Tips to back to university for IT students

Link al post en español: Post en LinkedIn

Good afternoon community.

In a month we practically return to the university classrooms and, in my case, with joy and sadness as it is already my last year in the degree of computer engineering. All this time has brought me a series of lessons that have made me get to where I am and, taking advantage of the final stretch of the summer, I bring you a small review of everything I've learned and I consider vital for students from first year of engineering.

1. Explore different areas: Computing is a broad field, so much so that the ACM in its latest Computing Curricula (2020) talks about 7 disciplines (without focusing) in the field of computing. Therefore, the ideal is to take advantage of the break periods to investigate a little of what is beyond the degree you are doing or even go a little deeper.

2. Put the focus on the fundamentals: Computer science, like everything else, has a foundation and fundamentals. Sometimes it may seem that subjects related to the fundamentals of programming or computer science can be boring, but they are vital when it comes to understanding any development language.

3. Create/participate in small projects: Take every opportunity both in class and outside to create small code projects to gain practice and, if you combine it with code sharing platforms such as Github or Gitlab you can create a portfolio where companies can see firsthand how your way of reasoning and approaching a problem is.

4. Create networks of contacts: We are in the midst of digitalization. Take advantage of everything you can to make yourself known both in general or specific social networks (such as LinkedIn) or through events organized at the university or in communities.

5. Participate in clubs and communities: In these types of spaces you can learn about a specific topic in addition to meeting people with whom you share interests. Some communities that I recommend are those of WordPress, Microsoft or Google, among others. Being communities focused on a specific technology they can help you with some technical questions you may have or project implementations.

6. Acquire soft skills: Okay, our profession makes us spend most of our time at a computer creating or modifying code but remember that, when it comes to work, you will need to work in a team or you will have to defend projects. Therefore, it is important to work on your social skills to be more fluent when it comes to interacting in any environment.

These are some of the things that I have learned during my first years of my career and that I am sure will be useful to someone else, but now I ask you, what is something that you have learned in your career or in your job that you think is important for others to know?

See you in the comments 👋👋