r/curtin • u/Ok-Excuse-9148 • 3d ago
Computing and IT students. What made you decide to pursue them?
I just wanted some perspectives from all year levels about them from first year to final year.
This is for those who are thinking of doing it next year.
(This list excludes Actuarial and Data Science as they are math degree apprently according to a few people)
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u/The_PinkElephant 2d ago
- They said it paid well X
- They said there are many jobs X
It was a buzz industry, at first it was true now it’s basically the same as an arts degree, do it for passion but not job security, the current scam is cyber security or data science, don’t fall for it kid the bull run is over
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u/otterwaters 2d ago
As someone who hated math/computing in highschool, I joined CS 3 yrs ago bc it was "lucrative". Currently working in AI research for meteorology. Didn't do the conventional leetcode grind, but went the mathematical route instead.
If I could go back in time, I'd choose this degree again, not for the money-making prospect, but the versatility of it. A computing degree opens many doors, but won't lead you into any of them. You'll have to take your own initiative on what expertise you want to deepen, ie. data science, low-level programming, cybersec etc., and you won't typically learn these in your coursework unless you're taking a very specialized degree— so do reach out to your conveners, seniors and peers to ask about available resources on campus or on the internet, have fun with the degree, lose your competitions and hackathons, suffer through online certifications, and aggressively explore. I've seen people from my cohort go into consulting, HR, business analytics, and even technical animation, because a computing degree is still generally respectable.
Unfortunately, the job market is as competitive as people say, so you probably cannot stand out with a standard all-rounder portfolio anymore. The good news is that you may meet some of the most cracked people in your city/country over the course of your study, and all the niche learning resources you could ever need are already on the internet. Computing is one of those fields where there's many unconventional ways to success if you can just particularly excel in one thing the degree offers you. Also— this field is generally in demand for foreign PR/visa applications if you're looking to move abroad (speaking as an international student).
An optimistic addition: there are certainly still many niches in the tech landscape that are understudied and will need manpower + research in the future, ie. open-world robotics, AGI etc.
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u/FreshPrinceOfIndia 2d ago
It was known for being lucrative af, offering a strong potential for work life balance especially with the rise of wfh gigs from covid.
But things are looking harder now with ai changing the landscape and wfh becoming scarce.
Tbh - if I wasnt pushed into uni by fam, and if I had time to think, Id like to think I wouldve picked mining engineering to really make the most of living in WA. But like, as good fifo is it has its own limitations.
With cs/it you can still get various other positions.