Alternate Career Options For CSE Graduates, Part 2

This week concludes the two-part series, 'Alternate Career Options for CSE Graduates', with advice on choosing a major and a minor. A combination of a CSE major and a non-traditional minor will allow for flexibility and will make a CSE graduate more versatile and well-rounded. Most CSE students will minor in mathematics, physics, or some other hard science, but a minor in humanities or business might give graduates the edge they need. Suggested non-traditional minors include business administration, political science, English, foreign languages, and educational administration. The combination not only shows academic and professional versatility, but will also display well-roundedness.

Actuarial Science, Statistics, or Economics: Data Mining and Risk Analysis are growing areas when organizations need help in analyzing data and making projections based on that data.

Biology/Biochemistry: This combination will prepare a student for a career in bioinformatics. This growing field which combines information technology with biological areas is intriguing. For example, this field could help keep track of production animal conditions or monitor individuals in space.

Art or IPS: Increasingly, information is conveyed to employees and the general public via visual means. A safety manual may be best conveyed through a series of short films or animated simulations. An annual report to stockholders may become more visual and interactive so the recipients can interpret the data in various ways. An art minor would aid in creating a means of reaching the public through a visual medium. Another option would be to pursue a minor through the Individual Program of Studies (IPS), which would enable the student to design their own program to create the skill set effectively pursue a career in film or new media.

Business: A great motivating reason to minor in business would be to aid in the establishing of a start-up. Furthermore, many established businesses need someone who understands technology but that are primarily employed in an administrative role. The combination of a computer science or computer engineering major and a business minor will provide the student with the skill set that will enable them to do so and will show employers that the candidate's scope extends far beyond computer science or computer engineering and its related subjects.

Education: This combination will allow students to pursue an administrative role within a university and will provide them with the IT skills that universities value. It is important that administrators understand the role of technology in a university setting and stay up-to-date on current trends and research. A minor in education or child development can also prepare the computer science or computer engineering major for a career as an instructional technology specialist. Educators will seek new ways to engage students and to measure learning progress. High quality computing tools influenced by education theory would be powerful.

Foreign Language: A surprising number of students pursuing a CSE major combine their degree with a Japanese minor. With companies such as Canon, Fujitsu, Mitsubishi, and Toshiba based in Japan, this combination is valuable for graduates who wish to pursue an administrative or an alternative role within an IT company.

Political Science: The combination of computer science or computer engineering with political science will provide students with the chance to pursue a career in law. There is a significant lack of lawyers that comprehend the influence of technology on the legal system. This suggests the need for lawyers to be well-versed in computer science and computer engineering, being that issues arise over privacy and first-amendment rights. A political science minor can also prepare a graduate for a career as a security agent. Security may involve analysis of external threats but also consideration of internal threats. Employment may be found in either the federal government or a private corporation.

Psychology: A psychology minor can help a student pursue a career in the field of human services. This degree combination may help with user interface/user experience design and research. A psychology, sociology, or geography minor will naturally lead to a career as a sociological researcher. This involves analyzing data that may be helpful to city planners or human services organizations. An understanding in these fields would be helpful in analyzing census data to determine where parks and schools should be built. A psychology or cognitive science minor may also be used in preparation for medical school.

Hopefully this series has provided students with some understanding of alternate career options for CSE graduates. The most important thing to remember while preparing for interviews is to be aware of your transferrable skills and hone them to the job for which you are applying. Also, the applicant should be aware of the relevance of the minor to the field in which they are pursuing. For example, a CSE major combined with an environmental studies minor can prepare a graduate for a role in management within an energy conservation market or in green building. Whichever route a graduate decides to take, with a degree in computer science or computer engineering, employers will be prepared to listen and will probably find graduates with a non-traditional minor interesting. The versatility of a computer science or computer engineering degree is enough to attract most employers, but the addition of a seemingly unrelated minor will increase the candidate's perceived value in the job market.

This series has been compiled and written with the help of Dr. Charles Riedesel, CSE Chief Undergraduate Adviser and Dr. Christine Timm, Associate Director of Career Services at the University of Nebraska- Lincoln.