COMPUTER SCIENCE | INDUSTRY ROADMAP

Career Paths and Desired Skills

Companies which utilize technological talent range from hardware manufacturers to bio-technology startups
and financial companies. As technological innovation becomes more accessible, the line between tech and
traditional industries becomes increasingly blurred. Careers in technology might include software engineering,
data science, UI/UX design, product management, research, business development, sales, marketing,
operations, customer relations or recruiting.

Sector & Entry Level Role Key Functions Desired Skills

SOFTWARE ENGINEERING, SOFTWARE DEVELOPER

Software engineering is a broad field which • Analyze user needs • Programming ability
encompasses a variety of different specializations. • Structure and create technological • Iterative, logical, and
Software engineers use programming to create applications or systems structured thinking
applications or systems that fulfill the need of a
• Develop algorithms • Problem solving
user. They develop, design, test, and maintain these
applications or systems. • Utilize programming languages • Attention to detail

DATA SCIENCES, JUNIOR DATA ANALYST

Data scientists analyze and interpret large • Extract large quantities of data • Problem solving
quantities of data to solve complex problems. In from different sources
• Quantitative ability
the technology industry, data scientists are often • Utilize skills to analyze data
• Detail-oriented
hired by companies to help develop new solutions
• Create predictive models
or practices to business challenges. Data scientists • Data-related skills
have specialized, quantitative skill sets and often • Interpret data to provide
• Specialized knowledge
actionable feedback
have additional expertise in programming.

PRODUCT MANAGEMENT, PRODUCT MANAGER

Product managers guide the development of • Lead the trajectory of a product • Strong communicator
a product and lead the cross-functional team from beginning to end
• Creativity
responsible for that product. These roles sit at the • Coordinate engineers and designers
• Interpersonal skills
intersection of technology, business, and design and
• Act as liaison with other teams in the
serve as the liaison between the team creating the organization, such as marketing
• Analytical thinking
product and other members of the company. • Strategic thinker
• Create and manage timelines and
deadlines • Collaborative
IT SERVICES, IT TECHNICIAN
IT Technicians provide support for customers • Provide one-on-one assistance to • Customer service skills
experiencing difficulties with both hardware customers experiencing software
• Collaborative
and software. IT Technicians often have detailed and hardware problems
• Trouble-shooting
expertise of the systems and machines for which • Trouble-shoot problems with
mentality
they are responsible. A customer service mindset is technology
important, since IT Technicians are often embedded • Experience with both
• Create documentation for non-
software and hardware
as support in larger, non-technical organizations. technical staff
• Tech communication skills

USER EXPERIENCE, USER EXPERIENCE DESIGNER

User experience designers are responsible for • Provide user-oriented perspective • Creativity
determining and guiding how a product (such as to a team of engineers
• Qualitative user research
a website or service) feels to the user. They may • Produce storyboards and
• Design talent
conduct user tests or interviews to determine how wireframes of the workflow of a
a user engages with the product and then make product or service • Big-picture thinker
design-oriented, big-picture recommendations or • Engage directly with users and • Visual communication
alterations based on their findings. focus groups
BUILDING EXPERIENCE FOR

CAREERS IN COMPUTER SCIENCE

Career Advancement offers a number of events and resources to
help prepare you for a career in computer science:

EXPLORE
• Treks and site visits to top tech employers in Chicago, San Francisco, New
York, Seattle, and more
• Panels and roundtables with alumni in desirable and unique technology REPRESENTATIVE
careers EMPLOYERS
• On-campus, informal tech talks with employers and recruiters about
crucial industry trends These employers actively recruit
UChicago students for technical
ENGAGE roles!
• One-on-one coaching and weekly communications from industry experts Work with Career Advancement to
• Skills-based programming through weekly Technical Interview stay current on recruiting timelines
Workshops and interactive employer events
Google
• Networking and recruiting preparation events featuring employers in Lyft
the technology industry: California Product and Technology Forum, Epic
University of Chicago Career Fair, and Grace Hopper Women in Tesla
Computing Celebration
Amazon
• Hackathons such as Uncommon Hacks and online skill-building training
through platforms such as Lynda.com Civis Analytics
The Climate Corporation
APPLY Lumere
Capgemini
• Careers in technology often recruit on accelerated timelines, requiring
students to begin their recruitment process for companies with formal Houzz
recruitment in the summer and early fall for positions with start dates the
following year Goldman Sachs
Kleiner Perkins
• UChicago Career Advancement provides summer programming
NowPow
and support to accommodate this early recruitment cycle, including
instructional webinars
Uptake
IMC
• Networking resources to access the deep network of alumni spanning
industries and locations, such as the WISR platform Facebook University
Google Engineering Practicum
A strong resume or a career in technology might include the following: Explore Microsoft Program
EA (Electronic Arts) Pathfinder
• Technical projects, including projects completed independently or as
part of an open-source project or hackathon
• A link to your GitHub, a web hosting service often used for code-based
projects
• The programming languages you are familiar with and your proficiency
level in them
• Relevant academic positions, including research in computer science or
teaching assistant positions

Sherry Shenker (AB ’18) Rebecca Qian (AB ’18)

• UChicago Careers in STEM • Trott Business Program
• Full-Time: Applied Data Scientist, Civis • Full-Time: Software Engineer, Facebook
Analytics
• UChicago Careers in STEM Career Peer
• Prism Consulting Group, Splash! UChicago Advisor

UChicago Career Advancement careeradvancement.uchicago.edu