Job Trends in Computer Science
Technology is only advancing, which is opening up many job opportunities for those who are interested. A new job with a degree in Computer Science can earn you six figures or more. A trendy job that can land you this kind of salary is software development or the creation of Artificial Intelligence (AI). An entry-level software developer at Google can earn you a salary of 198k a year. An entry-level Facebook software developer could make 193k and 170k at Amazon. These numbers are for companies that are already big, but according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the 2020 median pay for software developers in all types of companies is $110,140.
That is a lot of money for entry-level jobs, which can persuade others to look into it. The creation of AI may seem scary to those who watch a lot of science fiction movies, but many great things can come from it, whether it be helpful in the medical field or help in actual areas with agriculture.
History
Harvard University professor, Howard Aiken, worked with IBM to design and build the first programmable computer. The Harvard Mark I was then installed in the university in 1944. In 1947 a computing lab was set up at Harvard, which later led to a degree program being set up there. The 1960s was when American colleges started to have computer science departments. The first computer science department was established at Purdue University. Today, almost every undergraduate college or university offers a degree in computer science.
Top Jobs
There are plenty of duties involved in the line of being a software developer. With salaries as mentioned in the paragraph above, software developers are one of the most popular jobs in Computer Science. It is typical for them to make sure that the programs they develop meet their needs and the customers. Having the programs meet these needs will require testing and software maintenance. As reported by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, many test plans, scenarios, and procedures are created for new software in case of bugs that could happen within the program. Application software developers are the people that would design computer applications, such as video games. Different applications could be used internally or online.
Software engineers plan the work order and take a broad view of a project's system and software requirements. Systems software developers create operating systems for organizations or the public. The constant need for new applications on smartphones, computers, and tablets increases the demand for software developers. These workers are also needed in the medical field to make innovative software to digitally manage healthcare policy enrollments and administer existing policies.
Web Developers and Digital Designers are the people that make websites what they are. Web developers create and maintain websites while responsible for the site's technical aspects, such as its performance and capacity. Digital Designers create and test website or interface layout, functions, and navigation for usability and are responsible for the look and functionality of the website or interface, according to the U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics. This job requires meetings with others to discuss a website or interface's needs, design, and functionality. This requirement means that having a sense of teamwork would be a necessity.
There are different web developers and digital designers, all with their specialties. Back-end web developers are the people that are responsible for the overall technical construction of a website and make sure that it functions as expected. Front-end web developers create the technical features for a website's look. They develop the site's layout and graphics as well as other content. Web and digital interface designers are responsible for the colors, photos, graphics, and layout of the website. This gives the website its look and feel. They also keep the web site's functionality, usability, and compatibility or interface in check. Webmasters ensure that websites operate correctly and test for any bugs.
Computer and Information Research Scientists can be the people who shape the world's future. These scientists design and create uses for new and existing technology to help society. The duties that computer and information research scientists hold have a lot to do with collaborating on exceptionally complex problems in computing for business, science, medicine, and other fields. Examples of specialties are programming and robotics—those who specialize in programming study and design new programming languages used to write software. The robotics specialists study the development and application of robots and how the machines could interact with the physical world. Artificial intelligence can significantly help healthcare, education, finance, manufacturing, transport, and agriculture. Technology like this has plenty of potential in helping society as a whole and would need a lot of people to help make it happen.
A job that requires a lot of leadership and teamwork in this field is an IT Manager, or Computer and Information Systems Manager. IT stands for information technology. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics states the tasks of this job are to analyze the organization's computer needs to recommend upgrades for top executives to consider. Another task for an IT Manager is to determine their department's short and long-term needs, whether it is personal or not. Having quick learning skills would be helpful in this position, as learning about new technology and looking for ways to upgrade their organization's computer systems would be what people look for in an IT Manager.
There are different types of managers in this field. Chief information officers, or CIOs, decide an organization's technology or information goals and then try to meet those goals with the technology they can get. CIOs focus more on long-term or significant picture issues. Chief technology officers, or CTOs, assess new technology and determine how it can help the organization. This position usually reports to the CIO and designs and recommends the appropriate technology to support the CIO's goals. IT directors are in charge of their organization's IT departments. These people also help determine the business requirements for IT systems and apply the policies that top executives have selected. IT security managers monitor their organization's network and data security.
Without Computer Network Architects, we would not have the internet connection we have today. Computer network architects design and build data communication networks, including local area networks (LAN), wide area networks (WAN), and Intranets. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are plenty of duties for this job. A computer network architect would create plans and layouts for data communication networks, upgrade hardware such as routers and software such as network drivers to support computer networks, and research new networking technologies to decide what would best help their organization later on.
A Cybersecurity specialist's primary duty is to protect digital information. Examples from mycomputercareer.edu include encrypting personal information on social media so no one can take it or ensuring entire information systems are malware, virus, and hacker-proof. This career path also falls into the information technology industry (IT). According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, these jobs are the most sought-after IT industry and will grow by 31% in 2029.
The job position of a cybersecurity specialist is usually considered an entry-level job. The underlying duties in this job include developing security systems and testing, responding to security threats and attacks, and generating reports for executives and administrators. Later on in this career, more job opportunities open. These include healthcare, finance, government, manufacturing, and transportation industries. Organizations in these fields must be well defended from cyber-attacks.
There are different types of jobs in cyber security. An Information security analyst is tasked to protect sensitive information by developing security strategies and policies and making sure they are up to date by monitoring the results and making necessary adjustments. Software security engineers usually have a strong background in coding and programming languages. They need to know software engineering, problem-solving, and how to build relationships with clients. Security architects try to find the strengths and weaknesses of the client's systems. This role is expected to think like a hacker to identify their tactics, prepare the budget, allocate staff and resources, manage IT teams, and generate reports.
The hackers within cybersecurity are the Penetration testers. The primary role of penetration testers is to simulate cyber-attacks to test the security programs and firewalls. Information security crime investigators are professionals that work on investigating cyberattacks, determining who or what caused them and how the computer system or network was hacked into. They collaborate closely with law enforcement and are highly valued within the IT industry to catch the culprits that hack into computer systems. The leadership role falls into the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO). Excellent organization skills and a great sense of management are most important for this job. An example of code to help with organizing is lists and arrays.
A simple example for a list:
mylist = [1, 2, 3, 4]print(mylist)Output = [1, 2, 3 ,4]A simple example for an array:import array as rayn = ray.array(‘i’,[1,2,3,4,5])print(n)Output = array(‘i’, [1, 2, 3, 4, 5])
Takeaway
From personal research by talking to people studying computer science in college, a big reason they choose to do it is because of the high paying salaries that come with it. This profession is constantly advancing due to the nature of technology. With that advancement comes the need for more workers in that field. Starting salaries that are above $100,000 can catch the attention of a lot of people looking for a career that can set them good financially.
There is a wide variety of jobs that are available in the subject of computer science. Whether you are creating artificial intelligence or creating antimalware software, you are still within the field of computer science. The constant growth of technology and classes taught in high school, and college classes will only help people get these jobs.
