It might not be the first career choice that comes to mind if you enjoy building things, but Joe Wetzel, department chair of Information Technology at FVTC says the Software Developer program is exactly that -- building things. 

Joe recently joined WHBY’s Hayley Tenpas to explain how this field is like working with ‘digital clay’. He also talks about how so many of the college’s IT-related programs lead students right into the workforce but also position them to easily transfer to a four-year school to pursue a bachelor’s degree. 

Tap the video to listen to the interview or scroll down to read the transcript. 

Tenpas: It is our Focus on Careers with Fox Valley Technical College. Today, in our Careers of Promise, we are highlighting the Software Developer program, which is part of the IT section of Fox Valley Technical College. Their Department Chair, Joe Wetzel, is with us in the studio today with more details on this program and who might be a great fit for it. Hi, Joe. 

Wetzel: Hi. How are you doing? 

Tenpas: Good. Good morning to you. Thanks for coming in today. 

Wetzel: Thanks for having me. 

Tenpas: All right, information technology, we will paraphrase and call it IT moving forward. Why don't you tell us first how you came to be part of Fox Valley Tech and your background leading to where you are today? 

Wetzel: Sure. I am a former graduate. I went to Fox Valley Tech back in the '90s. After working for a bit, I got hired as a software developer. I have actually worked there for about 25 years. 

Tenpas: Congratulations. 

Wetzel: And moved from being a software developer into teaching and now department chair. 

Tenpas: What do you love about the world of IT and software development? 

Wetzel: It is always changing and evolving. The thing that's really cool is that you get to build things. I always think of it like I am building something with digital clay. 

Tenpas: Digital clay, I like that. Or Play-Doh, I guess, in my house with three little kids. I understand Fox Valley Tech has several programs under the IT branch. Today we are highlighting Software Developer, which I understand is an associate degree program. 

Wetzel: That is correct. It is a two-year associate degree program. 

Tenpas: Let us dig into the program and the curriculum and what that looks like. 

Wetzel: When people think of software developers, typically they think about desktop applications. Back in the day, we did a lot of desktop applications, and we still do some, but it has evolved. We are doing more mobile development because everybody is using their iPhone or Android. We are also doing more web development as well as getting into cloud platforms. We do Azure and stuff like that. We are heavy on Microsoft Space and a lot of front-end technologies. 

Tenpas: If someone has a kid out there who is saying, "I have an idea for an app," would that fall under the Software Developer branch? 

Wetzel: Yep. One hundred percent. 

Tenpas: There is a lot that goes into that. 

Wetzel: Correct. There is. There are a lot of different languages and avenues you can go down. We start out teaching them the basics, how to get started, and how a program works. Then we get into specific implementations of how we build a mobile application or a web application. 

Tenpas: Even in our day-to-day work, going back 10 years, everyone did things on desktops. Now everything is done online. Everywhere we go, it is available to us. What are some of the first classes someone in this program takes? I am dating myself, but all I can think of right now is coding. 

Wetzel: And it is still coding. We will introduce programming. Typically, you will be doing JavaScript, C#, and Python. We have some introductory-level languages, just getting comfortable with the syntax, getting the program to run, displaying things on the screen, and working with it. 

Tenpas: A year in, how does the curriculum evolve to challenge students more? 

Wetzel: Everything builds upon each other. Every class gets a little bigger and more complex. We get more into deploying things into cloud platforms and mobile platforms. We get deeper into how teams' function, how to work within a unit and we build a full-fledged application. 

Tenpas: I am curious. Where do software developer graduates fit in their careers? What positions are students prepared for after earning this degree? 

Wetzel: Seventy percent of our students get hired within six months. Once they are employed, they average about $72,000 annually. It is a well-paying field. Many employers in the Valley hire our students, so they can stay local. 

Tenpas: Nearly every industry has some type of IT department, right? 

Wetzel: We are woven into everything. Even accounting deals with processes and data movement. Those are all applications running behind the scenes to make it work. 

Tenpas: And a strong workforce here in the Fox Valley. 

Wetzel: Yep. 

Tenpas: Where are students moving on to? 

Wetzel: A lot of students are going to JJ Keller, Thrivent and Plexus. Our students are getting hired all over the Valley. 

Tenpas: We are talking with Joe Wetzel, department chair of Information Technology. We are specifically highlighting Software Developer and that program through Fox Valley Tech. We will pause, but when we come back, we will talk more about further education, what that looks like, and what kind of student might be best suited for this program. Stick with us. We are highlighting Software Developer in our Focus on Careers. 

Tenpas: Welcome back to Focus Fox Valley and our Focus on Careers with Fox Valley Technical College. The time is 11:47, Joe Wetzel is with us, Department Chair of the Information Technology program. We are specifically talking about the Software Developer branch of that IT program. I want to ask about preparing students to dive into the workforce. If someone wants to continue their education beyond an associate degree, what options are out there? 

Wetzel: We are very fortunate. A lot of four-year colleges have partnered with Fox Valley Tech, so students can transition into third-year students. We have Lakeland, UW-Stout, and Stevens Point. They have what is called a 2+2 agreement, two years with our college, and two years with theirs. 

Tenpas: That would be for a bachelor’s program. Or even if someone wants to get a master’s degree, there are options. 

Wetzel: Absolutely. Many students do that. 

Tenpas: And the qualities of a student for this program. I am sure there is a wide spectrum. What do you see most often? 

Wetzel: Someone who can do problem-solving and troubleshooting and who likes puzzles. That is the main thing you do as a software developer. You are walking into a problem. Something is not working right, and you figure out why and what you can change to fix it. We do a lot of debugging and walking through code. 

Tenpas: Do you find people are more on the defense in IT and software development, or is it offensive, creating more programs? 

Wetzel: It is really a split between where you work and what you inherit. Sometimes you are working with other people’s code; that is the real world. Then they call it greenfield when you get to build something from the ground up. You create the architecture and how it will work. It is a mix, and sometimes it is fun doing both. 

Tenpas: Do developers have certain styles? Can you go to different sites and know which style of programming is used? 

Wetzel: With time, yes. There are different design patterns. Everybody does things differently depending on the platform. As developers, we try to figure out what language was used, how it was created, and how it works. 

Tenpas: What excites you most about this industry moving forward? 

Wetzel: Honestly, the biggest thing is the AI relevance that is coming. It is integrating into applications. People are using it to build apps faster and troubleshoot. Pulling AI into development is mind-blowing. 

Tenpas: You are not the first person to mention AI. In so many industries, it is relevant, hopefully for the greater good. 

Wetzel: Absolutely. We can make applications to do things we used to need people for. Now, AI provides on-demand, fast responses. 

Tenpas: A person with a software developer degree could work in the field of AI and help develop that code. 

Wetzel: Parts of it. We integrate in. That is a whole other field. There are people who specialize in AI, and we have that too at Fox Valley Tech. But software development will be pulling in some of those AI features. 

Tenpas: Interesting. Have we missed anything? Anything else you would like to share? 

Wetzel: If you are interested in more information, you can go to Fox Valley Tech at fvtc.edu/softwaredeveloper, one word. You can learn more about our programs. 

Tenpas: Thank you so much, Joe, for giving us insight into this world. Fast paced, growing and in demand here in the Fox Valley. Thank you for telling us.