Computer Science Career Information

(Available as http://www.cs.luc.edu/~rig/cscareers/cscareers.html)

• The latest (2008) 10-year Bureau of Labor Statistics projections for highest growth state that "Computer and mathematical science occupations ... are expected to grow more than twice as fast as the average for all occupations in the economy." Top 4 occupations: "Network systems and data communications analysts" (53.4%), "Home health aides" (50.0%), "Personal and home care aides" (46.0%), and "Computer software engineers, applications" (34.0%). Reference: http://www.bls.gov/news.release/ecopro.t06.htm .
• Computing-related jobs constitute 5 out of the 10 highest paid jobs from among the 30 fastest growing jobs in an analysis of slightly older BLS statistics.
  Reference: http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/Careers/01/26/cb.top.jobs.pay/index.html (local copy here).
• A Chicago Sun Times article of 11/4/08 on the top 10 recession-proof jobs based on the book 150 Best Recession-Proof Jobs lists the top 3 as Computer systems analyst, Network systems and data communications analyst, and Network and computer systems administrator.
  Recent (2011) CareerCast.com ratings based on work environment, stress, physical demands, and hiring outlook have the 5 best jobs in America as math and computing related jobs, with software engineer at the top.
  Reference: http://www.careercast.com/jobs/content/jobs-rated/10-best-jobs-2011 .
• Computer science graduates are in consistently high demand by employers at all degree levels.
  References: http://www.jobweb.com/studentarticles.aspx?id=1219 (local copy here),
  http://www.graduatingengineer.com/futuredisc/compsci.html (local copy here).
• A key study concludes offshoring is probably good for the economy and computing professions in the U.S.; there are more IT jobs here today than at the height of the "dot.com boom" in the late 1990s.
  Reference: http://www.acm.org/globalizationreport/summary.htm (local copy here).
• College enrollments in computer science are down nationally, creating increased opportunity for students who pursue education in this area. A survey in 2005 found that just 1 in 75 college students planned to major in computer science, down from 1 in 30 in year 2000. Enrollments are just beginning to tick back up after 5 years of declines.
  References: http://www.cra.org/CRN/articles/march09/Bizot_taulbee.html (local copy here),
  http://www.cra.org/CRN/articles/may05/vegso (local copy here).
• Recent data shows job openings far exceeding degree production.
  Reference: http://usacm.acm.org/usacm/weblog/index.php?p=542 (UPDATED GRAPHIC)
• Studying computer science leads to a wide variety of career possibilities in a very diverse set of industries and agencies. References: Forrester Research Data Reported by Prentice Hall,
  http://www.khake.com/page17.html (local copy here),
  http://careerservices.rutgers.edu/Mcomputer.html (local copy here),
  http://www.luc.edu/career/pdfs/computer.pdf (local copy here),
  http://www.cs.luc.edu/jobs#placement

See also http://www.cs.luc.edu/~rig/cscareers/mythsandfacts.html and http://www.cs.luc.edu/~rig/cscareers/morelinks.html