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Computer Science has a lot of sub-fields. Can you recommend one?

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Ken’s Answer

The best way for you to determine which sub-field to follow is to get to know yourself better to see how your personality traits relate to people in various sub-fields and talk with them to see what they do, how they got there, and what advice and suggestions that they might have for you.


Getting to know yourself and how your personality traits relate to people involved in various career opportunities is very important in your decision making process. During my many years in Human Resources and College Recruiting, I ran across too many students who had skipped this very important step and ended up in a job situation which for which they were not well suited. Selecting a career area is like buying a pair of shoes. First you have to be properly fitted for the correct size, and then you need to try on and walk in the various shoe options to determine which is fits the best and is most comfortable for you to wear. Following are some important steps which I developed during my career which have been helpful to many .

Ken recommends the following next steps:

The first step is to take an interest and aptitude test and have it interpreted by your school counselor to see if you share the personality traits necessary to enter the field. You might want to do this again upon entry into college, as the interpretation might differ slightly due to the course offering of the school. However, do not wait until entering college, as the information from the test will help to determine the courses that you take in high school. Too many students, due to poor planning, end up paying for courses in college which they could have taken for free in high school.
Next, when you have the results of the testing, talk to the person at your high school and college who tracks and works with graduates to arrange to talk to, visit, and possibly shadow people doing what you think that you might want to do, so that you can get know what they are doing and how they got there. Here are some tips: ## http://www.wikihow.com/Network ## ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/nonawkward-ways-to-start-and-end-networking-conversations ## ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/4-questions-to-ask-your-network-besides-can-you-get-me-a-job?ref=carousel-slide-1 ##
Locate and attend meetings of professional associations to which people who are doing what you think that you want to do belong, so that you can get their advice. These associations may offer or know of intern, coop, shadowing, and scholarship opportunities. These associations are the means whereby the professionals keep abreast of their career area following college and advance in their career. You can locate them by asking your school academic advisor, favorite teachers, and the reference librarian at your local library. Here are some tips: ## https://www.careeronestop.org/BusinessCenter/Toolkit/find-professional-associations.aspx?&frd=true ## ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/9-tips-for-navigating-your-first-networking-event ##
• It is very important to express your appreciation to those who help you along the way to be able to continue to receive helpful information and to create important networking contacts along the way. Here are some good tips: ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/the-informational-interview-thank-you-note-smart-people-know-to-send?ref=recently-published-2 ## ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/3-tips-for-writing-a-thank-you-note-thatll-make-you-look-like-the-best-candidate-alive?bsft_eid=7e230cba-a92f-4ec7-8ca3-2f50c8fc9c3c&bsft_pid=d08b95c2-bc8f-4eae-8618-d0826841a284&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=daily_20171020&utm_source=blueshift&utm_content=daily_20171020&bsft_clkid=edfe52ae-9e40-4d90-8e6a-e0bb76116570&bsft_uid=54658fa1-0090-41fd-b88c-20a86c513a6c&bsft_mid=214115cb-cca2-4aec-aa86-92a31d371185&bsft_pp=2 ##
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Shashank’s Answer

It is true that Computer Science is a vast field with varied options to gain expertise in. When I was starting out in this field, the way I decided on selecting a sub-field was by starting to explore all the sub-fields that I found interesting. There are many avenues online like Coursera, EdX etc. that provide free learning material and courses in fields like web development, DevOps, Data Science, Software Engineering, etc.

You can start by understanding your personal interests -- What drives you to experiment or learn more in a field and what career options you may have if you decide to go deeper into it. If you are unsure about your interests or goals, the best way to go proceed is to explore and experiment. Once you start understanding the fields in the perspective of skills required, projects that you can contribute, and the scope in terms of personal growth, you will have a better view of the field.

If I have to give my personal experience, I ventured into web development, cloud DevOps, and software engineering domains initially. I studied about them, what I can learn, and what projects I can work on. Then, I began to start contributing in small projects or experiments. While doing all of this, I came across more domains like Network security, Game development, and Machine Learning. I repeated the same process for these and found interest in Machine learning.

In conclusion, choosing or recommending a sub-field is something that you will have to explore and find it on your own because eventually it should be based on what interests you. But otherwise, the above-listed fields are some of the highly active and researched fields in computer science that you can explore into.
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Amanda’s Answer

It can be hard to find a section within computer science due to all of the sub-fields, but I have found it is best to look at your personal interests first for inspiration. It might surprise you what kind of jobs exist in this emerging field.

Because of the newness of computer science and how fast it continues to grow, new jobs are being created to fit the needs of a company. This could mean you create a job for yourself based on your personal interests. Getting experience over time and exposure to a range of job titles will allow you to understand how you can do this.
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