The labor market is constantly upgrading, and jobs that were in demand 5 years ago may turn out to be unnecessary and obsolete today. Although the future is hard to predict, one thing is clear – the need for technology will continue to grow. Beginner technology specialists have a variety of fields to choose from (development, security, design, etc). With a degree like this, you can start your path towards amazing job offers and high salaries. That’s why we’ve decided to analyze what exactly do specialists in different areas do and what their main responsibilities are.
Of course, higher education will give you a competitive advantage. However, the career prospects, profound knowledge and upgraded skills come at a price. And the price is often the fatigue and burnout that many students face. Their academic load is growing every semester and teachers are assigning more and more different types of work, including essays.
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Software Engineering
In simple words, a software engineer develops software using engineering principles and fundamental knowledge of computer science. This specialization is quite demanding, as one has to understand various processes of developing IT solutions. Therefore, a software engineer is a key actor at all stages of the product life cycle. It starts from figuring out the requirements for specific software to the customization of systems for a particular client.
Working with clients deserves special attention. Why? A software engineer must have a sufficient set of competencies to analyze customers’ needs and then design a solution for them. The next step is figuring out clients’ reactions and developing the final version that will meet all their stated needs best.
A software engineer is involved in nearly all aspects of development, including research, analysis, design, development, implementation and support. This occupation is often confused with a developer, so let’s figure out the difference. A developer creates the source code while a software engineer creates the design of the system which developers implement. At the same time, engineers need programming knowledge and a technical mindset, but they aren’t involved in direct development.
Cybersecurity
All today’s gadgets, cars, and even household appliances have a huge amount of data to share about their owners. Information systems in business, trade and finance have reached gigantic proportions. By the way, the cryptocurrency boom is a great example of that.
Such a state of affairs has led to more threats of cyberspace, as well as a high possibility of its damage or substitution. And to counter attackers, cybersecurity experts are needed. Their mission is to protect information, predict the actions of criminals and create a secure architecture for using data.
Cybersecurity specialists work in large financial and IT companies, government agencies and defense departments. There, they ensure national security and prevent penetration into state infrastructure.
The need for such specialists is especially dire now due to the increase in the number of cybercrimes. Hacker attacks are registered all over the world. Among the most known is the spread of the WannaCry and Petya viruses, which caused significant damage to banking systems and large companies in different countries.
Database Administration
Database administrators deal with server databases. They consist of information which is collected from different computers and can be processed on each of them. The most famous systems of this kind are Oracle and Microsoft SQL Server. The database administrator handles security issues. They protect the system from unauthorized access by managing accounts that contain user data for the computer system.
Traditionally, a database administrator doesn’t deal with antiviruses as this is the responsibility of the IT support department. To protect the information, such a specialist performs data backup by scheduling and executing it. And later in case of an emergency, one will be able to recover the data quickly. You can see the results of the database administrator’s work with any access to data, for example when you enter a query in Google.
Web Design
A web designer is someone who visualizes the idea of a web project manager and provides the site with attractive appearance and great usability. They come up with how the site looks and in some cases even work on the layout. Also, a web designer is engaged in creating icons and banners, illustrating content, and processing images posted on the site. In fact, they do everything necessary for the site to look good.
A web designer must understand the peculiarities of people’s behavior on the internet, be familiar with web technologies and mobile applications as well.
Many confuse web designers with web developers, that is, programmers. But a web designer doesn’t write code, they only create the appearance of the site using drawing programs.
Here is a list of soft skills these specialists need:
- Communicative abilities;
- Aesthetic and artistic taste;
- Logical, analytical and imaginative thinking.
And here are the technical skills:
- Proficiency in Adobe Photoshop or similar graphic editors;
- Understanding of UI/UX principles and ability to design interfaces;
- The basics of web development;
- The ability to draw would be a plus, but it’s not obligatory.
Web Development
It seems that we have all heard a lot about web development, but let’s figure out the key concepts with which it is associated.
Web development is divided into front-end and backend. Frontend deals with working on the client-side, which is the correct display of web pages on various devices. In the meantime, the backend is everything that happens on the server-side (calculations, databases, interaction with other services).
Web developer is a programmer who can work both on the client-side and on the server-side. A universal programmer who creates a project from scratch, understands databases, server configuration and security, is a full stack web developer.
The basic technologies of frontend are:
- HTML is a page markup language. Using it, we connect JS scripts and CSS styles and define page elements (texts, headings, input fields, and buttons);
- CSS is a language, which is used to achieve high-quality page display;
- JavaScript is used to make pages dynamic, it makes elements react to user actions. JavaScript also interacts with the backend.
And here are the basic backend technologies:
- PHP is the most popular server-side programming language. 80% of websites and services on the internet are written in it. If you are taking your first steps in web development, it’s recommended to start with PHP. The language is easy to learn and it’s also used in some large professional projects like Facebook and Wikipedia;
- Java: with this framework, secure applications are created;
- Python is used in projects of any size. Services such as YouTube, Google Search, Instagram and Spotify are partially written on it;
- Node.js technology allows you to create solutions using the JavaScript language. If you already have experience in front-end development, you can quickly start programming with Node.js. It’s actively used by Paypal, Yahoo! and eBay;
- ASP.NET. The framework fully reveals its advantages only when working in the Microsoft infrastructure. The technology is used by Starbucks and StackOverflow.
Final Thoughts
In this article, we have focused on some of the most important tech-related majors, which are gaining more and more significance these days. Of course, when choosing a specialization, it is necessary not only to study the main peculiarities, but also to learn more about the pitfalls and difficulties. Be sure to talk about this with representatives of particular jobs. They will definitely share useful details from their own experience.