Exploring Careers in Computing
Where to begin. An introduction to the full landscape of computing careers, the questions worth asking before you narrow down, and how to use the rest of this guide series.
Read guide →Computing
with Purpose.
Career guides for computing students who want more than a job at a big tech company. Written by a student, from real experience, for students figuring out what comes next.
These guides are grounded in research on why computing students who care about ethics face structural barriers in the job market and what to do about it. Read the research
Context
A student-authored guide series developed as part of a summer research project at Bucknell University, supervised by Professor Darakhshan Mir. Written by a computing student navigating the same questions you are, not from a position of having it all figured out.
Student Career Guides
Find your path.
Each guide is written from real experience and real research. No generic advice. No pretending anyone has it all figured out.
What Is Public Interest Technology?
What public interest technology actually is, the nine types of practitioners, key organizations doing this work, and concrete first steps to get connected.
Read guide →Finding Your Path: Careers In and Adjacent to Computing
From traditional software engineering to business analytics, health technology, computational social science, and civic work. Including things I discovered for the first time.
Read guide →Why this exists
The information exists. It just is not where you are looking.
Most computing departments push students toward one path: Big Tech. The career center knows that path. The recruiting events are for that path. The coursework optimizes for that path.
If you want something different, you have to find it yourself. That is frustrating. It is also why this project exists.
These guides are what one student found when she went looking, documented honestly so you do not have to start from zero.
Read the storyFinding 01
Departments legitimize one path
Research shows prestige-seeking career norms are actively enforced through recruiting, advising, and coursework, making alternatives structurally harder to pursue.
Finding 02
The job market has shifted significantly
Entry-level roles at major technology companies dropped over 50% since 2019. Knowing where to look and how to position yourself matters more than it used to.
Finding 03
Students do care about ethics
Computing students consistently say they want work that matters. The problem is not values. It is the structural barriers that make acting on those values genuinely hard.