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Career Paths in Computer Science

What are some career paths you can take with a Computer Science degree?

The most common path that UNC Computer Science graduates take Is Software Engineering. However, many different paths exist that may not necessarily be engineering-focused!

Spring 2024 Update: With the rise of AI in the world of tech, pay attention to how it affects the skills needed for a job in the industry. This article outlines smart career moves you can take as you prepare to enter the tech hiring space.

 

 

Software Roles

Software Engineer

A Software Engineer or Software Developer is responsible for the entire development, testing, and maintenance of software. Fluency in programming languages that will be used to write code is a necessity to perform well in this job. Technical creativity is also an integral part of this role, as there will be problem-solving as well. 

Front End Developer

A Front-End Developer is responsible for creating the visual and interactive aspects of a website or web application. Their primary role is to build the user interface (UI) and ensure that users can easily interact with the system. The focus here is everything that users see and experience in their browsers. These developers work closely with designers and back-end developers to ensure seamless functionality between visual front-end components and back-end functionality.

Back End Developer

Back-end developers are responsible for building and maintaining the server-side components of a web application or software. These developers work behind the scenes to ensure that the application’s logic, database, and servers are running smoothly. Their day-to-day may involve creating and managing the infrastructure that supports the user interface and enables data processing, storage, and retrieval.

Mobile Developer

The role of a Mobile Developer is characterized by designing, building, and maintaining applications for mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets. Mobile developers work in operating system environments such as iOS and Android but may also work in hybrid app environments. 

A few more Software Roles: Web Developer • Application Developer

Analyst Roles

Cybersecurity Analyst

The role of a Cybersecurity Analyst is one of extreme value to an organization, as they are responsible for detecting cyber threats and executing changes to prevent attacks. They do this by managing the tools to monitor activity on the company network, analyzing reports from these tools to pinpoint unusual behavior, and applying security patches, just to name a few.

Data Scientist

A Data Scientist’s overarching role is to analyze and organize large amounts of data and make it understandable for key stakeholders within an organization. They often do this by using software that they either programmed themselves or were already in use by a company. Additionally, data scientists might be asked to build Al platforms that can be used in the automation of certain business processes.

Technical Analyst

A Technical Analyst is a professional who specializes in analyzing financial markets, technology systems, or business processes using data and technical tools. Their role can vary depending on the field they work in—such as finance, IT, or business operations—but their core function involves leveraging technical expertise to solve problems, make predictions, or provide insights.

Designer Roles

User Interface (UI) Designer

UI Designers are responsible for designing the visual elements of a product’s interface to ensure an aesthetically pleasing, user-friendly experience. They focus on the look and feel of a digital product, such as a website, mobile app, or software, making sure that it is intuitive, visually appealing, and aligned with the brand’s identity.

User Experience (UX) Designer

A UX designer’s job is to make a product usable, accessible, and appealing for the user. They accomplish this by diving deeply into the user base to understand users’ needs, which often includes conducting user research. Then, they take the information they learn from their research to inform their design process. UX designers also conduct user testing to validate the effectiveness of their designs.

Client-Based Roles

Product Manager

A product manager (PM) manages one or several products from the inception to the phase-out (ending) stages. They collaborate with several different areas of a company in areas such as software engineering, sales, marketing, finance, etc. Strong communication skills are almost essential in this type of role, as well as having the extensive technical knowledge to explain and diagnose problems.

Technical Consultant

The exact job description of a technical consultant is likely to vary from one company to the next. However, a common set of duties includes things such as troubleshooting and solving technical problems that clients are facing and designing and testing new technologies. Tech consultants often go to the physical location of clients, so the ability and desire to travel are important in this role.

AI Roles

Prompt Engineer

A prompt engineer is a professional specializing in crafting and optimizing prompts used to interact with AI models, particularly in natural language processing systems like large language models (LLMs) or image generation models. Their main goal is to design clear, effective instructions (prompts) that guide the AI in producing accurate, useful, and relevant responses or outputs.

Quality Assurance Analyst

The role of quality assurance analyst includes thoroughly planning and testing products, running tests for quality control, analyzing test results, evaluating software for release readiness, and more. These analysts work to protect software and ensure that products all meet a certain standard for project security and quality.

Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning (AI/ML) Engineer

Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning engineers specialize in designing, developing, and deploying AI and ML models to solve complex problems, automate processes, and derive insights from data. This role is an intersection of software engineering, data science, and mathematics where the objective is to design intelligent systems that can learn from data and make decisions or predictions.

Engineering Roles

Site Reliability Engineer

A site reliability engineer specializing in ensuring the reliability, performance, and scalability of large-scale systems and infrastructure. SREs blend software engineering and IT operations, applying a software-driven approach to system administration tasks with the goal of improving system reliability and automating many aspects of system management.

Cloud Engineer

Cloud engineers do a variety of tasks that emphasize creating and optimizing cloud-based applications. These engineers work to create and integrate applications that help users access data and communicate within a network. Cloud engineers may support the services they create and troubleshoot any issues that arise with the integration of cloud systems into a company’s everyday operations.

Network Engineer

A network engineer is responsible for designing, implementing, managing, and maintaining the infrastructure of computer networks within an organization. This role ensures that data can be transmitted between computers, devices, and servers efficiently and securely. Includes ensuring network security, managing routers, designing the network configuration, etc.

A few more Engineering Roles: Cybersecurity Engineer • Systems Architect • Database Administrator • Data Engineer

 

 

Learn about what paths UNC students have taken after graduation: Graduation Outcomes