Ryan Johnson

CSIS-1030 Foundations of Computer Science

Hau Fung Moy Kwan

7/31/19
 There are several important things to consider when you are choosing a career path and

preparing for your career. There are a lot of resources you can look at that will help you narrow down

the possibilities and help you find a place where you will excel. Every state has a Department of

Workforce Services with people who can help you decide. High Schools and colleges also have advisors

who will work with you so that you can make a good decision and be happy with your choice. Through

this research paper, I will discuss some of the things to consider if you are thinking about a career in the

computer industry. Then, I will outline the steps you need to take to prepare for a computing major and

present some best practices to help guide your college experience.

One of the first things career coaches or academic advisors will ask is what are your interests.

This is also the first thing writer Louise Carter asks in her article 10 Important Factors to Consider When

Choosing a Career Path (Carter, 2017) If you stop and think about how you like to spend your time, the

kinds of things you like to talk about, and the things that really excite you, you will get an idea of what

type of career you would like to have. If you have had jobs in the past, you can look at what you liked

about them and what you did not like. It would be a waste of time to prepare for a career doing

something that you would not enjoy. Some of the interests that would lead to a career in computers

would be how much time you spend on the computer and what types of things you do with it. If you like

to write programs or if you play around with creating apps that is a good sign that you would be

interested in a computing career.

Next, Carter says you should look at what skills and strengths you have. People have different

strengths and weaknesses and you should look for a career that involves your strengths as well as your

interests. If you are great at working through difficult problems, or if you are good at math, you should

look for careers that use those strengths. It will be easier for you to learn a job that already uses your

strengths and skills. According to Andy Peloquin who writes for CareerAddict.com, the top ten strengths

that are important for a career in computing are mathematics, communication, software engineering,
hardware experience, programming languages, patience, management, problem solving,

troubleshooting, and learning.

Interests and skills are the first big considerations when you are looking at careers, but you

should also look at other things. You should look at how much schooling you will need to get the

necessary certificates or degrees for the job. If you are not really interested in college for example, you

should not choose a career where you need a master’s degree. You should also look at whether there is

a lot of demand for the job and whether the industry is growing. Finally, you should look at the type of

people who succeed in that career and whether it matches you. Things like stress levels and how fast

paced the job is, as well as whether you are outgoing or not will make it easier to find a good fit in a

career that will make you happy.

After you decide that you want to have a career in a technology field, and in computing

specifically, you will need to get additional education and an advanced degree. You will also need to

determine what sub field of computing you want to specialize in. Because there are so many different

felids in computing it is important to know yourself and what you are interested in. That way you can

start on the right track, even if you don’t stay in that same field. Some of the most common fields are

programming, networking, security, databases, and software engineering.

One of the most important first steps to prepare for a computing major is gaining a strong

foundation in math. No matter what sub felid you decided to go into, math is heavily integrated and is

usually a key foundation to the felid. Taking math classes early on in your education will give you a head

start on other requirements and let you know if this is really the career you want.

Another early step is to take classes that introduce you to computers and career possibilities in

the field. There are a lot of introductory classes that give you an overview of other classes that you will

have to take and what you can do with the degree. These classes are supposed to be taken before you
take other classes in the department. They focus on what you can do with your degree and knowledge.

Things like start your start your own business, work for a company in the field of your choice or do

research.

A computing major will help lead to a successful career. Computer fields consistently rank as

some of the best careers with high salaries and low unemployment. US news and World Report has

annual lists of the best jobs and the fastest growing industries. Computer industry fields top the lists

every year. In 2019 the highest-ranking careers were software developers, computer systems analysts

and information technology managers. These top 3 jobs projected over 350,000 openings with a median

salary of over $110,000 per year.

There are a lot of best practices to consider when you are preparing for a computing major. You

should go in with an open mind. You may think you want to go into a certain felid but after you take a

few classes you could find that you enjoy another one more. Be willing to change what it is that you

want to do. You should also try out several of the different sub-fields and get an idea of what they are

like and what the work would be like before you decide on which one it is you want to finally get your

degree in.

Another best practice is to talk to people with careers in the field who are doing the job that you

want to do. Computing major programs will often require internships so you can get some hand-on

training. It is also good to seek out opportunities to speak with people who are doing what you want to

do and ask their advice. They can tell you about the things that they did that were successful and how to

avoid making some of the same mistakes they made. If you can develop those outside relationships

while you are studying, you can have a good network to use after you get your degree and you are

looking for a job.

 You should cultivate the ability to overcome and adapt to change. Within the field lots of crap

will get thrown your way, whether it is a change in a program that makes it so you must change how you

do things, or classmates that don’t complete their portion of the assignment. Whatever it Is you must

push through it and adapt to these new problems and situations.

Finally, you need an eagerness to learn. There is a lot of information that comes along with any

major especially a computing major. There are so many different topics to learn about and master and

you must be willing to put in the time and work in order to get it done. The computing field is changing

constantly so you must continue to be ready to learn and adapt with the technology changes.

As this paper has shown, preparing for a computer major and a successful career is not a hard

thing to do. You need to first make sure it is something that you have both an interest and an aptitude

for. Then you can explore options and possibilities while you are working toward your degree. At the

same time, you can look at best practices and tips to make sure that you are successful. The computer

industry is growing and changing and there are a lot of new fields developing. A computing degree is a

good choice for a successful career.

References:

Peloquin, A. (2019, March 28). Top 10 Skills Needed for a Job in Computer Engineering. Retrieved from
https://www.careeraddict.com/top-10-skills-needed-for-a-job-in-computer-engineering

Carter, L. (n.d.). 10 Important Factors to Consider When Choosing a Career Path. Retrieved from
https://www.phlebotomyexaminer.com/choosing-a-career-path-factors/

Best Technology Jobs of 2019. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://money.usnews.com/careers/best-

jobs/rankings/best-technology-jobs