I assume you are toying with the idea of studying computer science but aren’t sure that’s the right option for you. If your reasons for hesitating to embark on a computer science career is due to uncertainties about the benefits of doing so, this article should give you enough reasons to proceed. We present the top 10 reasons why you should consider studying computer science.
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Computer Science Holds High Employment Prospects
Graduates of computer science are in demand across all industries. There are so many places a computer science student can work that it’s impractical to count all.
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Your years in college as a computer science student would expose you to the industrial applications of computer. During your one year or six months IT, you gain first-hand experience in using the knowledge to serve companies. And this prepares you for success in the job market. The most prominent employers of computer science graduates are in the industries of:
Aerospace and defense, agriculture, financial services, healthcare, manufacturing, public and third sectors, retail, and telecommunication among many others.
In these industries, graduates of computer science assume positions such as Data Analysts, Data Analyst Development programs, Application Analyst and a host of other positions.
While there is an innumerable opportunity for employment as a computer science graduate, you need some skills to actually land the lucrative jobs out there. Computer science is an ever-expanding field of study and you must keep abreast of the latest development in your field and the industry you are looking to work in. Most high-paying jobs require the latest knowledge and skills in certain fields without which you won’t make an ideal candidate for the job. To reap the benefits of your computer science professionals in the job market, you want to master the following skills which must reflect in your CV or Resume.
- Learn and perfect a good number of programming languages
- Software tools and packages
- Network design and engineering
- Multimedia design
- Team work and leadership
- Great communication and problem-solving skills
- Report writing, time management and organization
- Numeracy, commercial awareness and negotiations
Wide Option of Specializations
Because the field of computer science is so vast, you won’t lack something interesting to pick. This helps reduce the competition in the computer science job market as there are so many professionals with differing skills. This is not only available in your college or university but also and especially in post-graduate studies.
There are plenty of niche-specific courses a computer science graduate can pick and study online or in some specialized institution. And the good thing is, while these courses can be intimidating for non tech-savvy people, a computer science graduate will always find it easier to understand these new fields that are continually being developed. In fact, computer science is the fastest-growing science due to its application in almost every aspect of human activities.
Your task is just to keep an ear to the ground for new breakthroughs and the opportunities they might offer in the job market. You’ll find many computer science students taking specialized courses to meet certain requirements of a particular high-paying job offer they have or are interested in applying for. Some of the many specializations in computer science include:
- Artificial Intelligence (AI)
- Machine Learning (ML)
- Data Science
- Software Engineering
- Human Computer Interaction (HCI)
- Cybersecurity
- Cloud Computing
- Information Systems
- Digital / Interactive Media
Immense Entrepreneurship Opportunities
There are so many entrepreneurship avenues for computer science graduates I don’t even know with which to start. But as this article targets fresh graduates or those without a solid footing in the IT industry, I’ll concentrate on entrepreneurship opportunities that aren’t capital-intensive.
If you are a brain, the chances of developing software worth buying are pretty high. All you need to do is identify a problem, developed a solution, locate those who need such solutions, and effectively reach out to them. It is pretty sad to see many computer science graduates looking for jobs when they are supposed to have what it takes to create one for themselves and others. This is likely due to a lack of imagination, misplacement of priority and it could be a lack of intelligence or passion in the field.
Many average computer science graduates are making it big time deploying software on the Play Store for people to buy. You could master any of the popular operating systems like iOS or Android and develop games and other applications for solving certain problems. Games are particularly very profitable as they can be addictive. Some other software could be “speech to text”, word processing files, photo editing software, and many more.
You can also start a small software company and advertise your offerings to small and medium businesses around you. For example, you can develop certain apps for banks, websites, organizations, and pretty much any company that deals with the masses. Again, you can start an online agency for developing and maintaining websites, offering SEO services, and consultations in managing websites and company software.
Computer Science Has a Wide Applicability
It is hard to think of an area of human endeavor where computer science is not heavily deployed. Being a computer science graduate prepares you for many things you might decide to do later in life, like starting and running a business.
You might study computer science but end up in the poultry business, crop production, running a school, or anything at all. Every business involves the use of data at certain points. Being a computer science graduate allows you to quickly identify areas where certain programs can make your work much easier and faster. And some of those programs may be even free or one you develop on your own.
The point here is that in any business or industry you later find yourself in, chances are, you could employ your computer knowledge to manage it better and even gain a competitive advantage over those who do not possess such knowledge and need to outsource.
High Freelancing Potentials
Apart from content writing, graphics, video and audio services, there doesn’t seem to be any skill out there with as many opportunities in freelancing as services related to computer science. Every website you see online is built by a computer science expert or at least someone knowledgeable enough in the field of computer science to build a website. That goes for applications, databases, and much more.
Because outsourcing technical computer operations to freelancers are more cost-effective, many companies hire a good number of freelancers as part of their team. Not only that, you can own your website where you advertise freelance services like app and software development, website design, and many other IT-related services.
On many job boards and marketplaces like Upwork, Indeed, Fiver, etc., you find thousands of requests for computer science services, and often, there aren’t enough freelancers to pick up all the jobs.
An important step you need to take to become a successful freelancer is developing your skills to an exceptional level. Companies hire the service of freelancers to get quality. With more freelancers online, the chances of a company getting the right fit for a job is much higher than if they tried to outsource locally unless the company hires the services of a recruitment agency. Searching for freelancers only is the cheapest way to add talent to your team. And in most cases, a freelancer will cost you a lot less than an in-house team. This is the main reason why the gig economy continues to grow with plenty of opportunities for computer science students.
High Salary Potential
Just like with any other profession, the amount of money you make as a computer scientist depends on your location, qualification, industry or niche, and your status in the company or organization. However, on average, computer scientists make much more than their counterparts in other industries. The highest-earning computer scientists in the world seem to be in the USA, where you’ll find IT managers making as much as $136000 a year. The least in the U.S seems to be computer support specialists whose annual salaries average out at $52000, but with possibilities to earn more.
As a computer scientist in Nigeria, you can expect to earn from N100k to N200k depending on where you find yourself. This can be more in places like Abuja main city where living costs are higher. But despite the comparatively low salary for Nigerian computer scientists, they still do much better than their counterparts from other courses in the country. If you are a brain and really want to make dough out of your expertise, migrating to developed countries might be the best option for you.
Computer Science Makes You Smarter
Computer science makes you smart in the sense that you’ll easily learn to use different products, gadgets, and machines that use computer programming to operate. And in today’s world, there are so many such equipments. IoT is a good example. You’ll also find services that have advanced options for those with knowledge of programming, like when you design a personal blog using WordPress, there are several tweaks you can make your website that the average computer user isn’t likely to know.
You also live a smarter life online and be able to protect yourself from cyber criminals because you are likely to know many of their tricks. A computer science student should also learn faster to use software and be able to navigate it much better than the average computer user.
Computer Science Helps Advance the Society
Computer science is of great use to the world in that almost every aspect of our lives now involve computers. With the coming of the IoT, life will even get smarter. We see computer software and modeling adopted in the diagnosis of many diseases, in research to find solutions to problems in our societies, like climate change. Computer software and technology are also used extensively in agriculture, defense, financial institutions and every other area vital to human life.
We live in more advanced societies today thanks to the immense contribution of computers in making our lives easier and helping us solve problems faster than ever before.
Self-Improvement Through Increased Productivity
You get to improve your productivity by using computers more effectively as a computer scientist. Not only that but also you get to help others make the best of their computer devices.
Imagine how beneficial it’ll be for you to be able to effectively use the internet in advancing your knowledge and conducting research. With good computer skills, you should perform very well in institutions due to your ability to use the internet for research and solve problems like computation and processing of data. A good example is the use of an excel VBA to run some complex operations that saves you tons of time compared to the average user.
Great Scholarship Opportunities
There are organizations and governments that want to increase the knowledge of computers in society and also the number of computer scientists. You’ll always find these scholarship opportunities to study some specialized or advanced course in computer science. Being a computer science graduate qualifies you for most such scholarship programs and helps you build a better portfolio to increase your employment chances.
There are other reasons why a computer science career could be the best option for you right now. You must consider your passion and the prospect of suspect in any course before studying it, especially if you intend to be employed not to create jobs. So much depends on your passion for any profession. Without a passion for computer science, I’ll advise you not to try it as the course can get really complex, especially when you start learning to program. There’s a lot of technical jargon and confusing stuff in computer science, but for the one who has passion and is determined to learn, that’ll present no overwhelming challenge.
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