Careers
Should you Major in Computer Science?
If you are beginning your college career or considering changing careers, you may not be certain whether Computer Science is right for you. Here are some links to pages to look at to try to get a better idea.
- Top 10 Reasons to Major in Computing, PDF by ACM
- Why Computer Science is Awesome, Stanford
- Computer Science, Wikipedia
- Code.org
- Job Statistics on Computer Science
- Search google, bing, etc. for "why major in computer science", or "should I major in compute science"
- Talk to someone with a similar background to you that has majored in computer science. If you are in high school, ask a councilor if they can put in touch who someone who came from your high school recently and majored in computer science.
Most people are not 100% sure until after you have taken the first 1-2 programming courses in the CS major. At ISU, that means taking either CS 101 Fundamentals of Computing or CS 151 Intro to Computer Science, which are offered every term and are normally offered online at least once per year. See also CS Programs.
Finding Positions to Apply For
Here are some tips on looking for jobs - whether that is internships during your studies or a full time position after graduating. First, take a look at Alumni for companies that ISU CS students have worked at. Second, take a look at lists online of the largest employers in whatever region you want to work in. A few lists for Indiana are given next. Note that some companies do NOT advertise with services like Monster, etc. You should check their websites for positions. You can also use a search engine (i.e., google) with queries like "Eli Lilly Computer Science position" or "Terre Haute programmer internship". And you can check jobs sites like Indeed.com, Monster, etc.
- ISU CS Placements
- Indiana - largest publicly traded companies
- Indiana - largest employers
- Vigo County - top employers
- See also information from the ISU Career Center on searching for jobs.
- A few places to look for summer internships - ISU SURE, NSF REU, DOE SULI, NIH SIP
Position titles/keywords that you can pay attention to - programmer, software developer, software engineer, web, database, data science, systems, networking, mobile, cloud.
Note that there are far more positions posted than you can apply for. You should be realistic about which positions you take the time to apply to (i.e., ones where you meet the minimum qualifications). It may also help to focus in on one type of position (e.g., web developer, or database admin, or iOS app development) so that you can work on being more competitive for that type of position (e.g., by studying, working on a project, etc.).
CS-jobs email list - ISU current CS students and CS alumni can sign up for the CS-jobs email list to receive announcements of jobs that are sent to the department. Note that this is an opt in list - you need to sign yourself up. All postings that are sent to the department related to CS positions are forwarded to cs-jobs.
Applying for Jobs Advice
Advice on all aspects of applying for jobs (resume, interview, where to apply,etc.) - Applying for Jobs/Internships.
