If You Want Your Child to Succeed, Don’t Sell Liberal Arts Short

That may be true, however in my 30+ year career in IT, I’ve often found myself in a very small minority of folks who have computer science degrees. Of course I’ve never worked at Facebook or Google - however the sample size of one former Apple software architect I know was an individual with a law degree.

There are many jobs that don’t exist as majors in college - or are just starting to show up in programs. Working as a software business analyst is one - most successful business analysts I’ve met had majors that required a lot of critical thinking and writing and picked up the technical part on the job. No, they don’t write code - but it’s a very well-paying job. Technical writing is another path - I’ve met many a technical writer who majored in Sociology or Anthropology. Can’t recall meeting any who had computer science degrees. Product managers are anther role where it’s more important to be able to communicate clearly with non-tech folks than to know how to write code.

Same with software project management. The project managers I’ve worked with had degrees in history, accounting, engineering - all over the place. The common element was they managed to get enough project hours in one way or another to qualify to take the PMP exam and they passed. What matters to hiring managers is they have a college degree and the PMP certification.

I haven’t met very many people who are successful in software development sales roles with STEM degrees. Sure, if I met one I’d remember them - but I haven’t :wink:

So perhaps my experiences in companies ranging from a 4 person start-up to IBM are anecdotal and should be taken with a grain of salt. But somehow many of those “non-stem liberal arts” majors are finding jobs more lucrative than barista. The jobs won’t fall into your lap - but with drive and initiative and continuing education/certification, there are many more opportunities out there than you would think reading a lot of these threads.