How to Supplement your Education as a CS Student

During my experience as a Computer Science student and now as a professional, I have learned that educating yourself does not stop when you complete your 4-year degree. As a matter of a fact, if you stop learning as soon as you graduate, you are making a big mistake my friend. In my opinion, of course.

Technology changes at the speed of light. New programming languages, frameworks, and software development tools are constantly being discovered and implemented in our society. So, if you don’t stay up to date, your knowledge may become obsolete on a particular technology. Which can result in a loss of a job.

Do you want that? I sure don’t.

However, the 4-year degree is the start of your educational path. The degree gives you the fundamentals that you later can build upon throughout your career. Foundational Computer Science principles, such as variables, control structures, loops, data structures and algorithm design. These are the same fundamental concepts you may see in a lot of programming languages. The only difference is, the syntax you use to implement these concepts. But their underlying ideas and purpose, are the same.

Just like in sports, such as basketball, once you know how to properly shoot the ball, do a lay-up, guard your opponent, and all the other fundamental techniques of the sport, you can practice, get better and learn more techniques that can help you as a player. You think the top players of the moment, stopped learning when they were teenagers in and out of the court? I don’t think so. They practice repeatedly, thus, getting better each day. Consistency is key.

So, how can you supplement your education while being a Computer Science student? Here are some ways I used while I was a Computer Science undegrad (and a professional as well).

Take online courses

Thanks to the Internet, there is a lot of great courses out there that cover the latest technologies. Platforms such as Udemy, Coursera, and Lynda.com contain huge libraries with courses on the latest programming languages and techniques that are being used in the tech industry. Topics ranging such as the latest JavaScript frameworks and other interesting topics. Which will help you keep up with the latest trends in the industry. Thus, adding value to your career, skillset and the company you may work in.

Read books and blogs

Also, thanks to Internet, we have access to an immense number of great blogs out there (such as this one, shameless plug 🙂 ). These blogs talk about how to learn these technologies and help you get started. One of the blogs I recommend is the FreeCodeCamp blog on Medium. Check it out!

Alongside books, there a lot of books on emerging topics of Computer Science and software development. There are books on how to learn a new programming language, framework and many more interesting topics that will help enhance your education outside of the classroom.

Go to conferences and meetups

Going to conferences will help you in a lot of ways. First, you will learn about new technologies being used in the market. Also, you will get the chance to meet other fellow developers that can impact your career in the long run. This can happen by resulting in a job offer, participating in innovative projects and making long-lasting professional connections you can add to your LinkedIn account. More on how you can leverage the power of your LinkedIn account can be found here.

Participate in hackathons

Hackathons is another opportunity to learn more things as a Computer Science student. By going to hackathons you are given the golden opportunity to apply the knowledge you currently have. This is done by creating awesome applications (hacks) that will help solve a problem in our society. I know I participated in hackathons as a student, and I don’t regret it. I learned a lot by doing and had the wonderful opportunity to meet other great students and professionals as well. Additionally, a lot of hackathons have prices. Sweet! Right?

Wrapping it all up

In hindsight, the 4-year Computer Science degree is just the start of the process of educating yourself as a professional. This degree gives you the fundamentals, the foundation which you will later build upon as you go through your career. Because of technology changes at a rapid rate, you must not keep learning in order to be successful in the tech industry. So, adding knowledge to your skillsets is a must if you want to land a job in tech and keep it.

So, these are just some of the ways you can use to keep learning while being a Computer Science student. Do you use any other? I would like to know. Share them in the comments below so others can benefit as well.

Not a Computer Science student or software developer? Share this with a friend that is, that you think may benefit from reading this article. My goal is to help as many as upcoming Computer Science and developer as possible.

Note: Would you like some more awesome content on how to become a software developer? Check out my YouTube channel, Felix The Dev, for more tips, tricks and valuable content that will help you and add value to your career as a Computer Science student.

Originally published at yadielcabrera.com on June 6, 2018.