7 answers
Danielle
Student
Lanham, Maryland
1
Question
Asked
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How do know exactly what I want from my major?
So I know I want to go into computer science but that has a lot within it, database, programming, information tech, etc and I'm really lost at what I want to follow within the major I don't want to waste anytime studying or taking classes that won't be benefiting my future. #information-technology #databases #information-technology
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7 answers
Steve Lewis
Assistant Vice President, Cybersecurity Team Lead & Technical Product Owner | Technical Lead | Public Speaker
83
Answers
Haddonfield, New Jersey
Updated
Steve’s Answer
A computer science degree will require you to take many of those courses you mentioned. After you complete your general requirements, you can begin to pick electives. By then, you will have a better idea.
Michael Bilotta
CEO and Chairman at Trevera Solutions
3
Answers
Los Angeles, California
Updated
Michael’s Answer
It's very important to figure out "what" you want to do professionally, and ask yourself some questions (or network with some in the field), regarding the various careers out there. It's great to have a direction, such as web design or software development, but even just those two can be significantly different, depending on drilling down more. Some web designers program off of schematics, diagrams, and functional specifications that are already produced by someone else, while others will also put together those schematics, diagrams, and functional specs. This can be thought of as the difference between application design / analysis vs. programming, or between an analyst / solutions architect and a programmer. Computer Science (Computer Science) majors tend to get a lot deeper into the technical disciplines of programming, deep program / application performance (such as technical costs, efficiencies, etc.), putting together or constructing software / components, and advanced topics such as AI, etc. Basically focusing on the technical functions of putting together a program, application, software, etc – engineering minded. A career in Computer Science will likely start to become specialized in a focused direction - i.e. forensics, etc. Degrees in Information Technology (Computer Technology) tend to be more general in nature, focusing on general areas such as infrastructure, databases, applications, security, general programming (concepts) and newer concepts such as the cloud, Internet of Things, etc. There are plenty of IT professionals out there that program, but it’s usually not the only thing they’re doing – for many, it’s a small part of their total skill set. And here's the rub - universities, industries, and organizations tend to bend a lot of these concepts, create their own terms, etc. So keep in mind that you're entering a fluid and changing industry. A career path in one industry may require that you carry both design and technical programming skills, where in another industry, or even within an area in that industry, those two functions are typically managed by separate individuals. For example, it's common for both functions to be done by a single person in smaller enterprise application programming and web design roles, yet these may be two separate roles / individuals for larger system roll outs for large enterprise systems (and web applications) in lagging technology industries such as Fashion / Retail.
Generally speaking, Computer Science and/or purely programmatic or a heavy focus on the technical aspects of constructing software, systems, etc., is a career path that can require focus in a specialty in order to break through salary and role ceilings. And it’s also one that typically has less human interaction than other tech careers. General IT can swing many directions - all the way from isolated work (dedicated programmer, forensics, data analytics programmer, etc.) with little human interaction to inter-personally intensive - interacting all the time, all day long (Solutions architect / Support / Help Desk / Management). General IT also has fewer salary / role ceilings when looking at them from a management perspective, and those ceilings may cross over somewhat in similarity to Comp Sci if the role is technically / programmatically intensive.
Once you can start to drill down on what seems interesting to you more, you can start looking at majors and minors. Your major is a moderately big deal in breaking into a career, and a minor might help a little or not - depends on the major, the industry, and the organization looking at you as a candidate. They will both over time be superseded by your experience. Using other technical, engineering, math minors is probably a good idea if going into a strict, deep, technical Comp Sci focus, as specialization is a likely path to develop that career most effectively. For a general Info Tech degree/focus, you have many paths you can take, or you can bounce around in different assignments / industries as well, all without diluting your career too much. For this more generalized IT focus, you can look at many different minors: If you're going into work for businesses, a minor in finance or marketing can be helpful. If you're going into the Health field, then a minor in sciences or social sciences can help. Some schools might even offer minors in Public Admin, or Health Admin to compliment the industry direction you're going towards. Also just as in the case of a Comp Sci major, focusing on a business sector major in Info Tech, with minors in more technical specific fields like mathematics, are still strong combinations, as it will give you an advantage in the technical aspects over your competition. But of course, so will being able to understand the underlying Financial theory when putting together a P&L enterprise dashboard. So the choice is yours, and the best move is a subjective assessment you need to make for yourself. The good news is that you can still traverse into and out of careers offered by both areas (Comp Sci and Info Tech), although moving from Comp Sci to Info Tech is going to be easier than the other way around. But spending time in Comp Sci, when you really want to go into careers that are more cut out for Info Tech, can cause some wasted years learning the deeper language, programming, and construction disciplines when you may not need them. These are not rules by any means – they are just some general observations my firms (IT consulting) have seen over the last 20 yrs in the industry.
In choosing a career, and I can't emphasize this enough, network, network, network -- all in the areas you're interested in. You can join networking groups, or hit LinkedIn hard (many IT professionals there). Offer a lunch or coffee, etc., to pick some brains in the fields you're interested in. Nothing like hearing it from someone who is in the field you're interested in. Remember – if you love what you do, you won’t work a day in your life.
Generally speaking, Computer Science and/or purely programmatic or a heavy focus on the technical aspects of constructing software, systems, etc., is a career path that can require focus in a specialty in order to break through salary and role ceilings. And it’s also one that typically has less human interaction than other tech careers. General IT can swing many directions - all the way from isolated work (dedicated programmer, forensics, data analytics programmer, etc.) with little human interaction to inter-personally intensive - interacting all the time, all day long (Solutions architect / Support / Help Desk / Management). General IT also has fewer salary / role ceilings when looking at them from a management perspective, and those ceilings may cross over somewhat in similarity to Comp Sci if the role is technically / programmatically intensive.
Once you can start to drill down on what seems interesting to you more, you can start looking at majors and minors. Your major is a moderately big deal in breaking into a career, and a minor might help a little or not - depends on the major, the industry, and the organization looking at you as a candidate. They will both over time be superseded by your experience. Using other technical, engineering, math minors is probably a good idea if going into a strict, deep, technical Comp Sci focus, as specialization is a likely path to develop that career most effectively. For a general Info Tech degree/focus, you have many paths you can take, or you can bounce around in different assignments / industries as well, all without diluting your career too much. For this more generalized IT focus, you can look at many different minors: If you're going into work for businesses, a minor in finance or marketing can be helpful. If you're going into the Health field, then a minor in sciences or social sciences can help. Some schools might even offer minors in Public Admin, or Health Admin to compliment the industry direction you're going towards. Also just as in the case of a Comp Sci major, focusing on a business sector major in Info Tech, with minors in more technical specific fields like mathematics, are still strong combinations, as it will give you an advantage in the technical aspects over your competition. But of course, so will being able to understand the underlying Financial theory when putting together a P&L enterprise dashboard. So the choice is yours, and the best move is a subjective assessment you need to make for yourself. The good news is that you can still traverse into and out of careers offered by both areas (Comp Sci and Info Tech), although moving from Comp Sci to Info Tech is going to be easier than the other way around. But spending time in Comp Sci, when you really want to go into careers that are more cut out for Info Tech, can cause some wasted years learning the deeper language, programming, and construction disciplines when you may not need them. These are not rules by any means – they are just some general observations my firms (IT consulting) have seen over the last 20 yrs in the industry.
In choosing a career, and I can't emphasize this enough, network, network, network -- all in the areas you're interested in. You can join networking groups, or hit LinkedIn hard (many IT professionals there). Offer a lunch or coffee, etc., to pick some brains in the fields you're interested in. Nothing like hearing it from someone who is in the field you're interested in. Remember – if you love what you do, you won’t work a day in your life.
Krishna Chaitanya Tumuluru
Supervisor - Data Management and reporting
25
Answers
Updated
Krishna Chaitanya’s Answer
It really depends on your interest. Any undergraduate course in computer science should help you understand the basics of all the software concepts you will need for your career in IT.
If you have an option to pick the courses, I would recommend to focus on data science related subjects or software architecture related courses. Data scientist and Site Reliability Engineer are the two hot job roles in computer science related fields now.
If you have an option to pick the courses, I would recommend to focus on data science related subjects or software architecture related courses. Data scientist and Site Reliability Engineer are the two hot job roles in computer science related fields now.
Praveen Hari
Director, Twitch
1
Answer
California, California
Updated
Praveen’s Answer
I will advise you to take some fundamentals of Computer Science like Computer System Design. You also need to learn some Programming Language like Java.
Vinod Gnawali
3
Answers
Orange, California
Updated
Vinod’s Answer
Many of us often face this situation i.e., unable to identify what exactly they want to pursue. Honestly I was into same situation. There are number of ways student identifies there interest/ passion. I can speak about myself how I did. I got enrollee into variety of minor courses like web programing, database design, software testing etc. I pursued my major with that course where I could feel the gravity while taking minor courses. and I'm doing pretty good today. So, please start exploring, spend some time doing research, meet people who knows about the subject matter and decide accordingly instead of doing things randomly.
Satyajeet Dhumne
Business Intelligence Program Director (BICC Leader), MSMIT
8
Answers
Washington
Updated
Satyajeet’s Answer
First off, you are building foundations at this time so let's not focus on specialization. Off course you will have to take all the prerequisites , mandatory courses . Then from available electives , select courses that you are seriously interested in
. The course work or specialization may not define what you would do in work life. Go for broader course work that will build your foundation for 40+ years of work life.
Satyajeet Dhumne
. The course work or specialization may not define what you would do in work life. Go for broader course work that will build your foundation for 40+ years of work life.
Satyajeet Dhumne
Guy Stewart
Sr. Oracle Database Administrator
5
Answers
Boston, Massachusetts
Updated
Guy’s Answer
My answer might be a little different from the others. I would first give myself an HONEST assessment as to why I want to go to college and what it is I think I will accomplish if I go there and graduate. You may not come up with a direct answer to that question, but help assess what is it you really want to get out of working (for anyone). Are you bold and dream of being an Entrepreneur in some IT field? Do you have a sales man type personality? Never take no for an answer? Are you in love with all things tech and always are taking your tech apart and hopefully putting it back together? Do you think of ways to improve things or have thought on how you could make improvements to processes?
That's a lot of soul searching and that's to get you started. As you age and get more educated and more exposed to other areas either from classes , internships and/or clubs or social media , you will find yourself fired up enough to take the plunge and choose something like Data Sciences/Machine Learning. The truth is ,if you look down the road to the future, you have to imagine yourself down there. Are you in a cubicle typing code and going to endless meetings and that is your life? Or are you a researcher or computer engineer developing new solutions for the masses? Be Bold. You only get one chance to live you life. Make it count for your own sake.
You even could be a sale person type and take all this knowledge to help craft a successful corporate computer sales and services job?
So, eat up all those classes you love! Be sociable! Make connections with teams and clubs. Get involved on the outside of the campus. Good Luck
That's a lot of soul searching and that's to get you started. As you age and get more educated and more exposed to other areas either from classes , internships and/or clubs or social media , you will find yourself fired up enough to take the plunge and choose something like Data Sciences/Machine Learning. The truth is ,if you look down the road to the future, you have to imagine yourself down there. Are you in a cubicle typing code and going to endless meetings and that is your life? Or are you a researcher or computer engineer developing new solutions for the masses? Be Bold. You only get one chance to live you life. Make it count for your own sake.
You even could be a sale person type and take all this knowledge to help craft a successful corporate computer sales and services job?
So, eat up all those classes you love! Be sociable! Make connections with teams and clubs. Get involved on the outside of the campus. Good Luck