What Every Computer Science Student Should Know
When I was a Computer Science student, I sure had a lot of questions. Especially questions directed towards my future as a professional. I used to ask my self, what comes next after graduation? What should I do to prepare myself for that moment? These were amongst the many questions that crossed through my mind. I sure received advice from many of my professors, which was great. Now, I want to pay it forward by writing this article. I want to mentor other students that are in the position I was as a former student. Today I am going to share things I think all Computer Science students should know to set up their careers for success upon graduation. So, let’s get started.
College is a phase in your career
When I was completing my degree, it sure felt like a long time. However, now that I look at it, completing your degree is just a segment of your professional career. Perhaps one of the most critical phases in your life as a professional. College is a time where you gather the fundamental knowledge that will serve as the stepping stone in your career. That is, you are going to learn the essentials of Computer Science and how to apply them to real-world scenarios. More on the importance of learning the fundamentals of Computer Science and Programming, check out this article. Nonetheless, technology is changing at the speed of light. Thus, it is your job as a professional to keep up with the latest technologies and make your skillset valuable to the current state of the marketplace.
What I am trying to convey here is that to be a successful professional, don’t settle for the skills you already have under your belt. Stay hungry, curious and keep learning more.
Start preparing your career path early
This goes hand-to-hand with the previous tip. As the 4 -degree is just a period your life, you must crafting the direction of your career before graduation. My recommendation is to start doing it in your sophomore and senior year. By the time you have entered your sophomore or senior year in the Computer Science program, you will have already taken some programming courses and acquire the knowledge to have a rough idea where do you want to work in the future.
Sure, I know it is difficult to choose due to the overwhelming career options out there. So, my advice to those who still don’t know what they want to do as a career, take these two final years of your degree and start experimenting with areas of interesting. You can do this by working on side-projects, participating in hackathons and taking courses that are of your interest. By doing this, you will test the waters and see what you are good at, also, what you are passionate about, which is very important.
Networking is essential for your career’s success
This one relates to preparing your career path before graduation. You should start cultivating professional relationships as soon as possible. By going to meetups in your area, participating in hackathons and other technology-related activities inside and outside of your campus. Talk with professionals that work in the area of your interest. This can be web and mobile developers. Or even people that work in other fields such as Artificial Intelligence, Data Science, among others. Connect with them on LinkedIn and ask if they know about internship opportunities. By doing this, you are making long-lasting professional connections that can help you exponentially in your career.
Hence, I suggest that you start working on making professional relationships before you graduate. By doing this, you are setting up your career for success, in my opinion of course.
There you have it, things I think that every Computer Science student should know to prepare for their professional careers for success. If you liked this article and obtained value from it, go ahead and click on that applause button.
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Hope it helps!
Photo by Tirachard Kumtanom from Pexels
Originally published at yadielcabrera.com on July 6, 2018.