Computer Career
A mother asked me about future career for her son who is entering university this year. She is worried that her son may not be able to get a job when he graduates because this financial crisis may extend to several years. She also told me that her son is good with mathematics and computer and he is considering enrolling in software engineering or management of Information systems.
I told her that the collapse of the financial market and the global crisis may help make software careers more attractive to students than before. Few years ago, most students would study banking, finance, accounting, and business because these are “Hot careers” that could make a lot of money. I wish that I could tell all students that if they make choices that based on what is “Hot” rather than what they like, as they are going to be graduating in four years, that field may not be hot anymore then what are they going to do? In this fast changing time, students must determine their future by selecting something they like so that they could build a lifelong career rather than what is only a fluctuation in the job market. I have seen many students select a particular field even they have no skill, no aptitude in it because they thought they could make more money. I strongly advise students to review their aptitude, understand their roles, responsibilities to themselves, to their family, to their society, and to their country. As the future generation, they should strive for high ideas and be prepared for their contributions rather than just making money and acquire material things.
The sad thing is in the past five years, not just in the U.S but almost in every country, number of students enrolling in software fields decreased where number in business fields increased significantly. It seemed that everybody wanted to work in banks, stock markets, finance, trades, export, and making lot of money. Very few people would predict that greed, ambitions, and the unethical practices of a few have led to the collapsing of the entire global economy. Today the financial crisis has put a stop to all of it, shatter many dreams, many ambitions, and many families. As business and finance companies begin to reduce costs and employees, many business students are now panic and do not know what to do.
Because of lower enrollment, most countries are now suffering from a shortage of technology professionals, especially people with computing and software skills. According to the 2007 U.S government study, “The current student number is inadequate for software professionals, as more people retired and more companies are using computers. The U.S will need at least 300.000 software people today and 1 million people by 2010″. Another study have put the number much higher at the 5 million software people needed for global requirements, despite the fact that India and China are graduating over million of engineering a year.
So based on this fact, I told her that by selecting software fields, her son is doing the right thing and when he graduates in four years, the market will still be open because it is impossible to fill all software jobs requirement during that short time. She seemed happy with my answer but still not sure about the career choice: “What do you think about software engineer as contrast with management of Information System? Which one would be better?”
I told her that both of them are excellent choices but it is up to her son to make that decision. Software Engineering is focusing more on the technical aspects where management of information system is focusing on business aspects. One is leading to technical specialty when the other is leading into management. Both careers offer good salaries, good choices for advancing to senior positions and relatively “Safe” in the fast changing world. No matter what the market will change, every company still needs software people because today software is in everything, from manufacturing industry to telecommunication industry, from private sector to government sector. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Information Technology and Software Engineering are among the fields that are the increase fastest in the number of jobs. On top of this list are Network Systems and Business Analyst. The U.S government’s projections call for the number of those jobs to grow from 300,000 in 2006 to 600,000 in 2010. The number of jobs in the Software Engineers, Computer Scientists who build software applications is expected to increase from 800,000 to 1.200,000 by 2010. The number of database administrators will rise from 150,000 to 250,000 in the same period.
“How’s about computer science?” she asked.
I told her that Computer science is also a very good choice but there is a big difference between software engineering and computer science’s training. Many people believe software knowledge is technologies such as: Java, C++, Linux, Windows NT, .Net, etc. Knowledge that allows programmer to build software that can be run in a computer. For example if company hires them to write program in Java, they have to know something about Java and if the company want .Net then they need to know .Net. Although technical skills are important, many companies also want to hire graduates with some management and industry knowledge, they also want strong communication, leadership, and teamwork skills. These are skills taught in Software Engineering and Management in Information systems programs. To be technical is NOT enough but students have to be more versatile in additional areas. They need to understand how economic cycles affects the business, impacts the economy and influence the world. In this highly competitive world, students have to be prepared because they will compete with students, not in their own country, but also from other countries as well. In the past, university taught students to be quiet, follow instructions, work hard but the globalization has changed that, students must demonstrate what they are capable of doing many things such as quality assurance, software as services, network design, system security etc. They must continue to learn the latest technologies that may offer news ways, new opportunities to build software and solve business problems. They must be software professional with ethical practices because some of them will be leaders for a team or for a company. They will have to demonstrate that they have the knowledge and skills to lead the team or the company to be successful. They will have to maintain a positive but honest attitude communication with everybody, solve problems as they come up. They will have to stay calm when things do not work well, they will have to create strategy and goals to meet global demands and they will have to mentor someone who will replace them. There are so many things to learn so all software people will have to be lifelong learners because nothing will remain the same.
Sources
- Blogs of Prof. John Vu, Carnegie Mellon University
