Career lane Major in Computer Science Photo by John Schnobrich on Unsplash

If you’ve studied computer science, you would possess many skills in high demand amongst employers across the globe. It could include working with software firms, management consultancy firms, communication companies, government agencies, universities or hospitals. There is not a single industry that doesn’t require the services of someone with a major in computer science. 

What careers does a CS major offer?

The job designations and descriptions in IT are not standard. No matter what the designation sounds like, ask the interviewer for clarity on what is expected. Let’s look at a few career options that a CS major will thrive in. 

IT Consultant:

Here, you advise clients on the planning, design, and installation of IT systems to improve their efficiency. An IT consultant’s job might also involve sales and business development for IT-related projects. The average salary of an IT consultant is $82,535/year

Information Systems Manager:

They are responsible for the effective operations of computer systems in the organization. It is almost similar to the job of an IT consultant. They are involved in purchasing software and hardware, setting access controls for users, ensuring data security, managing systems back up and providing IT support. The average salary of an Information Systems Manager is $159,010/year

Games Developer:

There is a creative side to this role wherein the developer is also involved with the storyboarding and animation aspects, alongside tackling the programming languages. The average salary of a Games Developer is $73,745/year.

Cybersecurity Analyst:

Their job is to monitor systems and networks, identify security threats, assess alarms and intrusion attempts, and report them to the higher authorities, based on the level of the threat. The average salary of a Cybersecurity Analyst is $82,453/year.

Software Development Engineer:

It is one of the most popular job roles for computer science majors. Also called SDEs, they are tasked with building software. The average salary of a software developer is $120,730/year

Data Scientist:

They make predictive models by writing algorithms. These models perform custom analyses using the data available. It is a fast-developing field and is in much demand across several industries. The average salary of a data scientist is $145,610/year,  which is greater than the median annual salary of $131,490 for a computer scientist — according to The US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). 

Some of the other options for CS majors are technical writers, forensic computer analysts, UX designers, mobile app developers, IT project managers, multimedia programmers, and so on. 

Top 10 colleges across the globe for CS majors: 

Tsinghua University - China

Stanford University - USA

Massachusetts Institute of Technology - USA

Carnegie Mellon University - USA

University of California Berkeley - USA

Nanyang Technological University - Singapore

National University of Singapore - Singapore

ETH Zurich - Switzerland

Peking University - China

Chinese University of Hong Kong - Hong Kong

Source U.S. News & World Report

How do AI and ChatGPT affect the careers of computer science graduates?

The whole premise of AI is that it mimics human intelligence to solve complex problems. Would one of those skills be the ability to do computer programming, making engineers obsolete? Absolutely not. People working with technology keep evolving themselves to stay afloat. Even something like OpenAI’s ChatGPT — which is raking in rave reviews — is a productivity-enhancing tool more than anything else. It might render a few tasks obsolete but might not result in computer science graduates becoming irrelevant. 

Overall, if you are a computer science graduate, you only need to worry about becoming better at your craft. Good jobs and a flourishing career will follow.


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