Computer science is a field with many different career options. You can work in the tech industry, or you can work in a field that uses the computing skills you’ve learned. You can also choose to teach computer science, or you might become an entrepreneur and start your own company.
The best way to get started is by learning how to program. Once you know how to code, it’s easy to find jobs that let you use your skills. If you want to take a more traditional route and work directly for a big company like Google or Apple, then start by learning Java or C# and working on open source projects.
If you want to go into teaching, then start with the basics of computer science, like programming and data structures (arrays). These will help prepare you for any coursework related to teaching at the college level.
Computer Science Career Options
Introduction
Computer science is a field that’s exploded in popularity in recent years, and for good reason. Computer science degree programs make it easy for students to acquire skills that are valued in the workplace. The problem? There are so many career options that computer science graduates can pursue! This can be confusing or even intimidating. So we’ve put together this guide to help you learn about some of the most popular computer science careers out there. We’ll give you information on how much graduates typically make and the kinds of education options they go through to get these jobs as well. Now let’s get started!
Front End Developer
A front end developer (also called a UI Developer) is someone who develops the front-end of websites and apps. The front end is what users actually interact with, while the back end is where the logic goes on behind the scenes to make it work.
Front end developers are responsible for building user interfaces (UIs), which means that they use programming languages like HTML and JavaScript to create graphics, animations, and web pages. They also use CSS as well as tools like Photoshop or Sketch to design these interfaces.
The skills needed include knowledge of responsive web design principles; how to manage cross-browser compatibility issues; how best to use jQuery; how to use Bootstrap or another framework; etc…
Back End Developer
Back end developers are a vital part of the technology ecosystem. They build and manage the back ends of websites, mobile apps, and other software applications. Back end developers may also be responsible for maintaining databases or creating code for user interfaces (UI).
With an understanding of how computers work at a low level, back end developers can write code in any number of languages (such as Python or Java) to design and create databases that store information on servers. The databases might contain customer data from an online retail site like Amazon or Netflix; they could also hold financial information used by banks or brokerages.
If you want to become a back end developer, you must learn about computer science concepts like data structures and algorithms—the building blocks for all software programs—as well as how to use specific programming languages such as Python or Java to write code that manipulates these structures in ways that make sense for your specific application’s needs.
Full Stack Developer
Full stack developers are responsible for both the front-end and back-end of an application. This means that they have knowledge of not only how to code in HTML, CSS and JavaScript, but also web technologies like XML, HTTP, etc. With this comprehensive understanding of technology stacks, full stack developers are able to take a project from concept through development and deployment effectively.
Full stack developers are expected to have a good understanding of both the front-end and back-end of an application (hence the name). As you may already know though there is a difference between these two aspects:
- Front end is where you build your user interface (UI) with HTML/CSS/JS while back end is where you handle all database interaction such as MySQL queries or NoSQL queries as well as persistence layers like ORM frameworks such as ActiveRecord for Ruby on Rails or Entity Framework for .NET applications (or any other framework that has support for this feature).
Application/Software Developer
Application/software developer
As a software developer, you’ll design and create new applications for computers, mobile devices and the web. You may also develop applications for desktop computers and other operating systems. Software developers are involved with:
- Mobile devices – designing applications that run on smartphones, tablets or smartwatches
- Web applications – creating web pages or services that run on the internet
- Desktop computer software – developing programs to be used on desktop PCs and laptops (such as Microsoft Office)
- Embedded devices – writing code for devices like car dashboards or medical equipment
- Cloud computing – programming websites so they can be accessed from anywhere in the world
Machine Learning Engineer/Data Scientist
Machine learning engineers and data scientists are the people who make AI work. They are the ones who design and build the algorithms that are used in AI.
They also make sure that their algorithms are accurate and reliable. In order to do this, they need to have a strong background in mathematics, statistics, computer science and programming languages like Python or C++.
DevOps Engineer
DevOps (short for “developers” and “operations”) is a career that has been gaining traction since the early 2000s, but it’s still not as well-known as other tech jobs. DevOps engineers work alongside developers to ensure software applications are easy to maintain and run smoothly. They’re also responsible for monitoring server performance and helping diagnose problems with hardware or software.
Things you’ll need:
- Strong programming skills in Python or Javascript (or both!)
- Experience with Linux-based operating systems such as Ubuntu, CentOS, Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), Debian/Ubuntu
There are many different career options to pursue in the field of computer science
- Software Development: The backbone of the tech industry. This is the profession that most people think of when they think “computer science” and it’s an area that requires a lot of skill and training.
- Data Science: The use of statistics and data to generate insight into human behavior or business practices. A career in data science requires an understanding of programming languages like Python, R, or Java along with mathematical modeling and statistical analysis skills.
- Machine Learning: A subset of artificial intelligence focused on using algorithms instead of human-designed rules to make predictions about future behaviors or events (e.g., predicting what someone will buy next based on their past purchases). In order to do this accurately, machine learning professionals must be able to navigate through large amounts of unstructured information (e.g., documents) as well as design intelligent algorithms that can solve complex problems quickly with minimal human input required once deployed at scale—hence why it’s sometimes called “artificial intelligence” (AI).
Conclusion
We hope that this post was helpful to you and provided an overview of some of the most popular computer science career paths. If you’re still researching your options, there are many more careers in this field than what we covered here. But if you found your dream job among these options, check out Udacity courses to see if they could be right for you. We wish you the best of luck in your future endeavors!
