Four Things I've Learnt whilst Working in Tech: How can Computer Science Help the World

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Written by Justin Chia, Business Development Manager | SNG for CS101.

Follow him on LinkedIn.

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As we are moving rapidly into the Fourth Industrial Revolution, or commonly known as Industry 4.0, I can't help but wonder as I reflect on my professional experience in tech, is it possible that Computer Science can help the world, if not at all?

From my own experience, here are 4 things which I have learnt while working in the tech industry and they are as below:

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#1 Computer Science can lead to a versatile career opportunity

For someone who is trained in computer science, it can lead to many different job titles. Technology itself is a growing part of nearly every company and so, a computer science graduate can look beyond tech start-ups as they begin their careers.

I do know of many senior management staff in different organisations having started his/her career by being in the IT departments and have worked their way up to the top of the career ladder.

Besides that, those who have only taken up computer science in their mid-career have used this newly acquired skills and knowledge to switch to another industry and have no shortage of employers reaching out to them.

Read 8 Career Paths in Computer Science [Infographic].

#2 Computer Science skills can be empowering

It’s an amazing feeling to be able to make something out of nothing, and digital creations are no exception. Understanding various different coding languages and what makes them work means computer science graduates have the skills to build apps and software programs from the ground up.

We have also heard of many success stories around the world of how an ordinary person with their computer science skills and knowledge have made a big impact in their own organisations or in their communities.

I have personally experienced the feeling of feeling at the top of the world when someone in my previous organisation is able to come up with a super apps which will bring great benefits to the whole organisation.

Read What Programming Language Should You Learn for 2022?.

#3 Computer Science values continuous learning

The computer science industry doesn’t stay still for long thanks to constant developments and changes in skills and technology. Students who pursue this field of study in college don’t have to leave their learning behind once they have their academic qualifications.

Computer Science is a field that encourages continuous learning throughout their career. In Singapore, we are fortunate as the government of the day encourages lifelong learning and have even given each local citizen such as myself a sum of money for us to take the choice of our preferred course. For myself, I have used some of the funding given to me to embark on a course which in turn gave me new knowledge.

In many organisations here in Singapore, the management does encourage continuous learning and most of these organisations do mandate each employee to undergo some course each year as part of their performance appraisal review.

Read 4 Ways to Upskill in Computer Science Whilst Working Remotely.

#4 Computer Science benefits society

Computer scientists play a very large part in shaping the future of our world and country and they bring about different benefits to all aspects of the society. These benefits can make waves in fields such as healthcare, education and defence, while empowering underserved communities and increasing equality along the way.

There is no shortage of challenges in the world and the skillset of computer science professionals can be instrumental in solving many of them and improving our way of living.

In Singapore itself, I have read from the many new articles about how computer scientists have come up with different applications and make it easier for us citizens to transact with the different government agencies.

These help us to save precious time and gone are the good old days where we have to spend one whole day just waiting at the customer service counter of a certain government agency to be served and in fact, we can now only visit one agency to get all our different government requests sorted out.

Finally, to conclude, there are still many other ways in which computer science can help the world and what I have shared and mentioned in this article is just some of the more commonly encountered

Read 3 Ways Computer Science can help fight COVID-19.