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 Changing Careers - Specialization Questions
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FreshFactor




PostPosted: Wed Mar 27, 2013 7:42 pm   Post subject: Changing Careers - Specialization Questions

I'm currently 26 years old, in the process of changing careers. I've been in the trades for the past few years and worked in various construction related jobs. I had plans to go into firefighting, but started to find myself straying further from those plans as my interest in basically all things concerning computers and software increased.
To make a long story short, I have sold my car, resigning from my job, and enrolled to go back to adult high school for a year to get caught up on everything. Planning on retaking Pre-Cal, Chem, Physics, and possible Bio & Comp Sci, although I heard HS CompSci can teach more bad habits than good, any truth in that? I also bought a bunch of math books and will be self teaching myself everything I need prior to Pre-Cal, as well as some Pre-Cal before I enter, to have a stronger foundation. . . it's been awhile since I've been in school. I also bought Python Programming by John Zelle to use before University.

If everything goes as plans I will be attending U of Manitoba(how come I barely see this University mentioned on here?) in fall 2014, and majoring in Comp Sci, going for Co-Op with honors, not sure about double major or minor yet.

My main question comes to the specializations that my school offers, and hoping for a more indepth explanation. I recently read an article on how a majority of CompSci students choose specializations with misinformed ideas of what it's really like doing the courses and how it will be working in those fields after school. I don't have any particular field that I'm most passionate about, I do enjoy playing video games, and would love to work in the field, but I also have an interest in software development in many different areas as well.

The U of M offers 7 specializations:

Software Engineering
Databases
Human-Computer Interaction and Computer Graphics
Artificial Intelligence
Networks and Security
Computer Systems
Theoretical Computer Science

Out of the seven, 4 interest me the most, HCI & Graphics(my artistic abilities are not the greatest if that matters here), AI, Security. and Systems. I have a general idea of what they involve, but I am hoping to hear from people who work in those fields, have studied it in school, and just what to expect in terms of course work, as well as job details. Any info about the other specializations is welcome and appreciated as well, as I may be one of the minsinformed concerning those areas!

Also, I do know that just because I specialize in one area, does not mean it closes the doors on the others, and I may have more knowledge about these later, but I'm just trying to learn as much as I can before jumping in, and to be sure I make the right decisions to best accomplish my goals.

Thank you for any feedback!
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Dan




PostPosted: Thu Mar 28, 2013 7:54 am   Post subject: RE:Changing Careers - Specialization Questions

Undergrad specializations normally just deiced what program electives you can take. Your best bet is looking at the course calendar and seeing which courses are required for each specialization and reading there course description.

Your specialization in undergrad normally has little bearing on your future career or education. For some universities the specialization is not even listed on your degree.

I would not worry about it to much at this stage. Most student's interests change after first year and you will likely have a different view of the topics then you do now.
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FreshFactor




PostPosted: Thu Mar 28, 2013 11:33 am   Post subject: Re: Changing Careers - Specialization Questions

Thanks Dan, I'm aware that I will probably know more about each subject once I'm at that point of choosing, and like I said, it won't close the doors on the other options just because I choose one path.
Just mainly out of curiosity at this point, and wanting to learn more about the field.
[Gandalf]




PostPosted: Thu Mar 28, 2013 11:53 pm   Post subject: Re: Changing Careers - Specialization Questions

Each of those fields is huge, so the best way for you to get an idea of what they involve is do some research on your own. But here are a few short blurbs on each:


  • HCI & Graphics: Usually HCI and graphics are fairly disjoint. However, HCI involves learning a lot about your target audience, creating and running studies, etc, and then iterating over possible designs (and iterating some more after that). Graphics involves a lot of math (linear algebra), and otherwise working with existing tools (i.e. game engines, animation software). You don't have to be particularly artistic, although it certainly helps. Creativity is more of a big deal here, although that could also apply to most of computer science.

  • AI: This is really a gigantic field, but two of the biggest focuses nowadays are machine learning and natural language processing. Lots of math (linear algebra and others).

  • Security: For cryptography, lots of math (number theory and others). Otherwise, it really depends on the domain. Network security requires knowledge of networks. Database security requires knowledge of databases. Systems security (ironic that I use this, as you'll see below) requires knowledge of your system.

  • Systems: To be honest I don't even know what this means. Distributed systems? Embedded systems? Mainframes?


As you can see, narrowing this down to something helpful is not easy. Razz If I were you, I would also consider Software Engineering, although that just a personal bias. It's really important in industry, although not exactly as taught in university. Do you have to specialize? I've always thought it was a bit ridiculous to expect students to choose a specialization coming into the program, before they've even been exposed to many of the involved areas. You'll certainly know a lot better after, say, 2nd year.
[Gandalf]




PostPosted: Fri Mar 29, 2013 1:13 am   Post subject: RE:Changing Careers - Specialization Questions

I feel I should also point out that there are relatively few jobs with a narrow focus on a specific area. Most work involves a little bit of each. For example, as a mobile application developer you might be involved in some HCI-type work, you would certainly benefit from a knowledge of best security practices, and you'll surely make use of a decent knowledge of databases. However, you can be a perfectly good software developer without knowing the implementation details behind AES (cryptography). There is no reason to be intimidated by the breadth or depth of any of these topics.
FreshFactor




PostPosted: Sun May 05, 2013 2:23 am   Post subject: RE:Changing Careers - Specialization Questions

Sorry for the late response, but thanks for the info Gandalf Smile

I've been reading a lot into each field, what different jobs entail, read articles and interviews of people involved in certain areas.

I've found that I'm most intrigued with studying AI, and while learning my basic programming, picked up books on anything concerning "the mind." Philosophy, psychology, etc. Not sure if it would help, but it is a very broad field, and quite interesting Smile

My only concern with it was that it seems if you want to do serious work in the AI field, you usually need to go for a PhD, or at least a Masters. Not something I had in mind now, but who knows in 4-5 years.

The school doesn't require a specialization, a friend of mine who I've talked to a lot about the program has never specialized and is doing just fine after graduating. But you do have the option available in your 3rd year. You just need to meet certain course requirements to have that marked on your degree.
FreshFactor




PostPosted: Tue May 07, 2013 1:26 pm   Post subject: RE:Changing Careers - Specialization Questions

I meant to ask, Gandalf, you say you have a bias towards Software Engineering, so I assume that is the field you work in. Could you share a bit about your work experience, or send me in the right direction if you have made a post about it before? Smile
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