Innovative Courses that Broaden Awareness of CS Careers and Prepare Students for Technical Interviews

While undergraduate Computer Science (CS) degree programs typically prepare students for well-established roles (e.g. software developer, professor, and designer), several emergent CS career roles have gained prominence during the 21st century. CS majors (and students considering CS as a major) are often unaware of the wide range of careers available to job candidates with a CS background. This experience report describes seven innovative courses that broaden awareness of CS career roles and prepare students for technical interviews. Five courses prepared students for these career roles: Full-Stack Developer, Product Manager, ML or NLU Scientist, Technical Entrepreneur, and User Experience Designer/Developer/Researcher. The other two courses had traditional content but explicitly prepared students for technical interviews. These courses were co-developed by industry professionals and CS professors, and co-taught during a semester-long academic program. This paper highlights the replicable aspects of the program: the courses, teaching practices, and evaluation instruments (a teaching practices inventory and a data structures inventory).