Andrew Sudweeks

5/7/2020

CSIS 1030-406

Rich Manning

CSIS 1030 Signature Assignment

For My CSIS 1030 Signature assignment I have chosen to look into the top ten computer

science major careers. I found that the various sites that had top ten lists didn’t necessarily list the same

ten careers and the ones they did have in common weren’t listed in the same order. To counteract this

problem I intend to to identify what place each site had each career in and to only list careers that

appeared on more than one site. I unfortunately couldn’t keep them in a specific order as the various

careers ended up in different rankings on each site fairly consistantly.

Software Developer/Engineer comes in first on all of the sites I have chosen to use for this

project. Software Developers are responsible for designing apps and systems. I was a little confused by

this career option since only one of the sources I looked at differentiated it from computer

programming which caused me to wonder what the difference between the two was. After A little more

digging it seems that the difference between a software engineer and a computer programmer is that

while a software engineer may design software he/she doesn’t necessarily build it while a computer

programmer may build software he/she doesn’t necessarily design it. Software engineers need to be

fluent in the computer languages required for the software they are designing. They also need to have

good communication skills to obtain performance information on the software they are designing from

end-users. Finally three of the sources I found list the average median pay for software developers as

being between $80,018 and $105,590.

Web Developer is listed second on mendeley.com and careerkarma.com but is listed in sixth on

glassdoor.com and thebalencecareers.com. Web developers are responsible for designing and building

websites. They may need to work with the “front end”, the “back end” or the “full stack” and will likely
need a functioning knowledge of the following computer languages: JavaScript, HTML, and CSS.

They have a need for good communication skills since they often work in industries that are non-

technical and thus will frequently be working with people who lakc the same technical understanding

that the web developer possess. It may also useful for a web developer to have an understanding of UX

design. The listed average median income for web developers as $66,130 and $75,487.

Hardware engineer is listed third on thebalencecareer.com and careerkarma.com but is not listed

at all on the other two sites. Hardware engineers design, develop and test, hardware components such

as circuit boards, memory devices and routers. Hardware engineers need both creativity and technical

know to develop hardware and the perseverance to repeatedly test them to insure that they are

functioning properly. A drive to learn is a must in order to keep on top of new trends in their field. The

listed average median income for Hardware engineers is $114,600 on thebalancecareers.com.

Systems analyst or computer systems analyst is listed fourth on thebalancecareers.com, eighth

on mendeley.com, sixth on careerkarma.com and isn’t listed at all on glassdoor.com. Systems analysts

assess the computer systems in an organization and make recommendations on how to enhance the

organization’s efficiency through changes in their software and hardware. Systems analysts need to

have good communication and interpersonal skills since they are regularly making contact with

managers and employees and need to convince them to adopt technological solutions that will help

meet organizational needs. They must also have the curiosity and thirst for learning to track tends and

research cutting edge systems that are emerging. Finally they should have the business skills to

recognize what is best for the organization. The listed incomes for systems analysts are: $88,740 and

$87,220.

Computer network architect is listed fifth on thebalancecareers.com, seventh on mendeley.com

and seventh on careerkarma.com. Network architects design, implement and maintain the network and

data communication systems systems. They test systems before they are implemented, solve problems

that occur and evaluate products and services that are available in the marketplace. The analytical skills
needed to evaluate computer networks are a must have for network architects. Network architects

frequently are required to have previous experience in network administration. The listed incomes for

network architects are: $109,020 and $101,210.

Information security analyst or cybersecurity analyst is listed second on glassdoor.com, third on

mendeley.com and seventh on thebalancecareers.com. Information security analysts monitor the

networks of organizations for security breaches and investigates the breaches that occur. They also

create, use and install software to protect confidential information to aid in this task they research data

security trends so as to anticipate potential threats. In order to check network security an information

security analyst might simulate attacks on the network. This has the added benefit of helping to reveal

weakness in the system thus helping them to find ways to further secure the system. When a security

breach does occur an information security analyst makes a report for senior staff detailing how the

breach occurred, how to prevent it from reoccurring and the extent of the damage. Information security

analysts should be proficient in a range of programming languages, have a solid understanding of

networking, operating systems, IDS, IPS, cloud computing and malware in addition to having good

communication and problem solving skills. The incomes listed for information security analysts are:

$92,600, $98,350 and $79.738.

Database Administrator (DA) is listed fifth on glassdoors.com, fourth on mendeley.com, fifth on

careerkarma.com and seventh on this list. DA’s manage databases for an organization or company, this

includes keeping them up to date, identifying and fixing bugs in the system, creating databases and

modifying existing ones, ensuring that the databases are secure and ensuring that they are backed up.

DA’s need to be proficient in SQL since most database systems use it, a dedication to detail, and strong

analytical skills. The listed incomes for DA’s are: $84,950 and $80,683.

Computer and information research scientist (CIRS) is listed ninth on mendeley.com and eighth

on thebalancecareers.com and eighth on this list (unfortunately at this point very few of the remaining

careers aren’t listed on more than two of my sources). CIRSes invent new computer languages, tools,
and methods to advance computer technology and find new innovative uses for existing technologies in

a number of fields including business, medicine, and of course science. A master’s degree is usually

required to be a CIRS though some government positions can be obtained with only a bachelor’s

degree. They create algorithms that detect and analyze patterns in very large data sets and help improve

and develop fundamental systems that are essential to modern computing. Ingenuity and problem

solving skills are essential for people entering this career since ideas sometimes do not work as

intended. The listed incomes for CIRS careers are: $111,840 and $118,370.

Game developer/designer (GD) is listed ninth on careerkarma.com, fourth on glassdoor.com and

ninth on this list. GD’s create video games and very often works in teams. A GD may be responsible for

animating characters and other entities, designing characters and other entities, testing software,

designing and/or animating the game world, designing and/or animating the UI, and fixing bugs.

Knowledge in programming language is necessary for GD’s and in my own digging around trying to

figure out what language to learn for that purpose I found that C++ and C# were the most frequently

recommended for the job though JavaScript did come up. Problem solving, team work, and

communication skills are very useful for GD’s along side perseverance when testing and bug fixing.

The only listed income for GD’s comes from glassdoors.com and is $73,182.

IT project manager (ITPM) is listed tenth on thebalancecareers.com, ninth on glassdoor.com

and tenth on this list. ITPM’s plan, manage and coordinate IT projects hence the name. This involves

scheduling, budgets, coordinating teams of programmers/developers, and putting together project road

maps. They also analyze problems and propose solution that enhance productivity and thus problem

solving skills are a necessity for ITPM’s. They also require a strong understanding of technology and

computer systems in general in addition to solid communication skills. The incomes listed for ITPM’s

are: $87,907 and $97,312.

That concludes my paper going over the top ten careers in computer science. I had some trouble

figuring out what to put where since unfortunately a top ten list is by nature a subjective thing as it
depends on the thoughts and opinions of the person or people writing the list. This shows in how the

different sites ranked the different careers and given that the instruction for this assignment were not

clear at all this is what I ended up with. It does appear that the most valuable skills for a computer

science major are communication, and problem solving as they are major skills in almost all of the

careers in this list. The other skills depend on what career you intend to go into. I personally intend to

go into the more programming oriented careers such as game development, computer programming,

software engineering and database management. I can’t say for sure which is my top pick but I can say

that database management is my bottom pick.

References

1. https://careerkarma.com/blog/computer-science-career-paths/

2. https://www.thebalancecareers.com/top-jobs-for-computer-science-majors-2059634

3. https://www.mendeley.com/careers/article/top-10-computer-science-careers/

4. https://www.glassdoor.com/blog/12-great-jobs-for-computer-science-majors/