Best place to grow financially with a computer science degree

Try harder, it's too obvious.

Work remotely for a US company and live in a LCOL city. Grind leetcode problems and chase that MAANG job. Work there for a year and switch to a less stressful remote job that still pays well.

Why computer science ?????

It was a great career in the past. Developers had autonomy.

Now, micromanagement due to agile scrum and sprints. No more freedom. Owls watching over your shoulder on a daily basis.

Op doesn’t need a masters. Just go and work. Some software people don’t even need degrees. There is no such thing as a place to grow. Just move around and switch jobs all the time, easy field to make big bucks if you are good at programming.

canada85000 wrote: ↑ Why computer science ?????

It was a great career in the past. Developers had autonomy.

Now, micromanagement due to agile scrum and sprints. No more freedom. Owls watching over your shoulder on a daily basis.

Agile isn't micromanagement. Micromanagement is just bad management. Agile is more about the team's process and improving it to adjust to the team's needs.

canada85000 wrote: ↑ Why computer science ?????

It was a great career in the past. Developers had autonomy.

Now, micromanagement due to agile scrum and sprints. No more freedom. Owls watching over your shoulder on a daily basis.

You see that too, eh? I can’t disagree. Still a Comp Sci degree can lead to a very lucrative future.

I have an accounting background but I think some general advice will help you.

Your title is "grow financially". The answer is not in a career, but through investments. You need a job to generate some cash flow. Then you need to divide that cash flow into how much to spend and how much to save/invest. I find that some people find ways to be financially well off even if they make $50k/year. Some people do side hustles like renting a part of their home, or sell some stuff online etc. Some people work to start a business. A job is just where an employer needs something done, and pay you to do that function. An employer is not obligated to grow your career. One major shock and a company can go bust. In software this seems even more unstable. I am not in the industry but I heard employee turnover is relatively high in your industry.

Some jobs are fully remote now. So you don't necessarily need to tie yourself down to one location. But the answer should be obvious...the US is still a major player with a lot of big names. So you will likely find more well paying jobs in the US than in Canada. And most big companies will to have their office in a major city to attract talent. This also means you are competing with bigger fish.

For "fun", that will vary from person to person. Big cities will naturally have more options for entertainment, but generally cost more to live in with steep housing prices. Subsurbs will always cost less. If your idea of fun involves camping and fishing and not being in crowded places, then you can move to some small town. If you really want night life for example, then you are talking any major city.

Jobs are competitive. You want a high salary, low cost of living etc...guess what...everyone wants that. Most important trait to success is your motivation for success. Sometimes you need to carve out your own opportunities. And obviously you need to be actually good at programming.

You are still a student. Good that you ask these questions now. Some people don't figure it out even after they graduate. In terms of employment, your end question boils down to "What do I offer to employers? And how to show this to them"? Then I would separate "grow financially" from the equation. Because if you are competent at your work, the money will generally come in due time. Then it's a matter of getting your life together by planning your finances properly.

JayLove06 wrote: ↑ You see that too, eh? I can’t disagree. Still a Comp Sci degree can lead to a very lucrative future.

Yes. Software engineers make big bucks at the company I work for.

Only disadvantage is not alot of work life balance in agile. I know we manage ourself but there are way too many things that go unexpected. Each sprint with a different reason for failure. Lol

hoob wrote: ↑ Try harder, it's too obvious.

Whats the background story? I don’t follow careers that much and don’t know the nuances of trolls.

canada85000 wrote: ↑ Yes. Software engineers make big bucks at the company I work for.

Only disadvantage is not alot of work life balance in agile. I know we manage ourself but there are way too many things that go unexpected. Each sprint with a different reason for failure. Lol

Your team is doing agile wrong. Small and well define task is the key. If the definition of done is too vague or too big, it will never get done.

canada85000 wrote: ↑ Yes. Software engineers make big bucks at the company I work for.

Only disadvantage is not alot of work life balance in agile. I know we manage ourself but there are way too many things that go unexpected. Each sprint with a different reason for failure. Lol

It sounds like you blame agile for unexpected things happening. Agile doesn't make WLB suck, it's the your work that makes it suck for WLB. If your job revolves around SLA and keeping services running, that's what causes poor WLB. What management can do is adjust for it and mitigate the impact on the team when a service goes down.

If you're not bound by SLA's or whatever then it sounds like management sucks and is creating a culture of poor WLB. Agile isn't a magic bullet to fix these issues. It's a process of revealing the issues and discussing possible solutions to fix/mitigate those types of issues occurring in the future. When mucat mentions breaking down problems into smaller pieces, that's mitigation. It's easier to deal with smaller problems and see progress on a project. There's faster response if something starts going wrong. That's how the agile process helps deal with unexpected problems. Nobody can predict how well a project will go or how long it takes. By constantly checking in with how the team is doing, the team can adjust timelines, change implementation details, and remove roadblocks.

JBoivin wrote: ↑ Hello,
I’ve already done some research and I found a lot of information about best places with a high salary, best places with good opportunities and best places fun. But, I have some hard time to put all this information together...

I am a science computer student in Canada, and I want to know my best options for growing financially. I can go everywhere, I speak French and English. I want to do a master in computer science. Where is THE place where the cost of life is low, the salary is high with a lot of opportunities in science computing and…. fun? What cities do you think (in the world)?

Thank you.

JB

I hear Texas is booming. Esp the cost of living is low and salaries are better than other places for same job title.

canada85000 wrote: ↑ Why computer science ?????

It was a great career in the past. Developers had autonomy.

Now, micromanagement due to agile scrum and sprints. No more freedom. Owls watching over your shoulder on a daily basis.

Depends what company. I have worked for such companies and quit. My current employer is good about these things and doesn't micromanage as long as the work gets done in a timely manner.

One word of caution is that if you want high pay you need to be good at coding because it's competitive out there. If you are just doing software development for the money (like I did) you likely won't be motivated enough/ good enough to be competitive for the top paying jobs.

Government pays alright and the IT jobs there are easy to get there.