Career in computer science

We are living in an Information age. The pace of production of this age can be gauged from the fact that the amount of data generated in the last five years is more than the amount of data generated in the entire history before this timeframe. The main engine of this pace is innovation and research in Information and Communication Technologies(ICT). Every day there is so much new happening in this field that people in ICT often feel outpaced by the pace of new development and research.

Take for example, till 2008, smartphones were nowhere in the picture, and then suddenly smartphone, and the android operating systems emerged. While technologists were adjusting to this change, Artificial intelligence, machine learning, deep learning came to the forefront. In parallel, the traditional client-server architecture made way for cloud computing and the cloud became ubiquitous and the whole notion of DevOps changed in a span of 2-3 years. Cybercrime, Datacenter technologies, Software-defined network, and a host of other development happened in a short frame of time that an engineering degree syllabus started looking dwarf and incomplete. Therefore, the biggest challenge which Computer Scientist, Researcher, and Professionals face is how to keep themselves relevant in the face of changing contours of technology. 

The key to making a successful career in computer science is to learn, unlearn, and relearn on a continuous basis. The moment you stop learning new technologies, you would simply become obsolete in the field. However, this is a simplified understanding of the subject. People in different job profiles face different kinds of challenges. 

Take, for example, a technologist working in a core product company. Life is much sorted for him as he is the driver of change in this field of work. The learning and research atmosphere of the workplace may help in satisfying his insatiable hunger. However, he does need to invest his extra time to update his superficial knowledge about various other developments happening in the larger domain.

Take, for example, a developer, programmer, or architect, or team lead in the service-based industry. He has to work on the regular job deliverables and along with that he needs to work on enhancing his skill set. This is possible only when either he learns on a weekend or gets sponsored training on the job or get enough time on the job to experiment and learn the new technology on a routine basis.

Take, for example, a professor or a researcher in the industry. They work on a dedicated sub-domain of Computer Science but as computer scientists, they are expected to be aware of the development happening in the related field. For them, a workable way is to attend conferences, seminars and sit through classes and lectures of fellow professors. Such group-based learning and constant discussion help them in keeping up to date with relevant new developments in the field. Moreover, need-based dive in the extensive literature further helps them in learning new concepts.

The real challenge lies for people working in the government sector as IT consultants and professionals. The general atmosphere is not conducive to learning. The bureaucratic hurdles in training and skilling demotivate the staff. The security of a government job further dents any such zeal and bring down the enthusiasm. Hence, a career in computer science with a government job is akin to the slow death of technologists and the reluctant rise of a bureaucrat. The only solution to this mayhem is to "learn on your own". Pick an area of specialization and ensure that at least one certification is done every year. Take full command of the technical work and be self-motivated. 

As a general rule for a career in Computer Science is:

• Invest every day 2 hours watching relevant videos and reading relevant books.
• Do at least one certificate hands-on course every year.
• Work on a side project as an exercise for gaining practical experience
• Keep looking for better jobs with higher pay, leadership roles, and better job security.
• Pick one area and increase your indispensability quotient at the workplace.