I am currently in the MechE program at my school. However, I’m finding I don’t really enjoy physics, and rather, it’s in fact one of my worst classes. I study hours (20+), and make C’s. On the other hand, I enjoy math, and I am STEM inclined. I would REALLY like to get into the Aerospace industry, even if that’s a seemingly impossible feat. It’s actually what prompted me to return to school, as I was previously working retail with no real direction in my life.
I’ve been considering switching to CS, but my counselor advised against it stating that the market is becoming saturated. I thought this was a myth? I am almost 30 and have very limited programming experience. The only experience I have with “programming” is Python and HTML. However, I’ve really enjoyed learning them. It was fun going through the various videos and such. I’ve also gone through the Java program with KhanAcademy, and found it very fun to see what I could do. My struggle was creating something of use, however, after the program. I didn’t really know what to do Which, ironically, has been my downfall in many things. Even unrelated fields like music. When I played guitar, I got to the point where I knew how to play any song I wanted to look up, but never really knew what to do from there. I’m wondering if this might be a lack of creative drive, or rather, just a lack of direction or end goal.
Anyways, is the job market fairly comparable for these two majors? And is it foolish of me to even consider a career in programming or computer science at my age? Would I just be better learning another unrelated field and using programming specifically for my field as a supplement to my skill set?
You’d think at 30 I’d have this stuff figured out. I don’t. =/
I find that a lot of people in the academic world, including counselors and professors, don’t know much about the business world. Companies keep saying they can’t find enough programmers. If you have software skills that are in demand, you’ll find a decent job.
It’s probably easier to get a job in aerospace with a CS degree than an ME or AE degree. I have a CS degree, and worked at two aerospace companies, one of which was Boeing.
CS is one of the most widely applicable fields out there, and a large proportion of the jobs available in aerospace are programming jobs. I did 3D graphics for flight simulators, and then ended up writing programs that modeled radar systems. It was the most interesting work I ever did, and I knew very little about computer graphics or radar systems until I got into the industry.
I’ve known plenty of people who transitioned into programming in their 30’s. They got tired of the work they were originally doing, or they had a hard time making a living at what they were originally doing.
You are not old. You can have at least 30 years to work in software developemnt.
The CS market is not saturated. The market for other majors is saturated.
The statistics that the Bureau of Labor Statistics has on the numbers of people in different occupations (http://www.bls.gov/emp/ep_table_102.htm and http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_nat.htm#00-0000, based on surveys (http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_tec.htm) show that the total number of “Software developers and programmers” is about the same as the total number of engineers (1,500,000 and 1,600,000, respectively), and there was no clear growth in either from 2012 to 2014. Meanwhile, the National Center for Education Statistics shows 72% more engineering bachelor’s degrees awarded in 2012 than bachelor’s degrees in computer and information sciences (http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d13/tables/dt13_322.10.asp), which would make for more competition in engineering than in computer science.
Interestingly, the sub-field of “Software developers, applications” is very much larger than the sub-field of “Mechanical engineers.” The BLS numbers are 686,470 and 270,700, respectively, for 2014. Also, according to the BLS, “Software developers, applications” grew 12% and “Mechanical engineers” grew 4.9% from 2012 to 2014. (Among the other large sub-fields of engineering, only industrial engineers and electrical engineers grew (also ~5%) - the other large ones stayed even or declined. The only engineering sub-field that had more increase in absolute number than mechanical was industrial.)
The applications software development area of computer science could be volatile, but further strong growth in it in the long term is a fair expectation. Granted, computer scientists in declining areas are likely to be moving into it, and computer science degrees awarded have been increasing at a higher rate than engineering degrees awarded in recent years. Still, for the next few years, applications software development jobs should be easier to get than mechanical engineering jobs for people with the corresponding degree.