Interesting Computer Science Jobs?

mattskent writes "I'm currently a junior in college working towards my Bachelor's degree in Computer Science. As such, I'm starting to look pretty seriously at jobs in the IT/Computer Science field. I've spent plenty of time working entry-level IT jobs doing various kinds of help desk type work, and so most of the exposure I've had to the field is related to support of other people's computers. I enjoy helping other people out, but I'd rather not be plugging things in and restarting computers the rest of my life. Although the possibility is growing on me, I don't think I would particularly love to write code all day for a living either. What are some interesting jobs that you've had or heard of that I could look into fresh out of college with a Computer Science degree?"

Comments

Help Organize an Open Source Project

[alain94040]

Let's see. You'll get a CS degree but don't feel like writing code for a living. That's a tough one.

Are you a "people" person? All those introverted geeks need to talk to each other, make decisions and agree on stuff. Something that they (on average) do very poorly. You would have a career in product marketing, since you understand the geeks and can talk to them.

If that makes sense to you, then short-term, your best bet is to join an open source project and volunteer to *organize* stuff. Not code, but organize. You'd be amazed how badly needed it is for most projects.

--
the elephant in the room: How to Make Money with Open Source?

Re:Help Organize an Open Source Project

[rossifer]

I never imagined sitting in a cubicle for 8+ hours a day doing the same thing every day could be boring.

If you're spending 8 hours a day coding, you're doing it wrong. Hell, if you're spending 8 hours a day doing the any one thing, you're doing it wrong. Coding is exactly one, somewhat valuable part of software development. To implement an effective solution requires that you:

1. understand the problem (interact with people)
2. understand the external constraints (interact with people)
3. design an effective solution to the problem
4. while designing the solution, design some tests to verify that the problem is solved (and remains solved)
5. code the effective solution to the problem
6. teach other team-members about your solution to the problem (interact with people)

IMHO, effective design is the most valuable part of software development, but all of the steps above are important. Coding is just one of those steps. Also, I didn't really mention soliciting feedback (aka code reviews), though on a good team, that would be a part of the last step.

If you've got a CS degree and all you're doing is coding, you wasted about 2-3 years of your life on a four-year degree you didn't need. All you needed was an associate's degree from DeVry and you could be coding. Write software instead. It's much more interesting.

The most important way to "write software" instead of "write code" is to choose a good employer and a good team. Unfortunately, I have no simple advice for how to do that. But don't be satisfied with the first place that offers you a job. If your job seems like a crap job, it probably is. Keep looking until you find a company and a team where you feel valuable.

Entry-level-ish positions

[Stile 65]

Rather than tech support, there are other non-coding IT jobs out there.

• Systems admin (on servers)
• Network admin (routers and switches)
• Network security admin (firewalls and IDSes)
• Storage engineer (SAN/backup solutions)
• Web engineer (webserver management specifically)
• Mail admin
• Combinations of the above
• Much much more

A lot of these could be junior-level in a big enough organization, or in a company where you're a junior consultant sort of person. Usually you work up to that type of position by doing helpdesk first, so it looks like you're ready to move on to something similar.

I might be biased, and not the best expert, but...

[philspear]

Get a double major or minor in biology. People who can handle bioinformatics or the computer side of structural biology are in really high demand. Not saying it's moreso than other fields, but I do know you can write your own paycheck with that crossover.

I also don't know if you'd find that interesting. I do, and knowing that your job is working towards the cure for cancer or whatever the goal is I think makes some of the more menial tasks more interesting, but that's just me.

If you're not looking to add a major or minor, you can still likely get into that field and learn whatever you would need on the job about bio. They're that desperate.

Repeat repeat repeat

[COMON$]

How many times is this question going to be asked on slashdot?

Gonna save some people some time here

CS is no more about computers than astronomy is about Telescopes.

There are many accomplished IT admins who use their CS knowledge on a daily basis, I am one of them.

CS is not Coding.

CS is more about Math.

If you want to stay pure CS you need to find R&D departments or go for your PHD.

CS is a great degree but isn't going to get you far when getting a job because most managers don't understand its purpose.

Find out what you love doing and do it, chances are, CS prepared you to do that thing.

Don't mix your dreams with your career

[phantomfive]

I'll tell you what, no matter what job you are working, it's still going to be a job. I like my job, I get to figure stuff out, I try new technologies all the time, but at the end of the day I am still doing it because I need to pay the bills (eat, rent, etc). There's always going to be an element of misery (dealing with coworkers, getting up in the morning when I'd rather sit at home and play Smash Brothers, debugging......that's a big one. Can't finish your code without debugging it).

Working isn't about 'fun' or 'entertainment' or 'what I want to do.' If you really want to work, then something is strange about you. Working is about surviving in a cold hard miserable world, it's about being self-sufficient, it's about producing something of value. Those all feel good, but you aren't working to have fun (even though work can be fun sometimes!), you are working to survive.

Don't confuse work with your dreams.........what do you REALLY want to do? Only in rare people is it something you can make money doing. Do you want to help starving children in Africa? Be a beach bum? Travel the world? Live the life of an eternal frat boy? Get married and live a quiet life? Whatever it is, focus on that, and your job will help you with it. Otherwise, if you make your job your life, it will just weigh you down and make you miserable. Work sucks, but you can still be happy. Life sucks, but you can still have fun.

That's my advice. YMMV

don't worry, you won't write code all day

[StandardDeviant]

As a professional developer with about a decade of commercial experience, I can assure you that you won't be writing code all day in many jobs. You'll spend at least half your time writing TPS report coversheets, attending meetings, writing reports about attending meetings, attending meetings about reports, and occasionally meetings about meetings or reports about reports. Figuring out how to answer the latest hare-brained question from the suits with the shitty data to hand (abortions of SQL and/or one-off hacks with a scripting language go here) takes up another twenty-five percent of your time. Twenty percent to thinking about lunch, eye-balling the hot MOTAS in Accounting or HR, sneaking in the side entrance so Lumbergh doesn't see you, and you're looking at five percent of your time going to real actual coding/work.

You may think I'm pulling your leg, and you also probably laugh rather than cry when you read Dilbert. Don't worry, by the time you graduate you'll probably be old enough to legally drink and that really helps take the edge off.

Hope that helps! :D