[INFJ] Should I major in Computer Science or not?

Hi Krzyszchris and welcome to the forum!

There are such a lot of different aspects to the use of computers. On the one hand there is the design and building of the computer devices themselves and some university courses are aimed at that. From what you said, I don't think this is for you because it's a branch of electronic engineering, combined with the exploitation of complex logic.

But then there are all the uses of computing in the home, in business, in games, in simulators, in all kinds of equipment. Some of these are engineering too - for example the device that lets me control my central heating from my smart phone - and these too would probably be not your thing. But then there are the applications that people use to pay their taxes, or book a plane or train ticket, or buy something from Amazon and have it delivered, or support research scientists working on medicinal discovery, or pay people's salaries, or handle the stock at your supermarket, etc. These are really more to do with how people behave and work togther than they are about the computing technology, though you need to know a lot about what computing can do in order to help in these areas. This sort of computing is as much a social science as it it a use of technology. You might well find this turns you on, but you do have to accept it's very people oriented and you have to be good at collaborating with others in teams, and with the folks who use these systems. I think this is a really very rewarding career for certain sorts of INFJ as long as you can handle the people side of it - and it really does need you to be technically savvy too, but without being a back-room techno-nerd.

 

I think if you are repelled by technology it would be a very good idea to avoid careers that need any degree of mastery of it. It’s getting harder to avoid some proficiency in computing though. For example, photographers need to be good with camera technology and the computer facilities they use to process their pictures. Even some artists use computers to create and reproduce their work these days.

 

I'm kind of in a similar boat in the sense that I need to pivot careers to gain financial stability and I'm not sure which direction to go.

Is there any way you can take like a certification course or something not as big of a commitment as a degree to see if you like it before really diving in head first? I think it's definitely important to enjoy what you like to do, do not put yourself in a job you hate doing just to earn money unless it's the only option you have.

But if you could somehow preview the field before diving in fully that might give you the info you need to make the decision.

 

@Krzyszchris I think there is a lot to be said for following your heart in the direction you take. If you invest in a university subject because you feel you ought to, rather than because you are enthusiastic about it, you risk your commitment running dry part way through. Or even worse, you could end up in a lifetime of jobs that you hate.

I really must emphasise though that there are many jobs that involve development of computer applications, but which require only limited understanding of physical computer engineering. It’s like driving a car - you can drive one quite happily knowing next to nothing about how the engine works. You can (for example) design and set up a taxi service knowing little about fuel combustion. A lot of computer applications developments are equivalent to this. It surprises people that interpersonal skills are actually more important than technical skills for many jobs in applications development. The company I worked for always put much more effort into interviewing for people skills than technical ones.

But it sounds like you really are turned on by the idea of counselling. Why not explore this further, and look at the possibilities. As well as possibly becoming a therapist, what about looking at teaching (art for example), or probation work, or financial advisor, etc, etc. There is a strong element of counselling, and personal support and development in all of these sorts of careers.

 

@Krzyszchris - I've been a software developer for over a decade (in the US). My undergrad was in Computer Engineering (hardware-focused) and once I got a job in the industry I pivoted to software development, as that was more my passion. I disagree with some of the sentiments above, just based on my personal experience. My responses to what I disagree most with:

In the US, there are a variety of undergraduate programs related to computers, but the common ones are CS, CSEE, and Comp E. Some of these programs are 100% software and theory (which fits the "computer science" mold better), and some of them are a mix of learning the low-level details of digital hardware and software development.

Programs that are hardware/electronics heavy will you have plugging wires into breadboards to learn how circuits work, soldering components onto boards when validating that your designs are functional, etc. I did quite a bit of this in college during my Computer Engineering degree (probably in 20% of my classes), which was very hardware-focused. There was also a lot of math (esp calculus), especially in the classes I took related to Electrical Engineering. These hardware-focused undergrad programs are going to be a mix of Math, Physics, and basic logic, with a bit of actual physical debugging thrown in there (the aforementioned 20%).

"Pure" Comp Sci programs don't delve into the hardware too much. Sure, you'll learn that everything compiles down to binary at the end of the day, but you don't really delve deeper. In fact, Comp Sci degrees deal much more with high-level abstractions, and the work is more about solving problems using common patterns/methodologies, algorithmic efficiency, networking protocols, etc. Everything is taught through the lens of software abstractions, and you never really learn how the physical hardware works. There's also a lot of subjectivity, and a pervasive concept of "we can do this better if we think about it this way" that isn't quite-so-present in the hardware engineering field, just because in hardware you're inhibited by physical constraints, manufacturing processes, etc.

When I graduated from Computer Engineering and subsequently transitioned into the world of software, I got pretty confident; after all, I actually knew how the hardware worked! To my surprise, very little of this knowledge actually mattered, and I spent years getting up to speed since I lacked the Comp Sci theory I needed. The hard skills software developers generally need have to do with knowing how to break down problems into scalable, robust software solutions, and at it its core this is a fundamental problem-solving skill. People who enjoy problem-solving and are good at optimizing solutions (not just for efficiency, but for maintainability and understandability) tend to thrive in this line of work. I've interviewed dozens of candidates over the years and mentored many post-hire, and I can tell you that many of them that come from hardware backgrounds don't make it.

Think of it like this: if you hire someone to paint a portrait of you, do you want someone who understands how paint manufacturing works, or someone who understands the actual art of painting? Software development is kind of an art with lots of thinky parts mixed in there. Hardware engineering is a lot of rote learning and math.

To answer your more general query (i.e. should I do this?), that's difficult to answer. For some people, the software world is a very comfortable way to make a living that is also exciting and challenging. For others, it's a pain in the ass and mentally taxing. It's difficult to really say how you'll ultimately feel if you choose to pursue it, but when I'm recruiting/advising on this sort of thing, I tend to look at how passionate the person is when it comes to problem-solving and learning new things (the software world changes constantly and quickly).

 

Do look hard at what @noisebloom and @Lady Jolanda are saying here. When I was an IT manager, none of the applications developers I recruited were computer hardware engineers. We wouldn’t have even considered them for interview for most of the work we did for pharma research scientists. Some of our guys may have developed an interest in hardware but it would have been just a hobby for them, and irrelevant to their work.

It’s like I said before - what you are saying is a bit like refusing to drive a car unless you could design and build one.

That doesn’t mean that software development is right for you of course, but being uncomfortable with hardware does not prevent you from succeeding in it if you did take it on. On the contrary, a hardware qualification could rule you out of the sort of software work you find more attractive.

 

go for what interest you the most, speaking from experience u will regret it;P I did business for 5 years and have been working in a soulless accounting role since. I wanna do music but now I have to do it one evenings to break free. Follow the passion. You will have a lot easier time in life by doing so

 

Lots of good advice here, so I'll say good luck.

Having spent time recently banging my head against some scripting work (in Lingo lol), it woke me up to how satisfying and fulfilling software development can be. I've since been working my way through a C++ book and just pondering the problems posed along the way like it's a series of puzzles. I'm enthused enough that I'm thinking of pursuing it as a new career. But I can say I agree with dragulagu's response here. There are so many other aspects to modern software development that studying other fields can still benefit your career and development should you choose to work in software fulltime.

Whatever you choose, you'll get something out of it.

 

As an INFJ male, I think I can help weigh in on this being that I am In I.T. for about 17 years now. I started the programming route and gave it my best, lied to myself a little and said I was interested. I got quite a bit done but never really took off, the creativity and the mindblock was always just stale for me. However, I ended up using that information I know now to tie in everything together and troubleshoot more complex issues. Being that I am a well rounded Cyber Security/System Admin Manager, for a well known company, every little aspect of technology has helped me get past each obstacle. Hope that didn't come off as braggy..... I'd say do a Coursera or Udemy course, try some further crash courses and see if it still interests you. Try creating or automating some boring stuff and see if it sparks interest. One of my closest friends also an INFJ male is a programmer, so it's really a toss up. I only do what I need to and really heavier into Linux and management aspects of technology. Getting in Tech is great for us because it requires analysis which we are great at!

 

The time to have gotten into computer science was probably 20 years ago. That career stream seems saturated internationally.

In terms of educational cost (time and expense), plus career advancement costs (again, overtime and education), there's probably better careers out there.

I'm guessing that infrastructure engineering, especially in the development and delivery of better communications and energy will face qualifications shortages.

 

@Krzyszchris, if I am understanding you correctly, it sounds like you are drawn to the mathematical and theoretical aspects of computer science but are worried that learning about the hardware and electrical engineering side will be boring. While there is a lot of math in CS, I can't tell you whether or not it will be enough to balance out the boring hardware stuff—that depends on how deep your aversion to hardware runs and how much tolerance you have for boredom.

However, I can tell you that no matter what field you choose to study and work in, there will be a mix of interesting parts and boring parts. In part, this is because tradition is hard to shake and CS programs have to teach you basic circuits and EE principles in order to get accredited. But also, sometimes the boring parts are essential to understanding the interesting parts. Actually, I think that an appreciation for delayed gratification is especially helpful for computer scientists. While learning about things like logic gates and programming Turing machines is quite dull (IMO), these exercises make your brain think more systematically and cultivate the ability to reason about abstract concepts. And it is mindblowing when it clicks and you realize that the complexities of modern computing are built by just chaining together layers upon layers of these simple, mechanistic building blocks.

Likewise, you mention that you find literature, psychology, and language, and (as someone who majored in two of those things I can attest that) these are fascinating subjects. But they also have boring parts. For example, if you study a language that is etymologically distant from your native language, the first several years of study are essentially just memorizing vocabulary before you start to really engage with the language and have the kind of deep conversations that make the investment feel worth it.

So I guess what I'd like to offer you a bit of a "frame challenge": rather than asking about which college major will be the most interesting to you and optimizing for that one goal only, why not start by making a list of majors that are interesting to you, period? Not "interesting" in the sense of "I like 100 percent of the topics covered in this major," but "interesting" in the sense of "if I majored in this, I would be able to show up for class every day and be a decent student, and it would stimulate me enough to slog through the boring parts."

Once you have your list, you can narrow it down further by adding other goals. This could include things like career outcomes, job prospects, work/life balance and so on. It can also include temperamental factors; for example, you mention that you like psychology, but perhaps a career as a psychologist would be unsustainable for an introvert like you because you have to talk to people all day (of course, there are many introverts who work as psychologists and love it—this is just an example meant to illustrate the meaning of a "temperamental factor"). Finally, you might do some dispassionate analysis of your skills and capabilities. While I tend to believe in the growth mentality, if (again, just for example) you consider yourself pathologically averse to writing, then no matter how much you love literature, that major will be hard to get through.