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General Discussion

Jose Monge
Jose Monge
619 Points
Posted by Jose Monge
Jose Monge
619 Points

Career Path, Computer Science, Informatics Engineering, Software Engineering?

Hey there Team Tree Community! These is my first post and im not sure if im allowed to ask this kind of questions but i really need some guidance, hope you can help me.

Ok so i´ve been taking some Team tree courses about Web dev and JS but now i have decided to star a University career. I live in Costa Rica and here we don´t have what in the US we call Computer Science, we have other majors such as Informatics Engineering, Systems Engineering and Software Engineering. I´m really hesitate because i want to take the right major so i can be able to find a job abroad (US is an option) and also have the right education to code properly.

What major has more demand? Which has more similarities with CS?

Thanks in advance!

1 Answer

Griffin Novetsky
Griffin Novetsky
8,858 Points
Griffin Novetsky
Griffin Novetsky
8,858 Points

Hey Jose!

From what I can see, your goal is to find the closest thing to CS. If you want the closest thing, Software Engineering is just that. Many roles in the US are even titled as "Software Engineer II" or whatever level they prefer. If you're deadset on the concepts behind computer science and the fundamentals, Software Engineering is the place to be.

Systems Engineering seems to be related more to an Information Systems degree, or IS for short. IS involves fixing problems inside a company and finding the best solutions to improve the technology and systems for that business. This does involve programming, but different sectors of this degree vary in workload type and amount. I realize this makes Systems Engineering sound murky and unknown, but there will always be jobs available for someone of this degree. Definitely look this one up for more detail.

There many different contexts around Informatics Engineering, sometimes meaning computer engineering, sometimes a mix of IT and IS. Definitely email an advisor at a university with this program to make sure.

Just a reminder, your first choice isn't final. If you find out your passion isn't Software Engineering, you can always take a step back and think about it. Don't ever feel like you're stuck doing something you don't enjoy, because you simply won't be stuck.

Jose Monge
Jose Monge
619 Points
Jose Monge
Jose Monge
619 Points

Hey Griffin

I really appreciate you comment because it confirms what i was thinking about software engineering, and also gave me a better understanding about the majors i can take. I´ve taken my time to analize each college program because unfortunately for latin america, we don´t have too much knowledge about differences between one and another. There are literally 2 out of 20 universities in the whole country that teaches Software Engineering.

Thanks again for the advice! ;)