Does everyone go into software development with computer science degree?

College Majors Math/Computer Science Majors
1

Hello, I was wondering if most go into some type of programming/software engineering job with a computer science degree? I’ve known a few that have a computer science degree but never went into that field instead they go into some unrelated field like claims adjuster or some administrative assistant job maybe because they couldn’t find employment or just didn’t like it. Also, I’ve known a few who have gone into system admin/desktop support jobs because they just couldn’t stand programming I guess even though they have a CS degree.

So do you know people who have a CS degree or even MSCS but never went into software engineering/programming?

Thanks in advance.

2

A long time ago you could do either hardware or software related jobs with a CS degree. These days it’s mostly software development.

I know lots of people with CS degrees that left the field after working only 10 or so years because they got sick of it. Many of them went into real estate-related businesses. I don’t personally know anyone with a CS degree that hasn’t been able to find a programming job out of college if they looked hard enough and were willing to move to where the jobs were, though I’m sure those folks exist.

3

I havent really seen anyone going into hardware with CS degree. At least not from what I see...

TL;DR: Don't bother reading. Kinda unrelated.

“I know lots of people with CS degrees that left the field after working only 10 or so years because they got sick of it.”

As a CS student myself, I feel this is understandable.
I mean, imagine yourself coding from 8 AM to 6 PM everyday (and of course since debugging can occur any time, extra coding around midnight or while everyone is sleeping)
And repeat this everyday…for years…ya, pretty understandable that you grow tired of it.
In fact, many CS majors I know all repeat this, “I’m probably going to switch out to the business world anyways in the future since CS is (or will) slowly getting boring”

Frankly, programming (though not CS, it is the job you get from CS) hurts your eyes after a while.
Imagine staring at a computer 12 to 14 hours a day. It’s not abnormal for you to be sometimes dizzy and (though research has shown otherwise, I feel like your eyes do get worse from staring excessively at a computer -partly due to CVS syndrome-)

And as much as I hate to admit, it’s pretty accepted (indirectly) that programming has a rampant age discrimination. By the time you hit your 35-40, unlike other majors, you should start fearing if you are just an above average programmer…

But oh well, no one wants to talk about those things in CS.
I mean CS is the place in which butterflies roam around, fields of grass grow everywhere, stacks of money just piles out of thin air, and you get that “freedom” no other job gives~~

And of course there is the part about outsourcing … but I don’t think that will be a problem for at least the next twenty years (after that, ehh, who knows?)

Despite all that… CS majors still major in CS.
Why? Because college degree value has depreciated and you really need a realistic job security at least for the first 10 years outside college and as of right now, it does pay fairly well for a starting salary…

BTW, take what I said with a grain of salt.
This comment is very distorted and pessimistic.
Just informing aspiring CS majors in college confidential to know the cons ^^

oh and just a side note, about people claiming you don’t need a CS degree to get into software developing (just a glorified programming job)
Most internships or jobs claim “BS in CS or similar field” OR 4 years of incredible experience in the programming world

4

http://www.census.gov/dataviz/visualizations/stem/stem-html/ shows that about half of CS majors stay in that field of work. It also shows that compared to other majors that is a high proportion.

5

A CS degree isn’t essential to getting a programming job. The US has over a million programming jobs, while there are only about 20,000 new CS grads each year. It’s impossible for CS programs to meet the demand. A STEM degree (excepting biology) along with three or four programming classes is all that’s really needed to break into the field. Most of the programmers I’ve worked with have not had CS degrees.

6

“And as much as I hate to admit, it’s pretty accepted (indirectly) that programming has a rampant age discrimination. By the time you hit your 35-40, unlike other majors, you should start fearing if you are just an above average programmer”

I’m a bit worried about this as I’m an older person. Though I’ve known and have heard of a lot of older folks majoring in CS so there is hope I hope.

I would assume it doesn’t hurt to have a CS degree as most jobs require you have it to even get past HR.

7

Is that up to date? Regardless, I’d be interested in that source out of pure curiosity.

8

“Is that up to date? Regardless, I’d be interested in that source out of pure curiosity.”

Same here.
I never understood the statistics.
At least in just a few colleges I know
(Carnegie Mellon, Stanford, Columbia, UW-Madison, UIUC) <= not a good representatives of colleges in US …
those undergraduates and graduates each year alone make up like a thousand students…

I can’t understand how when 5 schools make like a thousand, the rest 1500+ universities in the States only make like 19,000. <and this is when I exclude students like CE, Applied Math and the like majors in the 5 schools alone)

“The US has over a million programming jobs, "
Most people don’t want the lower level IT jobs. Yes, there are many IT jobs. But when you chop off the lower end and only loop at the more lucrative programming jobs, … there is a crap ton of competition
<if you=”" are=“” talking=“” about=“” all=“” the=“” programming=“” jobs,=“” yes=“” i=“” agree=“” there=“” is=“” a=“” heck=“” ton=“” of=“” those=“” jobs=“” but=“” many=“” aren’t=“” most=“” lucrative=“” jobs…=“”>

" A STEM degree (excepting biology) along with three or four programming classes is all that’s really needed to break into the field"
Last time I checked, many of those companies on career fair indirectly told me, “nowadays with more CS majors graduating than ever, we are slowly getting more picky and pretty much getting a CS degree is more of a requirement IF you want to be a software developer” <which i=“” believe=“” “software=”" developer"=“” is=“” the=“” title=“” that=“” many=“” want.=“” not=“” really=“” low=“” end=“” level=“” which=“” can=“” more=“” easily=“” get=“” outsourced=“”>
And I’m sure this is slowly getting to be more of the trend recently.
I remember in just the UW-Madison intro CS class alone (btw, I no longer attend this school), there were almost 600 students in Intro Java and like 250 students in Intro Python. -though many do drop out after the first semester, a huge chunk still stay (like 1/4th of them)-


[QUOTE=""]
btw, in CS classes, for some reason, I feel like there are like 8 asians per every 10 students.

[/QUOTE]

That said, if all you care about is getting a job right after college, CS degrees does do very well in that respect. I seen friends get like 6 offers. So ehh… all a perspective

btw, CS is not programming. A good CS program usually teaches programming for like 2 semesters and the rest of your years are … theories, and classes outside your major (which supposedly helps you in the future but those classes come directly from your tuition -.

9

It looks like 47,000 “Computer and information sciences” bachelor’s degrees were awarded in the academic year 2011-2012 (http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d13/tables/dt13_322.10.asp).

10

47,000 in just academic year 2011 to 2012 wow when accounting ONLY undergrads

And like CS has been superhyped recently…

Just 2012-2013 academic year is around 75,000 CS grads
http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d14/tables/dt14_325.35.asp?current=yes

And with the recent trend (at least from what i saw at Madison)
Last year had around 850 in intro class compared to the previous year of 370
For some reason, I kinda worry we are going to have wayyy too many CS grads sometime soon

Wont be surprised after 4 years, there will be like 200,000 CS or computer related grads a year
ehh, what i can guess about this trend…
computer related field will face surplus of students and those without CS degrees can pretty much kiss goodbye to working this industry
and seriously, with this many CS grads each year, wont it be matter of time before they get paid much less?
o.ò ouch. Even if US has over a million unfilled CS jobs… a million CS grads will graduate within like 10 years at the most (from my guess). Add in H1 Visa and it seems more like those jobs can be filled in next 8 to 9 years.
Now im kinda worried about this field… le sigh. Who are the people hyping that no one has CS/engineering degrees?

Btw, bls claims that within the next seven years, there will be less than 222,600 software developer jobs.
and guess what, we graduate 1/3 that amount each year…

11

Sorry for the previous post. I was mistaken.
I forgot that those who go to master’s or phd are from the bachelor’s pool. Haha, I don’t know what it was of me to count the three all separately.

But even so, the data does seem to imply we do graduate lots of CS majors…
bls claims from (2012-2022) <= which btw we are now 2015 so we are already almost halfway…
Employment change for Computer Network Architects: 20,900
Employment change for Information Security Analyst: 27,400
Employment change for Computer System Analyst: 127,700
Employment change for Database Administrators: 17,900
Employment change for Computer programmers: 28,400
Employment change for Computer Systems Administrators: 42,900
Employment change for Software Developers: 222,600

And assuming the jobs CS majors want is Software Developers (cause seriously, the rest are either administrators or not as well paid)…
I don’t really think we lack any CS degrees in the States (Add in H1 Visa and that’s pretty much real true)
What we lack apparently are the “top CS majors”

Seems like every field pretty much faces lots of competition. If CS known as the best major for initial career currently is facing this trend, then wow… other jobs’ outlook must be pretty bleak right now.
And btw, though software developers seem to get paid a lot, if you add in the fact that many are in Silicon Valley, Washington DC, NYC… it’s not really as high as people assume it to be.

Reality is, every degree is in surplus in today’s society. That said, if you are the top in any field, then you shouldn’t worry as much. It’s the people who are average or below average who really should be worrying…

12

Some of this talk makes me nauseous. I mean I know this about college grads and fields in general, but this brings it to the forefront. Do current or recent CS majors really pick it only for a “good job”, because CS seems hot right now? Because you can go ahead a read articles on why there’s going to be a million CS jobs and no CS grads, so you pick CS, and then in 6 months read an article on why CS jobs will be outsourced and finance is the place to be. And your CS theory classes were just so hard… so you change majors to Finance, or others. To be frank, if that is a college sophomore’s feelings it’s pretty likely they will not shine very bright.

You major in CS because you like it / love it. Not because of pay, not because of jobs, not because of anything else. Then anything about age, burning out, not finding a job, not having enough money all falls to the wayside.

If you don’t like programming and computers, trying to do CS because of “tech startups” and jobs is pointless. Because everyone who loves it will far surpass you.

13

I agree, and for some that certainly is the case. The problem is that CS, for many, is easy to truly fall in love with. It’s a cool job, creating something from nothing with math, logic, and more. So while I think there will be a natural decrease for sure once the oversaturation hits (tbh I’m hoping soon so it can start the upswing), it will hopefully level out.

14

I absolutely disagree with this, from my own work experience. Plenty of programmers who have no love for CS can write solid code that solves an important problem. In fact, a diligent worker who just does his job properly is substantially more productive than the obsessive code lover who spends long hours to enthusiastically solve the wrong problem.

Most software work is not that difficult and requires a few tricks of the trades more so than any real depth of knowledge. And it certainly doesn’t require any particular love for coding - you don’t need to enjoy the code any more than you need to enjoy checking emails or filling out Excel spreadsheets. It’s just something you do to get the job done.

The CS theory classes are challenging, but they are just tacked on at the end, and hardly used by anyone who doesn’t go on to pursue education further than a BS. CS undergrads are no more equipped to apply the theory than chemistry majors are to apply quantum mechanics upon finishing their BS degree. This is not to discount the fact that it takes a substantial effort to finish the major (because any good CS program will have plenty of solid, involved projects to finish), but anyone who is diligent can finish the degree and land a solid job.

Finally, terrible working conditions will kill any “passion” you have for a job very quickly, no matter the subject matter. Do what you don’t hate are capable of doing, which pays a stable salary.

15

The recent grads are picking CS due to its employ-ability.
I was rather shocked at the increases of students in Intro CS classes. For instance, Harvard’s number one most students is now not economics but Intro CS.

That said, I guess I cant say I’m not part of this.
If CS was never hot, I’m sure I would have majored in pure math (and most likely take just enough CS classes to minor in it). Who knows?

It seems for those who are more mathematically inclined, CS comes far more naturally than even those who are passionate about CS (unfortunate but hey, life ain’t fair bro)
So to claim that CS majors/programmers who do the field without passion are not going to do well, I find it hard to believe.

Many students capable enough to attend the more selective schools already have the drive to succeed in most college majors despite the need for passion.

And btw, CS theories aren’t that hard in undergrad. Those who are more academically inclined (many users in College Confidential) are more than capable to pass through those classes.

That said, when did university become a vocational school? I feel like universities are now glorified trade schools.
Universities, once made with an intention to teach subjects you will otherwise never have time to learn… is now a place for jobs.
Seeing my parents and relatives, it seems once you leave college and into the workforce, you are almost never going to have time to study your passions and curiosity. If you guys are to major in CS and are ditching a greater passion like me, then just know that you might never have the time to study that field again.
Fortunately, as for me, in just my first year and summer, I have studied enough for a bachelor’s degree for math (finished up to Modern Algebra I and Analysis I -will probably start Modern Algebra II and Analysis II sometime my winter break-) so I don’t have as much to regret since I self-studied my passions ^^

16

Until the next bubble.

17

In the case of CS, I think there will be a pretty solid need for code in the foreseeable future. Even at companies that are traditionally of the “hardware” variety, more often than not their “engineers” are of the software variety. Software companies are even more strongly software-oriented, obviously.

Whether or not we will need CS majors to do most coding jobs remains to be seen. Most of what needs to be coded could be done by someone with a year’s worth of coding experience. Might lead to CS becoming ubiquitous like English or History.

18

Reality is that there has always been some component of careerism in university attendance. Few would spend the time and money to attend a university if there were no benefit in one’s future job prospects. Indeed, the existence of public universities subsidized by the government is motivated by the idea that a better educated work force will be a more economically productive one, which has various benefits from the government’s point of view.