solve larger problems.
“If I can build a tool that improves someone’s productivity or saves them from spending hours at their desk on a menial task, that’s rewarding to me,” Navarro said.
The hardest days often arrive unexpectedly. When systems fail during an on-call shift, engineers are responsible for untangling highly complex problems under pressure. Sometimes the solution is not immediately obvious, requiring her to be really good at breaking down problems and working step by step.
How AI is Changing Software Engineering
Living and working in San Francisco, Navarro has watched AI transform the tech landscape at a remarkable pace. While she sees it as a powerful productivity tool, she stresses that engineers should not let it replace a fundamental understanding of their work. “Making sure that you still understand what’s going on in the background is really helpful,” Navarro said.
Rather than relying on AI to generate code to copy and paste without question, she encourages engineers to use it to better understand unfamiliar code, streamline workflows and solve problems more efficiently.
AI is making the once-reliable path into tech look less certain: Tech giants Meta, Coinbase and Block have laid off at least 10% of their workforce, which they said was partly due to the technology. A group of Yale academics noted in Fortune that new hiring has slowed at many firms, and Stanford research found that employment among developers aged 22 to 25 has dropped almost a fifth since late 2022. Navarro believes adaptability, curiosity and a commitment to continuous learning are qualities that can set engineers apart through all this.
Advice for Future Engineers
Although technical knowledge is essential, Navarro believes success depends just as much on interpersonal skills. “A lot of my day is meeting with other people from my team or other teams,” she said. “Being able to communicate well is important.”
She also emphasized the importance of accepting feedback. At Google, employees exchange constructive criticism, something she admits can feel uncomfortable at first. But over time she learned to view feedback as an opportunity for growth rather than something personal.
For students worried about breaking into the industry, her advice is simple: Don’t let rejection define you. After college, Navarro herself interviewed with roughly 10 different companies before receiving an offer for a rotational program at Google.
More Than Free Espresso and Five-Star Meals
While Navarro raves about Google’s famous free food, she says the company’s perks extend beyond what’s on the menu. The on-site eateries give employees a chance to step away from their desks, spend time with coworkers and build the sense of community and collaboration that shapes Google’s culture.
That culture extends beyond the office. Google helps cover the cost of classes for professional development and personal hobbies, a benefit Navarro has used to take snowboarding lessons. Combined with a typical 5 p.m. end to the workday and weekends that are largely work-free, she has the flexibility to pursue interests outside engineering, including running a monthly bakery pop-up.
For students who imagine software engineering as endless hours of solitary coding, Navarro’s experience shows it’s not always like that. At Google, it’s as much about collaboration, mentorship and maintaining a life outside of work as it is about writing software.
