Careers

The computer industry is a growth industry that shows no signs of slowing down in the next decade. There are so many avenues open to computer science graduates that it is hard to choose and hard to know where to begin. Your decision will be considerably easier if you know what the jobs are and what they entail.

Since there are no standard job classifications in the computer industry, several different titles may often represent the same type of job. For example, a programmer-analyst can be higher, lower, or equal to a systems analyst, depending on the company. Technical support specialist, product support specialist, and systems engineer all refer to essentially the same job. Therefore, when you are looking for a job, do not depend on the job title as much as on the job description.

The Association for Computing Machinery ( ACM) also has career information .

• Consulting
• Data Processing
• Engineering
• Management
• Programming
• Sales & Marketing
• Systems Analyst
• A Partial List of First Jobs Obtained by Our Graduates

• Oswego Graduates' First Jobs
  • Computer Programmer/Consultant
  • Courseware Development Specialist
  • Field Specialist
  • Financial Consultant
  • Installation and Test Specialist
  • Programmer/Consultant
  • Software Support Specialist
  • Technical Support Representative

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• Data Processing and Information Systems are growth industries, and opportunities are plentiful for recent graduates with some experience in Programming.
• Computer Services, which include service companies, hospitals, and educational institutions, will provide the greatest number of jobs.
• Other areas that will show dramatic increases include manufacturing, government, finance, insurance, real estate, and wholesale/retail trade.
• EDP Auditors evaluate a company's systems and operational procedures and report their finding back to top management with recommendations for improvement.
• Oswego Graduates' First Jobs
  • Data Administrator
  • Data Admin/Production Support
  • Data Control Administrator
  • Data Processing Director
  • Data Processing Manager
  • Data Processing Trainee
  • EDP Auditor

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• Oswego Graduates' First Jobs
  • Assistant Software Engineer
  • Associate Software Engineer
  • Computer Engineer
  • Computer Engineer Lab Technician
  • Engineering Trainee
  • Junior Engineer
  • Software Engineer
  • Systems Engineer

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• Oswego Graduates' First Jobs
  • Assistant Office Manager
  • Data Processing Manager
  • Data Processing Director
  • Manager of Computer Facilities
  • Systems Manager

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• The majority of computer professionals start as programmers.
• Programmers write the code that make up a computer program, test their programs, debug them (eliminate their errors), and sometimes write the accompanying documentation that tells others why the program was written the way it was.
• Programmers come under two categories:
  • Systems Programmers prepare the computer to understand the language that applications programmers will be using, and tells the computer what peripheral equipment, such as printers and automatic teller machines, it will be controlling. They work in assembly, or low-level languages. These are languages that are easy for the computer to understand, but are cumbersome and much less obvious for people to understand than the higher level languages that applications programmers use. Essentially, the systems programmer primes the computer for the task at hand, allocating enough memory for the prescribed functions, and setting up the priorities of those functions.
  • Applications Programmers write detailed program design; code, test, and debug programs; and write documentation for the programs they code. Commercial applications programmers work on computer applications for businesses, banks, insurance companies, large real estate firms, manufacturers, supermarket and variety store chains, mail order house, wholesalers, and computer service companies. Scientific applications programmers design and ode programs for scientific and engineering applications, as well as some commercial applications that are heavily mathematical.
• Programmer Trainees work as part of team under the supervision of a lead programmer. With added experience, programmers sometimes head up their own projects within the team while lending their efforts to projects led by other team members.
• All programmers work closely with the systems analysts who design the programs that they create.
• Oswego Graduates' First Jobs
  • Applications Programmer
  • Computer Programmer
  • Computer Programmer/Consultant
  • Junior Programmer
  • Programmer Trainee
  • Programmer
  • Programmer I
  • Programmer II
  • Programmer/Analyst
  • Programmer/Consultant
  • Research Assistant/Junior Programmer
  • Scientific Programmer
  • Senior Computer Programmer
  • Senior Computer Programmer/Analyst
  • Software Engineer
  • Software Technician
  • Systems Programmer

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• In the computer industry, you will not find stereotypical hard-sell salespeople hawking their goods with pressure tactics.
• Sales and Marketing Representatives in the computer industry are more often patient, level-headed people who take the time to understand their customers' needs before they try to sell them anything.
• It is not uncommon for sales personnel to meet with potential customers for months, making sure that they are selling the right equipment for the intended job. Whether they are selling hardware, software, peripheral equipment, or services, sales personnel must know the products they are selling, and must keep up with the latest technology by attending several company-run seminars each year.
• Marketing personnel design the marketing strategy of a product or service, determining whom their efforts should be aimed at, how potential customers should be approached, and what kind of advertising should be used, if any.
• With the boom in microsystems and packaged software, marketing professionals have concentrated on placing their products in retail stores where they reach a wider market.
• This is especially true as Marketers begin to use the World Wide Web to advertise their products, including trial usage. As a result, hardware and software manufacturers will be hiring additional marketing personnel to specialize in retail trade.
• Oswego Graduates' First Jobs
  • Computer Sales
  • Computer Marketing Representative
  • Sales/Marketing Representative
  • Sales Representative

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• Programmers deal primarily with machines, Systems Analysts deal with the people who use them.
• Analysts solve the problems of adapting computer hardware and software to meet end-users needs.
• Listening is perhaps the most important part of the System Analyst's job. If they do not fully understand what the end-user wants, the system prescribed will not be totally satisfactory.
• Analysts must keep up with the latest developments in computer technology.
• Systems Analysts must also be good communicators. The people they deal with are not computer personnel, so they must translate the technical jargon for the client and make them comfortable with it.
• It is easier for a Systems Analyst to understand the end-user's needs if he or she has some background in business, advanced math, or engineering for scientific applications. Employers look for people with such backgrounds when hiring Systems Analysts.
• Oswego Graduates' First Jobs
  • Analyst Intern
  • Applications Analyst
  • Associate Analyst
  • Associate System Analyst
  • Business Analyst
  • Computer Analyst
  • Missle Systems Development
  • Programmer/Analyst
  • Quality Assurance Analyst
  • Senior Computer Programmer/Analyst
  • Senior Systems Analyst
  • Systems Analyst
  • Technical Analyst
  • Technical Rep/Systems Development

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• Eastman-Kodak Company - Rochester, NY

• Gould Pumps - Seneca Falls, NY

• Rhodes Furniture - Atlanta, Georgia

• Grumman Aerospace Corp - Bethpage, NY

• Carrier Corporation - Syracuse, NY

• Raytheon Company - Bedford, Mass
• General Dynamics - San Diego, CA

• Grumman Data Systems - Holtsville, N Y

• Carrier Corporation - Syracuse, NY

• Grumman Aerospace Corp - Bethpage, NY

• Moore Research Company - Grand Island, NY

• AT&T - Middletown, New Jersey

• Tandy Corporation - Austin, Texas

• I B M - Endicott, NY
• Sperry Corporation - Great Neck, NY
• Banque De L'Union Europenne - NYC
• Xerox Corporation - Rochester, NY
• Coyne International - Syracuse, NY
• Pyramid Technology - California
• Custom Solutions, Inc - Rochester, NY
• GTE Data Systems - Tampa, Florida
• AT&T - Somerset, New Jersey
• Massachusetts Mutual Life Ins Co - Mass

• DeLime Associates - Montvale, NJ

• Tops Appliance City - Edison, NY

• General Electric Company -Liverpool, NY

• Xerox Corporation - Rochester, NY

• MONY - Syracuse, NY

• Great Lakes Carbon Corp - New York, NY

• Clay Park Labs, Inc - Bronx, NY

• Nicki-Lu Industries - Miami, Florida

• The NPD Group - Port Washington, NY

• Norden Systems - New York, NY

• Coopers & Lybrand - New York , NY

• Par Micro Systems Corp - New Hartford

• I T T - Elmhurst, Illinois

• General Electric Company - Syracuse, NY

• Raytheon Company - Boston, Mass

• Deerfield Systems, Inc - Utica, NY

• Azalea Acres - Fairfax Station, Virginia

• Raytheon Missile Systems - Bedford, Mass

• United Technologies of Pratt & Whitney Aircraft East Hartford, CT
• Bristol Myers - Syracuse, NY
• AT&T - Fairfax, Virginia

• Tompkins County Trust Co - Ithaca, NY

• Rotelcom - Fairport, NY

• E-Systems, Inc - Falls Church, Virginia
• Monit or Systems Group, Inc - McLean, Virginia
• Citicorp Investment Bank - New York, NY
• General Electric Company - Syracuse, NY
• Broome Community College - Binghamton, NY
• Marsh & McLenna, Inc - New York, NY
• New York State Dept of Health - Albany, NY
• Verax Systems, Inc - Fairport, NY
• Reuters International - Farmingdale, NY
• American Computer Timesharing - Pompano Beach, Fla
• Carrier Corporation - Syracuse, NY

• Gotham Lawyer's Service - New York, NY

• Synthesis Consulting, Inc - Syracuse, NY
• Mutual of New York - Syracuse, NY

• Butler Assurance Group - Rochester, NY

• Science Applications International Corporation

• The Computer Factory - New York, NY

• NCR Corporation - Jamaica, NY

• Eaton Corporation - Melville, NY
• New Methods Research, Inc - Jamesville, NY
• Smith Corona Laboratories

• C A C I, Inc (Federal) - Arlington, VA

• NYS Dept of Social Services - NYC

• State of New York - Albany, NY

• McAuto Systems Group - Menands, NY

• General Electric Company - Syracuse, NY
• G T E Sylvania - Mt View, California
• Cloett, Peabody, Inc - Troy, NY
• Technology Applications, Inc - Jacksonville, Fla
• Raytheon Company (Missile Div) - Burlington, Mass
• Grumman Data Systems - Holbrook, NY
• Wang Laboratories - Lowell, Mass

• Genigraphics - Liverpool, NY

• Soft Tech - Waltham, Massachusetts

• Burroughs Corporation - Detroit, Michigan

• Electronic Data Systems - Warren, Michigan

• Colgate University - Hamilton, NY
• AT&T - Morristown, Ne w Jersey

• I B M - Gaithersburg, Maryland
• Cornell University - Cornell, NY
• Chase Lincoln First Bank - Rochester, NY

• Xerox Corporation - Webster, NY

• Information System Services - White Plains, NY

• The Software Group - Ballston Lake, NY