Monday, June 11, 2012

Critical skills for new computer science graduates

So, you've decided to go to college for computer science. Good for you. I'm here to tell you that most of the time, you won't care about most of what you've been taught. In fact, what you need to know might not be obvious at all. In many cases, it's the secondary tools, not the abstract knowledge, that's most important, and that is a rarely communicated view that many graduates I see have never been informed of.

Here's what you need to learn (much of which you probably won't unless you seek out the knowledge on your own) before you graduate and start looking for work. When I interview people, I expect you to know these fundamentals as a starting point, and I ask questions that build past these basics. If everything on this list isn't second nature to you, then you probably won't be able to deal with the kinds of things that I'm going to want you to figure out in an interview at all.