Computer Science degree

bmi92

bmi92

bmi92

Associate
Joined
1 Jan 2010
Posts
1,021
Howdy y'all. After recently receiving my offer to study Computer Science at Loughborough University I have started to look into possible careers for when I graduate. For the purpose of the thread, lets assume I get a 1st or 2:1.

What sort of doors will this open for me? I really don't fancy being in a support role after spending £20k+ on my degree to be honest. I know that there is an increasing demand for .net programmers but what is this demand actually like in comparison to the supply? What other options will there be for me :\?

My dream is to become an IB (Investment Banker) but I guess this is out of the question for a CS degree, maybe I should study Math instead?

Also, does anyone have any general tips for preperation for studing CS, from what I grasp getting a basic understanding of a language such as Python can be a good idea as it teaches good habits but I've also read that some universities prefer to start from scratch?

Cheers guys
Ben.
 
There's no need to change degree programme to become an investment banker, most if not all employers don't require a finance related degree. CS will open many more doors for you.
 
B3N said:
Howdy y'all. After recently receiving my offer to study Computer Science at Loughborough University I have started to look into possible careers for when I graduate. For the purpose of the thread, lets assume I get a 1st or 2:1.

What sort of doors will this open for me? I really don't fancy being in a support role after spending £20k+ on my degree to be honest. I know that there is an increasing demand for .net programmers but what is this demand actually like in comparison to the supply? What other options will there be for me :\?

My dream is to become an IB (Investment Banker) but I guess this is out of the question for a CS degree, maybe I should study Math instead?

Also, does anyone have any general tips for preperation for studing CS, from what I grasp getting a basic understanding of a language such as Python can be a good idea as it teaches good habits but I've also read that some universities prefer to start from scratch?

Cheers guys
Ben.
Click to expand...

Do Mechanical Engineering then.
 
B3N said:
I know that there is an increasing demand for .net programmers but what is this demand actually like in comparison to the supply?
Click to expand...

There may be loads of developers out there looking for jobs, but there is still a shortage of good developers.

B3N said:
My dream is to become an IB (Investment Banker) but I guess this is out of the question for a CS degree, maybe I should study Math instead?
Click to expand...

Why investment banking in particular, is it just the money? What sort of area were you thinking of? trading/sales, analyst, quant etc.?

How about going into becoming a developer for one of the banks?
Once you get to senior developer level at a top bank you'd be looking at £70K-100K + bonus.
 
Mechanical Engineering is a very general degree and Investment banks love graduates with a Mech Eng degree. You can apply to virtually any job with it.
 
Burnsy2023 said:
There's no need to change degree programme to become an investment banker, most if not all employers don't require a finance related degree. CS will open many more doors for you.
Click to expand...


Exactly....I done a Network Management and Security degree with a first class honors. Now i could not be any further away from Networking/Security. I work for Microsoft marketing Microsoft Dynamics Great Plains - which is Financial accounting software used by large companies.

In terms of learning certain languages, they will always help - I had a module mainly based on Python being handy for network scripts etc, but other people on the general Computer Studies did not even touch it, do your research first what is in the course plan.
 
Last edited:
Comp Sci is one of those degrees which allows you to go into many fields. I have mates who have become teachers, accountants, managers and I'm sure a few people in uni went into Investment Banking as well.

You might want to take it up with management or maybe maths, could open up even more doors. Think management is very handy and if anything should have taken that up myself but then again my degree hasn't really done much as I do my own thing so doesn't really matter now!
 
B3N said:
What does this involve though, what type of development would it be? Programming computer models to predict "things"?
Click to expand...

I work for a large hedge fund, as a developer, and most of the work involves getting systems talking to each other. And that mainly relies on VERY good coding methods (loosely coupling the systems, flexible/maintainable/VERY high quality code, as mistakes cost money), but also a good general grounding in maths, economics and accountancy - coupled with a reasonable amount of industry experience.

Why an IB by the way? Do you know what line of IB work you want to get into? Quants? Trader? Analyst? Risk? Saying "I want to be an Investment Banker" is the same as saying "I want to work in IT". And what you want to do will determine your route to it.
 
B3N said:
Howdy y'all. After recently receiving my offer to study Computer Science at Loughborough University I have started to look into possible careers for when I graduate. For the purpose of the thread, lets assume I get a 1st or 2:1.



My dream is to become an IB (Investment Banker) but I guess this is out of the question for a CS degree, maybe I should study Math instead?



Cheers guys
Ben.
Click to expand...
If you want to get into investment banking a Law degree, finance or economics degree with 75% maths based, is what you need if you want to get into IB. Most CS degrees are outdated, you really need to sit down and think what you want to do.

if your interested in economics or finance then have a look at these,
you need to learn differentiation, intergration, partial differentiation, elasticity optimiation both constrained and uncontrained, lagrange matrix / inversion these are the basic stuff you'll need to learn, then you'll move onto advanced lagrange like marshallian.
 
Last edited:
mattheman said:
If you want to get into investment banking a Law degree, finance or economics degree with 75% maths based, is what you need if you want to get into IB. Most CS degrees are outdated, you really need to sit down and think what you want to do.

if your interested in economics or finance then have a look at these,
you need to learn differentiation, intergration, partial differentiation, elasticity optimiation both constrained and uncontrained, lagrange matrix / inversion these are the basic stuff you'll need to learn, then you'll move onto advanced lagrange like marshallian.
Click to expand...

Lol mattherssman :D Had to be said!

But, what do you mean by outdated? Surely they are updating the content that they study with the times?
 
B3N said:
My dream is to become an IB (Investment Banker) but I guess this is out of the question for a CS degree, maybe I should study Math instead?
Click to expand...

maths is pretty irrelevant to investment banking itself tbh... though I am presuming that you perhaps mean that you'd like to work in an investment bank rather than you'd like to be an investment banker.

This is possible with a CS degree - though you've got a high chance of ending up in IT - perhaps look at doing a dual honours computer science and maths instead and most importantly get yourself a summer placement or two...

the areas within an investment bank (or within a big commercial bank) that certainly worth going for with an undergrad quantitative background are front office sales and trading roles and risk management roles.

Investment banking itself is not really for maths/computer science types - though if you fancy making endless power point presentations, giving pitches to clients, working 12+ hours a day and having to live out of a suitcase on frequent trips abroad then go for it...
 
There's plenty of jobs at IBs if you want to go down the software engineer route. I've got friends working for both big and small firms. Some joined as graduates, some joined after gaining 3-ish years experience elsewhere. Lots of different languages - .net, C++, GS Slang, etc.
 
It seems I had the same plans and views when I was applying for university - think long and hard about what you actually enjoy. I thought trading was for me and though I remained a developer (it was easier and less risky at the time), I was extremely interested in that field. However, my career went so well and I enjoyed developing, I dropped the pursuit of becoming a trader and I can't see myself attempting a career move until I stop progressing in/enjoying development. I am earning equal, if not more, than a junior trader would be earning at a big bank - doing something I love - perfect.

If you're a decent developer with a good degree behind you, you can get a far better job than a 20k support role - especially if you're willing to work in cities (London and other finance centres).

I graduated in 2007 from Warwick with CS + Management (joint honours) - I did a joint degree to further differentiate myself from the rest of the plain CS graduates. The best thing I did was a summer internship at Goldman Sachs after my second year - even though I didn't get the offer it opened so many doors and after a year at Merrill Lynch and I'm now in a much, much better position in a smaller prop. trading firm with avenues to becoming a trader or becoming more business orientated.

I would say that when I was applying for graduate jobs, they valued my 12 week internship at Goldman Sachs as much as my predicted 1st in my degree.
 
Last edited:
Hi, I was wondering what computer related roles are available with a Comp Sci degree if you don't want to do software development or project management?

The only one that springs to mind is a Linux/Unix sysadmin type role, but are there any other roles worthy of consideration?
 
MikeHunt79 said:
Hi, I was wondering what computer related roles are available with a Comp Sci degree if you don't want to do software development or project management?

The only one that springs to mind is a Linux/Unix sysadmin type role, but are there any other roles worthy of consideration?
Click to expand...

Sales / Consultancy.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom