Computer Scientist

As a rule, science is all about the physical and natural world — animals, chemicals, earth and energy — which Scientists study with gusto in fields like biology, chemistry, geology and physics. There is at least one exception, however: Computer Scientists.

If you’re a Computer Scientist, you study computers, which are made by man, not by Mother Nature.

Employed by software companies, government agencies, universities and research firms, your job as a Computer Scientist typically isn’t designing and building computers. That’s up to Computer Engineers. Instead, your job is understanding computer theories and analyzing computer systems. In other words: figuring out how computers work.

Like most Scientists, your work involves creating hypotheses, then conducting research in order to prove or disprove them, usually in partnership with Computer Programmers and Electrical Engineers. Because your subjects of study might include information technology, robotics, virtual reality and artificial intelligence, your research often leads to the development of new computer hardware and software, as well as new computing techniques and materials.

Oftentimes you’ll specialize in a specific area of computer science, such as algorithms and data structure, software engineering, information theory, computer programming or computer graphics.

Always, however, you’re interested primarily in problem solving: Typically, you’re paid to either solve problems in computers — making them function more quickly, effectively and efficiently, for example — or to solve problems using computers: Computer Scientists deserve credit for inventions as diverse as personal computers, flash memory, word processors, the Internet, e-mail and smartphones.

Part Engineer, part Inventor, part Scientist, you’re a modern-day creator who’s building the future — literally — byte by byte.