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Computer-science majors graduate into a world of fewer opportunities

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Re: Computer-science majors graduate into a world of fewer opportunities

#21

Post by gfourfour »

piloto_ciego wrote: post #13
gfourfour wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Any kind you want. Being smart matters 100000x more than your major.

I have a math degree and this has absolutely not been my experience. Nobody gives a shit about a math degree, so I went and got a masters in computer vision (CS + Stats). I’ve been sending out resumes this whole last semester and have heard basically nothing. Now I’m trying to leverage my previous 13 years of experience in aviation, but yeah, I’m not super optimistic. I applied at a robotics company attempting to aut…

The market now is terrible but your math degree isn’t holding you back

Re: Computer-science majors graduate into a world of fewer opportunities

#22

Post by abeppu »

> To be sure, comp-sci majors from top-tier schools can still get jobs. Pay, projected to be at about $75,000, is at the high end of majors reviewed by the National Association of Colleges and Employers, or NACE.

Uh, this sounds like they must be citing an aggregate statistic that is definitely not for "top-tier" CS grads. $75K does not sound like a real number for people landing jobs at tech companies (as opposed to tech jobs at companies whose primary value is something else).

Re: Computer-science majors graduate into a world of fewer opportunities

#23

Post by dangus »

abeppu wrote: post #22

> To be sure, comp-sci majors from top-tier schools can still get jobs. Pay, projected to be at about $75,000, is at the high end of majors reviewed by the National Association of Colleges and Employers, or NACE. Uh, this sounds like they must be citing an aggregate statistic that is definitely not for "top-tier" CS grads. $75K does not sound like a real number for people landing jobs at tech companies (as opposed to…

Don’t forget that tech jobs at real tech companies exist outside of Silicon Valley.

If you work for a tech company in the Midwest or the South, $75k is a perfectly reasonable junior salary.

Re: Computer-science majors graduate into a world of fewer opportunities

#24

Post by AnimalMuppet »

jbotz wrote: post #18
AnimalMuppet wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What kinds of careers are out there for Math grads?

Insurance actuary. Math degrees are mandatory in the insurance industry all the way to the C-suite.

Right, and if I didn't have an emphasis in statistics?

Re: Computer-science majors graduate into a world of fewer opportunities

#25

Post by koof »

Bostonian wrote: post #2

General question -- what should the career-oriented student who is not obsessed with CS and programming consider studying instead of or in addition to CS?

General answer: anything that you're interested in.

You are in the middle of a large body of water. Swim towards any island that looks close. Make sure you get to an island before choosing a different one to swim to. You'll find that becoming a stronger swimmer was the main benefit of the journey.

Personally, after 10 years in the industry, I'm convinced that psychology is going to be extremely important in the coming years. (But maybe this is a budding middle-manager in me talking.)

Re: Computer-science majors graduate into a world of fewer opportunities

#27

Post by Mc91 »

dangus wrote: post #23
abeppu wrote: post #22

> To be sure, comp-sci majors from top-tier schools can still get jobs. Pay, projected to be at about $75,000, is at the high end of majors reviewed by the National Association of Colleges and Employers, or NACE. Uh, this sounds like they must be citing an aggregate statistic that is definitely not for "top-tier" CS grads. $75K does not sound like a real number for people landing jobs at tech companies (as opposed to…

Don’t forget that tech jobs at real tech companies exist outside of Silicon Valley. If you work for a tech company in the Midwest or the South, $75k is a perfectly reasonable junior salary.

I work for a Fortune 100 in one of the 20 biggest metros in the US, $75k is a standard salary for juniors/associates getting an offer right out of college. Some may get a little more, some get less, I haven't met any who got $100k or more right out of school. None of them I've talked to came from a top-tier CS school.

Re: Computer-science majors graduate into a world of fewer opportunities

#28

Post by specproc »

koof wrote: post #25
Bostonian wrote: post #2

General question -- what should the career-oriented student who is not obsessed with CS and programming consider studying instead of or in addition to CS?

General answer: anything that you're interested in. You are in the middle of a large body of water. Swim towards any island that looks close. Make sure you get to an island before choosing a different one to swim to. You'll find that becoming a stronger swimmer was the main benefit of the journey. Personally, after 10 years in the industry, I'm convinced that psychology is going to be extremely important in the comin…

Yeah, agreed. I've got a load of what Americans would call "liberal arts" under my belt and do tech for non-profits.

If you like cars, study automotive design and go work there. Ditto anything really.

Domain knowledge is a real differentiator.

Re: Computer-science majors graduate into a world of fewer opportunities

#29

Post by abeppu »

abeppu wrote: post #22

> To be sure, comp-sci majors from top-tier schools can still get jobs. Pay, projected to be at about $75,000, is at the high end of majors reviewed by the National Association of Colleges and Employers, or NACE. Uh, this sounds like they must be citing an aggregate statistic that is definitely not for "top-tier" CS grads. $75K does not sound like a real number for people landing jobs at tech companies (as opposed to…

E.g. this tool from Berkeley lets you select (but not deep link ...) by major and see median salary by year.

https://career.berkeley.edu/start-exploring/where-do-cal-gra...

- EECS goes from $116 in 2018-2019 to $129K in 2022-2023

- CS goes from $118K in 2018-2019 to $135K in 2022-2023 (I'm actually surprised that this is slightly higher than EECS, given that I think it's supposed to be the easier option).

Of course data from 2023-2024 grads won't be available for some time. But my point is that 75k would be like a 40% drop of median salaries. Is the dip really at that scale from last year's grads to this year's?

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