Information Technology

Let me compare both the things & than it is up to you what to choose
1. In our country people always takes first priority to government job.
2. Bank PO jobs has security.
3. A salary of entry level PO is higher than that compared to other entry-level IT jobs.
4. In an IT job, you have uncertain timings at work, working in nights ( so that you can manage your US client's timing) and no holidays on many occasions.
But that's not the case with banks. Timings are fixed. You get more holidays than IT industry.
5. It takes around 10 years of blood and sweat to become a Mid level Manager in an IT firm.f you join as a probationary officers (PO) in PSBs you rise to become Branch Manager within 4-5 years
Take your decision by yourself.
All the Best!

Both are really good. But one has the edge: there's no software without hardware.
Software Engineer would probably be better, there are not may software engineers as there were back 10 years ago, even for XP OS, there were quite alot but not as many as there were for Windows 98 OS. It was all new back then and PC's were more affordable than in 1990. My first PC cost me nearly $2000 including OS Windows 3.1, Dos, Lotus 123, Wordperfect for Windows back in 1989.
As Pc's became more appealing and accessible, PC users becam e more interested in creating their own programs to which they could sell to the public.
When Microsoft did not include VB4 with XP, there was a really big outcry and eventually Microsoft caved in and dispatched updates to include it.
With Vista OS, considering that it has been around since 1999, has a big followng of programmers and software & game developers but it took about 5 years before they became available.
As for Windows 7, there are not many programmers or software developers writing for it, they are far and few between. Not many games specifically for Windows 7, you virtually have to use compatibility mode for most games, they are Vista or XP platform based.
Windows 7 has been given a big miss so it would be wise to consider programming, software development for Windows 8 platforms.
The future of computers is the 128 bit OS platform expected to be released near the year 2020.
Handhelds, console games and applications, tablets iphones etc are more of the future than any of us really want to admit to as we still like our bulky do-it-yourself desktop PC's.
Hardware Engineeer, might sound like a good idea and would be worth considering as an extra course (a Minor) however, you would also need to consider an Electronics Degree as well to implement the proper knowledge as to how things really work.

Career growth in software testing has little to do with your ability to test, or to code automation. It has to do with your ability to make the team find and fix important bugs. That comes down to doing good risk assessment. You have to develop a feel for where the bugs will be and how to surface them, and how to report them in a way that gets results. It may be that you should convince a developer to make a particular obscure segment of functionality more testable. It may be convincing a teammate to pair test with you to double-check your work. It may be creating an automated framework to load the system until it breaks. By exercising good judgment in the use of your time and others', arguing persuasively for practices that effectively reduce product risk, and showing leadership in caring about quality, you will advance your career. If you don't advance at your own company, then start a network of testers whom you respect and demonstrate your worth to them, and then they will advance your career for you. Test team leadership and senior management are valid paths further along in your career after individual contributorship proves too limiting.
The average pay for a Software Tester is Rs 3,10,575 per year.