r/ComputerEngineering • u/No_Reply5329 • 1d ago
CS vs CE better job prospects?
Hi, I’ve always been passionate about CS, but I keep seeing that CS graduates currently have a relatively high unemployment rate (around 6–7% for recent grads).
Would CE be a better choice in terms of employment prospects? Does having both hardware and software knowledge give CE grads more opportunities?
For those in CE, how has your experience with finding internships/jobs been?
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u/Regular-Title7182 1d ago
I think CE is better. It looks better on paper to have an engineering degree vs. a science degree, even though depending on the job, a CS graduate might be more qualified than a CE.
That said, having the hardware knowledge is a pretty significant advantage. You’re not just able to say, “Yeah, this software isn’t working.” You can troubleshoot it and say with confidence, “The software is doing what it’s supposed to; the problem is the hardware, and here’s why.”
That ability to bridge the gap between hardware and software can be extremely valuable, especially in embedded systems.
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u/_kilobytes 1d ago
A computer engineer can always take a CS job but a computer scientist cannot always take a computer engineering job.
Depends on the school but computer science is CAC-ABET while computer engineering is EAC-ABET.
I don't know what employers favor, but some of the people I work with in tech have art degrees so I don't think the major matters much.
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u/Comprehensive_Eye805 1d ago
Well job market is unpredictable but I can say as a computer engineer you will have more leverage than a basic cs major, more so I see more and more cs majors trying to get engineering jobs soo.
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u/Colfuzi0 1d ago
CE will have more leverage and can go into more things but depending on where you live CS will be better. For example I am have colombian half American I was born and grew up in the US and am doing my MS in CE but if I want to move back to Colombia it would be tough. Because not a big CE market there. I believe CE is something you do because you are really passionate about it. You can be less passionate about CS and still succeed although with AI now I don't know I think you still have to like it. I like both and already have an undergrad in IT so I decided to do CE. But I guess I'ma have to find a lady in Colombia and bring here to the states because embbeded is cooked over there
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u/jjclan378 1d ago
Depends on what school you go to. No one I graduated with had a problem finding a job. Worse schools won't have as good of graduate outcomes. Better schools have jobs finding THEM.
If I were you, I'd reach out to recent graduates from the programs you're looking at on LinkedIn. Ask them to chat for 15 minutes. Find out what their experience was like finding internships, what they do for work now, etc. Those answers will far outweigh the advice of redditors who don't even necessarily live in the same country as you
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u/a-vitamin 1d ago
unless ur gonna build 2 separate resumes you prob can’t find both software and hardware roles
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u/No_Reply5329 1d ago
Maybe I will do hardware resume is it better? I would bet that new grads in computer engineer have lower unemployment than CS grads.
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u/g---e 1d ago
the issue is there are less computer engineer-specific jobs
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u/No_Reply5329 1d ago
But also probably way less people going into computer engineering for hardware roles no one is thinking about hardware only about software so I would be ahead of the curve.
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u/ThePainStalker 1d ago
Nah the truly unpopular areas in hardware are in power systems. Not computer engineering, that’s the most popular concentration among EEs and among what CS people pivot to. It is doing better a little better than software now granted, but it is also very geographically concentrated (unlike software or even power systems where jobs in both are everywhere). If you aren’t in a semiconductor hub or maybe a defense hub, there aren’t many opportunities out there. And the headline high paying semiconductor jobs that pay in line with Big Tech software are extremely competitive (as much as software and actually a lot more strict regarding advanced education). There is a lot of stratification in the industry and the jobs you’d actually most likely get in semiconductors in testing/validation/process pay much less than the semiconductor design/design verification roles would.
Honestly, what people tend to miss is that they compare the top end with the actual median outcome. The top end of semiconductor and computer hardware is like the top 10% of graduates. That’s where the media frenzy is. Not much different from top tier companies in software and actually a lot worse from a location perspective (at least software is needed everywhere regardless of firm). Software isn’t really doing that badly if you actually are willing to just join a typical “boring” firm where you’ll still end up with decent pay and likely more job security too.
That being said, if you do genuinely like computer hardware a lot and you live in or are willing to relocate to a computer engineering hub (which there are only a very limited number of), that is a good option especially nowadays. Keep in mind too that computer engineering is very boom and bust like (even more than software honestly, at least in terms of the frequency of the booms and busts) so while today may be booming, in a couple of years time, there could well be a bust (maybe because planning, land and power equipment bottlenecks are straining data center output much more than the tech developers had thought).
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u/QuakingQuakersQuake 1d ago
Just go with whichever you're more passionate about ffs
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u/No_Reply5329 1d ago
I cant just do what im passionate about in this economy
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u/ThePainStalker 1d ago
If history is anything to go by, it’s generally better to pick a field in a bust now (CS) than to chase something during a boom (like computer hardware is now). Generally what happens is that by the time you graduate while the boom is happening, the bust had just started happening. I suppose that doesn’t necessarily always work. But think about those who still chose CS during the early 00s Dotcom bust, they are likely doing very well now and CS was one of the less hard hit job areas by the 2008 crash too.
All that’s to say is that don’t be chasing booms for the sake of it.
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u/Accurate-Candy-9826 1d ago
Depends on what you want.
Want to focus Software broadly (both high level and low level) for things like software engineering, AI development, game design, web design, ECT? Do CS and you will have the advantage for these types of jobs.
Want to focus computer/digital hardware for things like writing drivers, firmware, digital design, embedded systems, ECT? Do CpE and you will have the advantage for these types of jobs.
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u/BronzeGstring 1d ago
CE way better bro
can get any job a CS can plus all the hardware roles
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u/BrfstAlex 1d ago
Can they tho? CE has worse emplyment prospects than CS stats wise
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u/BronzeGstring 23h ago
I’m CE and have gotten both software and hardware offers this summer
Just gotta do the right projects with the right skills
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u/BrfstAlex 17h ago
That doesn't really say much
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u/BronzeGstring 9h ago
It does since I had a 2.9 and zero internships so worst case circumstances
looking at the “stats” is pointless
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u/Fourier-Transform2 15h ago
Except CE has higher unemployment than CS lol
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u/BronzeGstring 10h ago
Skills issue not degree issue
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u/Fourier-Transform2 10h ago
Sure dude…… lmao
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u/BronzeGstring 9h ago
It’s the truth 🤷
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u/Fourier-Transform2 9h ago
The only truth is that you’re more likely to be unemployed if you do CE as opposed to CS. The rest is just your opinion.
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u/BronzeGstring 9h ago
nah gang
CE has all the same job opportunities as CS plus all the hardware stuff like embedded and FPGAs
but keep letting “stats” hold you back
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u/Fourier-Transform2 8h ago
Lmao, your hypothesis is nice. But like I keep saying, if that were true, then it wouldn’t have the highest unemployment rate among engineering. A hypothesis without experimental data and “stats” is a meaningless conjecture.
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u/BronzeGstring 8h ago
And like I told you It’s a skills issue not a degree issue There’s not a single degree that you can just get that you can put on your resume and it instantly gets you jobs like an employment slot machine Beyond a degree , getting a job requires experience/deep projects,relevant technical skills,persistence and communication ability Most people looking for a job have like only one or none of those
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u/PossibleLack835 13h ago
lol you mean
CE can get any job a CS can by putting extra hours into studying CS
CE can get any job a EE can by putting extra hours into studying EE
and
no job if CE doesn't spend extra hours studying either topics
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u/BronzeGstring 10h ago
to get any role you have to put in extra hours to study for that role
a CS degree on its owns won’t make you magically prepared for the technical round of an ML engineer role
an EE degree on its own magically make you prepared for the technical round of an RFIC design engineer role
plus there’s lots of CE-specific jobs like compiler roles, embedded/firmware,FPGAs , etc.
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u/PossibleLack835 8h ago
what I'm saying is it will extra extra study for CE than if you just pick CS or EE depending on what job you want
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u/BronzeGstring 7h ago
almost nobody knows the exact job they want when they pick their major
i thought i wanted to design apps and websites but i took CE and now im in chip design. CE gives you that versatility so through electives and personal projects you can specialize hence i took as many SoC/digital design electives as i could, if i wanted ML i would've taken AI/ML classes and done the relevant projects which is no different than what a pure CS major would do, there's no "extra extra" study
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u/Character-Company-47 1d ago
Do you believe you’re the bottom 8% of any distribution? Probably not. Don’t base your future plans off employment rates unless it’s super bad, if you take some time to put yourself above the average you’d be fine.
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u/Darth_Tater69 1d ago
Unemployment is bad for both. CE is like marginally better. With either degree, you'll find employment if you're passionate about the material and hardworking.