D. Topics in Computer Science · Topics in Computer Science: Sustainability, Emerging Research and Careers

Careers in Computer Science: Trends Near and Far

D3.1About 65 minutes

Learning goals

I can describe a range of careers related to computer science and information systems.
I can describe career trends at the local, national and global levels.
I can use reliable labour market sources, such as Job Bank and the National Occupational Classification, to research an occupation.
I can analyse job postings to find in-demand skills.

Words to know

occupation
A kind of job, such as software developer or cybersecurity analyst.

labour market information
Facts about jobs: how many people work in them, wages, education needed and the outlook for the future.

job outlook
An estimate of how easy it will be to find work in an occupation in a region over the next few years.

NOC
National Occupational Classification: Canada's official system of occupation names and codes.

trend
A general direction of change over time, such as more remote work.

remote / hybrid work
Working from home or another location (remote), or splitting time between home and a workplace (hybrid).

More than "a programmer"

Ask people what you can do with computer science and many will say "be a programmer". That is one path, but computing jobs exist in hospitals, banks, game studios, farms, film, sports teams, governments, space agencies and nearly every business. The curriculum asks you to research career trends at the local, national and global levels. This lesson shows you what careers exist, what is changing, and how to research them with reliable sources.

Occupation	What they do	Common education
Software developer / engineer	Design, write and test software	University degree or college diploma
Web developer	Build websites and web apps	College diploma or degree; portfolio
Data analyst / data scientist	Find patterns in data and build models	Degree (often with statistics)
Cybersecurity analyst	Protect systems and respond to attacks	Diploma or degree, plus certifications
Network / systems administrator	Run networks, servers and cloud systems	College diploma, certifications
User support technician	Help users and fix hardware and software problems	College diploma or certifications
UX (user experience) designer	Design and test usable interfaces (HCI)	Degree or diploma in design or computing
Game developer	Program and design video games	Degree or diploma; portfolio
Computer engineer	Design hardware and embedded systems	Engineering degree (P.Eng. licence)
Researcher / professor	Advance computer science knowledge	Graduate degrees (master's, PhD)

A sample of computing careers. Many more exist, and new titles appear every few years.

Trends to watch

These trends are widely discussed by employers and governments. Their size and speed change from year to year, so always check current sources.

Artificial intelligence is changing many computing tasks. AI tools can now write routine code and answer support questions, so employers increasingly value people who can define problems, check results, and work with AI tools responsibly.
Cybersecurity matters to every organization that stores data.
Cloud computing moves servers and software into data centres, changing what IT departments do.
Data is collected everywhere, creating work for people who can analyse it carefully and ethically.
Remote and hybrid work let some people work for employers in other cities or countries, which also means more competition.
Contract and freelance work is common in some areas (for example web development and game art).
Lifelong learning: tools change quickly, so workers keep learning throughout their careers.
Ups and downs: the technology sector has hiring booms and layoffs. A strong foundation (problem solving, mathematics, communication) helps people adapt.

Career trends can be studied at three scales. A trend at one scale (for example, global growth of cloud computing) shows up in local job postings too.

Researching with reliable sources

Job Bank (the Government of Canada's job site) has a page for each occupation with wages, education requirements and a job outlook for each province and region.
The National Occupational Classification (NOC) gives every occupation an official name and a five-digit code, so you can compare the same job across sources.
Ontario labour market information, local employment service centres and your school's guidance department.
Job postings on employer and job sites show what skills employers are asking for right now.
Informational interviews: a short conversation with someone who does the job.

Be careful with headlines like "10 jobs that will vanish!" Check who made the prediction, what data they used, and when.

Worked example

Example 1: Reading a job posting

A posting for a Junior Software Developer at a hospital in Ontario asks for: a college diploma or university degree in computer science or a related field; experience with Python or Java and SQL; "excellent written and verbal communication"; "ability to work in a team and independently"; and an understanding of privacy rules for health information. What does it tell you?

Education: a diploma or a degree is accepted, so there is more than one pathway.
Technical skills: programming (Python or Java) and databases (SQL).
Essential skills and work habits: communication, teamwork, working independently (you will meet these again in the Ontario Skills Passport lesson).
Industry knowledge: health privacy, so health informatics is a growing area (see Computer Science Meets Other Fields).
Local trend: computing jobs exist outside tech companies, even in hospitals.

The job needs technical skills, people skills and knowledge of the field the software serves.

Analysing postings with Python

You can turn a set of postings into data. This program counts how often each skill is requested.

postings = [

["Python", "SQL", "teamwork"],

["Java", "SQL", "communication"],

["Python", "cloud", "communication"],

["Python", "SQL", "security"],

["JavaScript", "communication", "teamwork"],

["Python", "communication", "cloud"],

]

counts = {}

for posting in postings:

for skill in posting:

counts[skill] = counts.get(skill, 0) + 1

ranked = sorted(counts.items(), key=lambda kv: (-kv[1], kv[0].lower()))

for skill, n in ranked[:4]:

print(skill, n)

Counting skills in job postings. The six postings are invented for practice; real research would use many real postings. Output (one line each): communication 4 / Python 4 / SQL 3 / cloud 2

The skill counts from the posting-analysis program as a bar chart (JavaScript and security, each requested once, are not shown). In this small sample, communication is requested as often as Python.

Just for fun

Before electronic computers existed, "computer" was a job title: people, often working in teams, did long calculations by hand for science, engineering and navigation.

So if anyone tells you computers are taking jobs, you can point out that computers took the job title first.

Hands-on activity

Career research profile

You need: a computer with internet access, and paper or a document.

Choose three occupations from the table (or others you find).
For each, look it up on Job Bank. Record: the NOC code, the median wage in Ontario (or your region), the education usually required, and the job outlook for your region.
Find three real job postings for one of the occupations near you. List the skills they ask for and run them through the Python program (replace the sample data).
Describe one trend at each scale (local, national, global) that affects this occupation, with a source for each.
If you can, interview someone who works in computing (a relative, a family friend, a school technician) for 10 minutes. Ask: What does a normal day look like? What changed most since you started? What would you learn now if you were 16?

What to look for: real data with sources and dates, at least one trend for each scale, and a reflection on whether the occupation suits you.

Your turn

Name four computing occupations other than "programmer".

Give one example of a local, a national and a global career trend.

What is Job Bank, and what can you find there about an occupation?

What does NOC stand for, and why is it useful?

Why might an employer value communication skills as much as programming?

How is AI changing computing careers?

More practice: warm-up

What is a job outlook?

What does a cybersecurity analyst do?

Name one industry outside "tech" that hires computing workers.

What is hybrid work?

Which occupation in the table usually needs a PhD?

More practice: on your own

Using the program's sample data, how many postings ask for SQL, and what fraction is that?

Explain why remote work can be both an opportunity and a challenge for a new graduate in a small Ontario town.

A website headline says "Coding jobs are dead." How would you check this claim?

Why is lifelong learning especially important in computing careers?

Modify the program to print only skills requested in at least 3 postings. Which are printed?

Challenge

Write a Python function share(skill, postings) that returns the percentage of postings that mention skill, rounded to the nearest whole number. What does share("cloud", postings) return?

Six postings are a tiny sample. Describe how you would design a fair study of in-demand skills for software jobs in Ontario.

Pick one trend from this lesson and predict how it might change one occupation in the next 10 years. Support your prediction with reasoning and say what evidence would show you were wrong.

Check your understanding

Quiz

Which is an example of a global career trend?

What does the NOC provide?

Where can you find job outlooks and wages for Canadian occupations by region?

A job posting asks for teamwork and communication. These are:

Which statement about computing careers is most accurate?

In the sample postings, Python appears in 4 of 6. What percentage is that, to the nearest whole number?

For parents and teachers

Big idea: Expectation D3.1 asks students to research and describe local, national and global trends related to careers in computer science.

How to help: Share your own work experience with computing: what tools you use and how they have changed. Help arrange a short informational interview with someone in a computing role. Encourage your teen to use reliable sources (Job Bank, real postings) rather than headlines.

Common difficulties:

Thinking computer science means only programming at a tech company.
Relying on one source or old data; check dates.
Ignoring essential skills such as communication and teamwork, which nearly every posting asks for.