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's 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're looking for a job, don't depend on the job title as much as on the job description.

JOB CATEGORIES INCLUDE:

Programming

Systems Analysis

Product Support

Sales & Marketing

EDP Auditor

Documentation Specialist

The majority of computer professionals start as programmers. Basically, programmers write the codes that make up a computer program, test their programs, debug them (eliminate 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 and Applications Programmers.

Systems Programmers prepare the computer to understand the language that the applications programmer will be using, and tells the computer what peripheral equipment, such as printers and automatic teller machines, it will be controlling. They work with assembly, or low-level languages. These are computer languages that are easy for the machine to understand, but cumbersome and much less obvious for people to understand than the higher-level languages that applications programmers use. A dozen lines of a high-level language like COBOL or FORTRAN, for example, would translate into about three pages of assembly language. Essentially, the systems programmer primes the computer for the task at hand, allocating enough memory for the prescribed functions, and setting up the priorities for those functions.

Applications Programmers write detailed program design; code, test, and debug programs; and write documentation for the programs they code. Commercial Applications Programmers, using high-level languages such as BASIC, RPG II, and Pascal, work on computer applications for businesses, banks, insurance companies, large real estate firms, manufacturers, supermarket and variety store chains, mail order houses, wholesalers, and computer service companies. They implement a variety of computer functions ranging from automatic reordering to computer-aided design and manufacture. Scientific Applications Programmers design and code programs for scientific and engineering applications, as well as some commercial applications that are heavily mathematical. The most common computer languages are FORTRAN, Assembler, Pascal, and C Programming.

Data Communications Programmers - Data Communications is a relatively new and rapidly growing area of the computer industry. There is an increasing need for computers to "talk" to one another, and Data Communications Programmers create the interfaces that make that possible. Information can now be transmitted from computer to computer via the telephone lines or telecommunications satellites in space. Like systems programming, data communications programming is a more technically oriented position that requires the use of low-level assembly language to modify hardware so that it may be linked with other computer systems.

Programmer Trainees - A programmer trainee will work as part of a 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.

SYSTEMS ANALYSIS

While programmers deal primarily with machines, Systems Analysts deal with the people who use the machines. They solve the problems of adapting computer hardware and software to end-users' needs. To listen is perhaps the most important part of the Systems Analyst's job. If he or she does not fully understand what the end-user wants, the system prescribed will not be totally satisfactory. And, because they are responsible for selecting the best equipment for the job, they must keep up with the latest developments in computer technology. No company wants to invest large amounts of money in a system only to find out that there is a better, more adaptable system on the market. Therefore, 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's easier for a Systems Analyst to understand the end-users' needs if he or she has some background in business or advanced math or engineering for scientific applications. For this reason, employers look for people with such backgrounds when hiring Systems Analysts.

PRODUCT SUPPORT

Product Support Representatives are problem-solvers! Their main responsibility is to make the customer happy and comfortable with the computer. Ideally, the product will meet all the buyer's expectations; it is the representative who must make sure that it does. Part trainer, part salesperson, and part adviser, the Product Support Representative is the customer's main liaison with the computer manufacturer.

SALES AND MARKETING

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, levelheaded people who take the time to understand their customers' needs before they try to sell them anything. It's 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 mini and micro systems and packaged software, marketing professionals have concentrated on placing their products in retail stores where they reach a wider market. This trend toward retail sales is expected to bear fruit as more people decide to take the leap and purchase their first home computers, and present computer owners decide to upgrade their systems. As a result, hardware and software manufacturers will be hiring additional marketing personnel to specialize in retail trade.

EDP AUDITOR

With all the various computer applications a given company may employ, overlapping services, inefficiency, nagging inaccuracies, and security leaks are almost inevitable. Department heads can monitor the system under their supervision, but the EDP (Electronic Data Processing) Auditor is needed to evaluate the computer functions of the entire company. It is predicted that billions of dollars are lost each year to computer inefficiency, therefore, management is naturally anxious to know just how much integrity their systems have. EDP Auditors evaluate a company's systems and operational procedures and report their findings back to top management with recommendations for improvement.

DOCUMENTATION SPECIALIST

After a programmer finishes coding a new program, a technical manual is written in English explaining what the program does, how it does it, and how to use it. In some cases, programmers must write their own documentation, but more frequently, a Documentation Specialist, also called a technical writer, is responsible for it. Basically, the Documentation Specialist translates technology into plain, comprehensible English.

MAJOR EMPLOYMENT AREAS INCLUDE :

Data Processing & Information Systems

Software

Hardware

Training and Teaching

Entrepreneurs

Data Processing and Information Systems:

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.

Software:

The number of jobs for programmers in the software industry is naturally much smaller than in data processing and information systems. These are considered premium positions because they tend to be more creative than the average programming jobs, and for that reason, competition is stiffer in this area. Although you may find it difficult to land an entry-level position with a standard software publisher or a custom software builder, your chances should be better with turnkey suppliers and service companies because they are generally larger and hire more people.

Hardware:

Most jobs in the computer hardware industry are highly technical positions that require advanced engineering degrees. Programmers are hired to be part of the design teams, but these positions are not easy to come by. A bachelor's degree in computer science may not be enough to land such a job, so if this is where you think you'd like to work, you should strongly consider graduate work. The Computer-Aided Manufacture (CAM) systems are one of the most rapidly expanding areas in the industry. These systems adapt equipment and robots to perform specific factory operations. Now, instead of a machine or group of machines producing a single product, with computerized modifications, a variety of customized products can be made without additional capital investment. The field of artificial intelligence (AI) is also picking up. This is a sophisticated discipline which attempts to teach computers to think, so that they can almost run by themselves. Some companies are producing super mainframes, lightning, fast computers that can process and distribute vast qualities of information very quickly. As these areas develop, they will provide new jobs in the hardware area.

Training and Teaching:

A great need exists in the computer industry for instructors and teachers. Some experts predict that computer training and teaching will be the biggest growth area in the future. Many high schools and even some elementary schools teach computer courses today, and this trend will continue as microcomputers become a more integral part of a student's education. More job opportunities will open up for people with computer science degrees to teach basic programming to children. Also, as new technology enters the marketplace, computer professionals must be retrained, too. Recent developments in new operating systems and advanced computer languages have created a demand for instructors who can train experienced computer personnel. In most cases, the technology is so new that the universities aren't teaching it yet, so in a way the training firm becomes an extension of a college computer science program, completing the advanced training that professionals must have to remain competitive in the business world.

Entrepreneurs:

The entrepreneurial spirit is prevalent in the computer industry, and start-up companies appear every week, trying to capture some portion of the market with their own specialty. It's not uncommon for small companies started by entrepreneurs to grow and eventually spawn other small companies from employees who decide they can make it as entrepreneurs themselves. Although they seem to defy generalizations, one can say that all entrepreneurs in the computer industry seek out a niche for themselves and fill a need, whether it's in creating software for new applications, building specialized equipment, writing custom programs, consulting, retailing, teaching, publishing computer magazines, or whatever. But without a doubt, what they all share is foresight, imagination, the willingness to take risks, and the desire to succeed.