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Ask HN: Stuck as a CS Major. Is there a way out?

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Re: Ask HN: Stuck as a CS Major. Is there a way out?

#41

Post by hardcorenobody »

apohn wrote: post #36

I'll bet that if you tracked the career path of CS and Engineering graduates, you'd see the following pattern. Let's assume (this is a bad assumption) the majority go into a technical role (e.g. Software Engineer, Electrical Engineer). After 2-3 years following graduation, you'd see a large percentage of people move from technical roles into semi-hands on roles (e.g. PreSales, Team Lead, Technical Marketing, etc) and…

Alright, I think I'll stick it out. Doesn't seem like a bad trajectory. Thanks!

Re: Ask HN: Stuck as a CS Major. Is there a way out?

#42

Post by hardcorenobody »

namelessoracle wrote: post #40
hardcorenobody wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interesting. By backend apis do you mean for things like angularjs and azure?

No, yes, maybe. So like imagine your a product manager, but your product isnt a CRUD app, its a REST api users hit to get data. They either pay access for it, or more commonly you expose it for people in your enterprise. (So say you work for Walmart or Amazon and your team exposes an api for another team in the enterprise to make updates to a delivery time) Most product managers are not technical but can understand C…

How do you go about getting experience for this? It sounds like the type of thing best learned on the job.

Re: Ask HN: Stuck as a CS Major. Is there a way out?

#45

Post by lolinder »

hardcorenobody wrote: post #28
ericbarrett wrote: post #26

Why is it too late to switch to e.g. physics or EE? You may tack on an extra year of school, and the financial cost thereof; and I'm sure the make-up classes and homework will be hard; but your education will set the trajectory of your adult life so it's probably worth it. You wouldn't be the first or the last to bail on a degree in their third year. Knowing some basic programming will make you better at those fields…

It's too late because of personal reasons not appropriate for this forum, lol. Interesting, what's wrong with Android or web dev? I keep hearing they're pretty okay to get into.

I don't think there's anything inherently wrong with it (speaking as a full stack web dev), but depending on what specifically you dislike about coding it might not be a good fit for you.

Re: Ask HN: Stuck as a CS Major. Is there a way out?

#46

Post by johntdaly »

Clubber wrote: post #25
hardcorenobody wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's a program in my university called "Management Information Systems." I suppose I should look at what kind of things their majors do, and what their jobs are usually like?

MIS is like programming + business. You take regular business classes (accounting, marketing, finance, management) but also programming related classes like database design, programming, project management, etc. It skips the 3 semesters of Calc and 3 semesters of Physics and replaces it with statistics and business calc. It's more practical and less theoretical than CS. It's a nice balance IMO. You could just minor i…

I agree with Clubber, stick with CS and a minor in business. MIS sounds nice if you want to go IT.

The minor in business can take you in some of the management positions in IT, experience can take you into others. But the minor in business can also take you out of IT.

Nothing speaks against finding a job you “like” (love is asking much of a job) and turn tech into a hobby and going more into electronics instead of software. To be honest technology makes a nice and exiting hobby but often a less exiting Job. As soon as a cool idea meats up with customers things can get ugly for stupid reasons.

Re: Ask HN: Stuck as a CS Major. Is there a way out?

#47

Post by lolinder »

hardcorenobody wrote: post #20
jstx1 wrote: post #13

> Right now I'm only interested in my electronics, math, and 3d modelling/animation … I'm looking into embedded systems since it's "closer to the metal," I have some arduino parts lying around, and I do like C and assembly better than high-level languages So really there’s multiple subfields of CS that you like, you just don’t like everything and you think that it’s problem? Stick to CS, you’ll be fine.

It seems like I like multiple things about computers, but I don't like programming, specifically, and that's what I find myself doing for hours a day because of this degree. And that's apparently to be expected in this field.

Do you know what it is that you dislike about programming? Even within programming there are lots of different types and styles, and there might still be a subfield that doesn't have the problems you have with coding.

Re: Ask HN: Stuck as a CS Major. Is there a way out?

#48

Post by profit-truth »

Are you me? I got a degree in computer engineering, minor in CS and Math. I initially thought I hated programming and wanted nothing to do with it until I started making games in Unity. It turns out that what I really enjoy is learning and problem-solving. My CS coursework just didn't offer interesting problems to solve-- it was more about rote memorization of Data Structures and Algorithms. I think you should try and find a discipline of CS that interests you, and pull on that string. Do a little self-directed learning in your free time. For me that string was AI for games.

Re: Ask HN: Stuck as a CS Major. Is there a way out?

#50

Post by culopatin »

hardcorenobody wrote: post #28
ericbarrett wrote: post #26

Why is it too late to switch to e.g. physics or EE? You may tack on an extra year of school, and the financial cost thereof; and I'm sure the make-up classes and homework will be hard; but your education will set the trajectory of your adult life so it's probably worth it. You wouldn't be the first or the last to bail on a degree in their third year. Knowing some basic programming will make you better at those fields…

It's too late because of personal reasons not appropriate for this forum, lol. Interesting, what's wrong with Android or web dev? I keep hearing they're pretty okay to get into.

Better to switch now than to have to redo this in 5 to 10 years when you get tired of wondering “what if I had changed”.

Seems like EE is more your thing.

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