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School of Engineering and Computer Science

Careers in Computer Science

So you're interested in computing and think that computer science would be a interesting field to study. You're next question (or your parent's question) is probably about what you'll do after you get your degree. Will you be able to find a job with decent pay? Will it lead to a profitable career?

Computer Scientists are in demand! Job opportunities in computing careers are expected to be among the fastest growing through 2014 . Computer Scientists are also some of the best paid professionals  in the workforce today, and typically report high levels of job satisfaction. Read Top 10 Reasons to Major in Computing  for a summary of the unlimited opportunities in computing. If you are looking for a career that is exciting, on the cutting edge, and always in demand, Computer Science might be for you.

Please visit the CS Job Resource Center   for information on current job openings .   This site hosted by AfterCollege - is a network for college students and recent grads who are looking for entry level jobs, internships and other opportunities.

All indications are that demand for computing professionals is on the rise and will continue to be strong. Here's some data:

  • JobWeb.com External Link reports that computer science as the third highest bachelor degree in demand among employers. Masters degrees and PhD degrees in computer science are also highly in demand.
  • CNNMoney.com recently published a list of "hottest jobs External Link", based on number of online wanted ads. The number one job: "computer programmer". Their list of "fastest growing wages External Link" puts "information technology" at number seven.
  • CollegeBoard.com has summarized data projecting job growth to 2014, based on data from the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics. The show computing jobs in 5 of the top 10 "fastest growing jobs for college grads External Link", as well as 5 of the top 10 "occupations with the most new jobs: bachelor degrees External Link".

A good source for information on computing careers is the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), the international professional organization for computing professionals. Check out their "Computing Degrees and Careers External Link" site.

If you'd like to look at government projections for specific occupations, go to the "Occupational Outlook Handbook External Link". One interesting thing to note is that growth for "computer programmers" is projected to be below average, while growth for "computer scientists" and "computer software engineers" are both projected to be must faster than average. CollegeBoard.com gives similar information in a condensed format in their "Major & Career Profiles External Link".

What about the dot-com bust and outsourcing?  Around 2001, interest in computer science among students dropped off significantly, due to a perception that the market for computing jobs was collapsing. This perception resulted from the burst of the "dot-com bubble" and from fears of outsourcing of jobs to cheaper markets such as Asia and eastern Europe. In fact there was a temporary drop in employment has a result of these factors, but the market has recovered and is project to stay strong.

The dot-com bubble referred to the large number of jobs that where created in the 1990's by speculative start-up companies attempting to find a niche in the Internet market. That bubble burst when most of those companies collapsed, while a few strong and successful companies began to dominate. While unfortunate for those who were temporarily displaced, the market has recovered, as evidenced by the job opening at the remaining companies. Browse thejobs listed at Google External Link as an example.

Outsourcing of jobs to cheaper markets has had an impact on the US job market. What is important to realize is that only certain kinds of jobs, primarily lower-level programming jobs, are candidates for outsourcing. Positions such as software engineers and architects, project managers and business analysts cannot be outsourced, since the require in-house personnel with the ability to communicate and understand the domain and business in which they operate. We noted above that the US BLS projects a decline in programming jobs but strong increases in jobs for software engineers and computer scientist, which is the real impact of outsourcing.

For more on both of these issues, see the "Frequently Asked Questions" at theACM career page External Link.