Many computer science students report feeling under-prepared for interviews and entry-level jobs, and colleges have been working to address this problem, but are we putting effort into teaching the right skills? This poster reports initial results from a survey of both CS professors and the industry representatives who hire and work day-to-day with our graduates. We find that, when asked what skills are most important and most lacking in today’s graduates, industry and academia disagree.

Tyler Menezes is the CEO of CodeDay, where he has helped more than 70,000 students use technology and creativity to make meaningful changes to their world.

Born in Canada but raised in the Pacific Northwest, he briefly attended the University of Washington before dropping out to start a Y Combinator and venture-backed social video startup in 2011. This, combined with stints working in machine learning at Microsoft Research and as a programmer at several Seattle startups, led to his work finding data-driven solutions to build a more talented, creative, and innovative technology workforce since 2014.

Tyler’s work in education has led to his recognition as one of Forbes Magazine’s “30 Under 30” in 2019, Forbes “Under 30 Innovators You Need to Know”, Tech&Learning Magazine’s “Most Inspiring in EdTech”, and others. He has authored many peer-reviewed publications on CS education, served as Principal Investigator on National Science Foundation awards for STEM education, and has spoken about technical mentorship at leading software engineering and education conferences around the world.