Breaking into Tech: Job Placement Experience and Perceptions of Alumni from a Three-year Computer Science Program

The offering of three-year academic programs has increased in the last five years, mainly due to their potential to decrease cost of college education; however, their overall effectiveness is still under debate. We report on an in-depth alumni survey of 50 college graduates from a 3-year cohort-based program (CSin3), one year post-graduation. Respondents are 91% Hispanic and 9% Caucasian. 36% are female and 82% are first-generation college students. At the time of survey completion, 84% were employed in a technical role, 4% were in a computing education role, and 11% were unemployed. While most students found a full-time position within the first two months after graduation, a few of them are still struggling to find a job in the field, citing challenges in passing coding interviews and finding employment near family. The most common reason alumni gave for accepting their first full-time position was having an internship with the company. The most common pressures and challenges that alumni reported facing professionally are: work-life balance, cost of living, lack of diversity, and stress in current position. Alumni who stayed local had significantly lower salaries and job satisfaction than alumni who moved out of the region for work. Outlook of alumni towards computer science is largely positive, with 86% very or extremely satisfied with their choice of pursuing a computing career, and 87% confident that they will continue in the computer science field.