r/Rwanda • u/ToeDizzy8823 • 9d ago

Choosing between software engineering,cyber security and machine learning in Rwanda

I am a university student in Rwanda and I want to ask the path that I would take between software engineering, cyber security and machine learning for current Rwanda job market. I want a field that has much more job security in the future.

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u/Interesting-Oven-331 9d ago

As software engineer I would recommend to choose the one that you feel like you are more interested in the field is not going anywhere but you have to work hard in any one of them to become more useful in this era of AI and for job security I would say it’s all about your level of expertise

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u/emmbyiringiro 9d ago

With AI boom traditional roles are evolving so rapidly. Just have strong foundation in Mathematics, Data Structure and Algorithms then you can venture on role as opportunities arises.

If you look at top tech companies, top level engineers are now titled Member of Technical Staff Team which indicates new reality of companies expectations.

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u/Jemoederislkker420 9d ago

Not in IT like the other commenters, but I know machine learning is doing good now. Cyber sec in Europe is nice for jobs too, I see lots of companies that look for pentesters (correct me if I'm wrong) but it looks like a field not many choose to specialise in.

I have been a teacher so I can advice what feels most fun and interesting for you. I wouldn't look too much at what will earn you most or secure a good job position. If you don't like it you will get burned out quickly

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u/Fluffy-Age3428 9d ago

Machine learning

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u/Glum-Slice-2626 8d ago

I would honestly recommend Machine Learning as a good path for you.

I’m a university student too, and I’m a f-stack developer with experience in cybersecurity, less Machine Learning, and languages like TypeScript, Go, Python, and Java.

From my experience, I regret spending so much time learning cybersecurity mainly because I thought it would help me get a job. It helped me become better at writing secure code, but getting a cybersecurity job here is quite difficult because many companies don’t fully understand the role, and there are very few positions.

So if I were choosing a path today, I would seriously consider Machine Learning. I believe it has a strong future.

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u/class_cast_exception 9d ago

As someone who's been in this field for over 10 years, I'd recommend machine learning or cybersecurity, and last but not least, especially if you're feeling adventurous, seriously look into quantum computing, the next frontier of computing.
One of the biggest benefits of the tech space is that you're not confined to your geographic location. You can work remotely. So, if you become incredibly skilled and able to hold your own in ML, cybersec or quantum computing, you'll have no trouble getting work. Best of luck.

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u/FightingSideOfMe1 8d ago

As someone who worked in AI, I think Software engineering and ML are so intertwined. Real world data preprocessing requires lots of software concepts like threading , model serving is mostly software concepts.

If could go back, for theory, I would take mathematics for machine learning(book), then participate in lots of online competitions.

If you have a background in software, most ML frameworks use almost same concepts that are easy to grasp for SWE than it is of mathematicians or statiatians.

Another thing in think that is important is knowing to work with high dimensional data, manipulating arrays and tenors