What is a typical day in the life of your job?
I work as a Developer Advocate, which is a type of software developer that deals with education and community. Every morning I usually check slack, and discord to see if any developers using our products has any questions that need to be answered. In the morning I would have a short team meeting called a “stand up” where the team will talk about what the accomplished the previous day, what they are hoping to do today, and any problems or blockers they have to getting their tasks accomplished. For the rest of the day I might be working on code samples, to help developers learn to use our APIs and products. Write blog post tutorials, or even create youtube videos. I also review new features added to our software to ensure that they aren’t going to break things for existing users, this usually means reading plans and technical design documents and understanding their impacts.
I have also worked as a Software Developer. My day would look fairly similar except instead of writing blogs or creating youtube videos, I would be writing code assigned to me by a Product Manager to add new features, or fix bugs on piece of software. I would also spend a good chunk of my day reviewing the code written by other members of my small (5-8 people) to ensure it worked the way it expected to, and followed our best practices. I may also have to spend time writing documentation, so other developers and users would know how to use our product.
How long did you go to school for? How much did it cost per year?
I have a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science, Minor in Math with Co-op. Meaning I have a 4 year degree in Science, and I did 3 paid 4-month internships. My school terms cost around 2 thousand per term.
What is the salary range for the computer science field?
A new grad developer could expect to make 60K per year at a Winnipeg(where I live) company and up to 150K if you are able to work at a top tech company (Meta, Amazon, Apple, Google, Netflix). Currently more senior(10+ years exp) software engineers are in very high demand and can make over 500K a year in total compensation at top tech companies. It is common when working at companies that are publicly traded on the stock market for part of your compensation to be in company stock. So your total compensation may be 200K you may get 100K in cash salary and 100K in stocks.
What does the workplace look like? (Office, at home, etc.)
After the pandemic started many software companies have gone remote. I work from home, but meet up with my teammates in person 2-3 times per year.
What are 3 pros and 3 cons about your job?
Pros Usually software development jobs have a good work life balance. You usually would have to work 9-5, and if you have to be on call you usually get additional compensation.
It is currently a high paying field
You can work in virtually any industry so you can learn about a lot of different things. I have worked in eccomerce, government and travel
Cons It can be competitive for more junior employees to get a job.
The interview process to get jobs at top companies is very difficult and usually requires months of study, outside of your work or university classes.
It is a rapidly moving industry, so a tool or language can quickly become outdated, meaning you must constantly be learning to stay on top of your skills.
Do you have any advice for someone looking to go into the computer science field?
There are tons of resources now for learning how to code for free! It is much easier now to explore the field before committing to formal education. Learn to see what types of things interest you, and what areas you would be interested in pursuing.