#CareerAdvice #ComputerScience #Graduation #JobMarket
Hey everyone, I’m feeling pretty torn right now and could really use some advice. I’m currently in my last year of college studying IT and I’ve been questioning whether I should quit Computer Science altogether.
After seeing so many horror stories online about new grads struggling to find jobs, feeling disposable in the industry, and dealing with oversaturation in the market, I can’t help but feel discouraged.
I’ve put in the time and effort to work on freelance and personal projects, but is it worth it? Should I continue down this path and risk being jobless or underpaid? Or should I cut my losses and look for something else to do?
Here’s a bit about my current project and skills:
– Working on a chatbot website similar to ChatGPT and Monica.im
– Knowledge in MERN, PHP, MYSQL, JavaScript, AWS, GitHub, and Docker
I’m planning to focus on more complex projects this year, but my mental health is taking a hit. Any suggestions on what I should do next? Should I stick with CS and keep pushing through?
Maybe diversifying my skills, networking with industry professionals, or seeking help from career advisors could be helpful. Let me know your thoughts and any advice you might have! 🚀 #StayMotivated #FuturePlans
U sound depressed. Talk to a therapist
If you are in your last year, just finish and check it for yourself. The situation is bad, but not worse than for a lot of other jobs, so if you change be careful what you change to. It also really depends on the technologies, the area, the country, etc.
Being a 9-5 guy doesn’t make you bad. You might just have to put more effort in the beginning to get an edge over other people. Think about it like this, from now until you get a job, your job is to make your self as hirable as possible. If it takes a few months to land an internship, imagine you are having an unpaid internship where you train lc problems and do side projects.
Your chatbot project seems awesome. It doesn’t have to work well, just well enough. Try to make it as unique as possible. Don’t create a tutorial website and use an API to a shitty ai (there’s models small enough to be ran on a good computer that you can fine tune for your task, for example, than in itself is already an interesting task. Or learn real prompt engineering for gpt). Try to do as much by yourself. The project itself seems awesome but it really depends on what you are doing.
Hey I know the job market is bad but that doesn’t mean it’s a reason to give up on your dreams, goals can only be achieved if you put real effort into making it happen. It’s not the end yet.
Look at more organic data, how many people in the year above you got hired and what jobs? Don’t just read from a feed where all people do is exclaim that they can’t get a job. This is the problem with internet today, voice of few becomes disproportionately loud. I’d recommend being off of the internet in general, it isn’t good for mental state. Becoming extremely successful is much harder than trust fund baby ”influencers” tell you.
The two question you should ask yourself are: Are you genuinely interested in CS? If yes, you’ll stay in the industry regardless if you face rejections just because you like the field. And second: Are you at least a bit talented in one of the subjects companies look out for in CS graduates (software engineering, algorithms, projegt managment, …)? If yes, there _will_ be opportunities to use this talent.
If both are a no or just a very weak yes I’d reconsider.
You’re way too much of a doomer. Stop reading other people complaining on social media and taking it as 100% reality. There will always be tons of biases in things you read online, mainly the fact that the ones most likely to post are the ones who have chips on their shoulder and are venting, so you get this vicious cycle of doomerism that you’re feeding into right now. The market is not as good as it was a couple years ago, but it’s still very navigable so long as you have the proper resume, skills, patience, and expectations.
Even with the current job market, CS is still arguably the best job in the entire economy in terms of a combination of entry requirements, pay, WLB, danger, interesting-ness of work, and comfort of work. I challenge anyone to name a better occupation. I can think of maybe only a single one that might really challenge it. You mention going into finance instead, but I mean that’s not really any better than CS. The competition for jobs is just as fierce there, they work **way** more hours on average, they usually get paid around the same (IB) or less (analysts) compared to CS, and the work, imo at least, is extremely boring compared to CS.
Your project sounds good, it sounds like you have a lot of good skills, and you’re going to have a degree in a closely related field. It sounds like you’re doing pretty great honestly. You’ll definitely be more qualified than most other applicants with all that. Don’t sell yourself so short.
Yes
Are you getting interviews? In the UK it took me about 9 months and around 1000 applications / 50 interviews to get a permanent offer.
Things I learnt:
– I got way more interviews off of recruitment agents recruiting for small companies LOCAL to my area who I found by filtering the jobs on LinkedIn for ‘most recent’ and only applying for stuff that was posted in the last < 3 hours. Like I literally never got a response form any ad that had been up for > 3 hours but started getting loads when I exclusively applied to those.
– Showing off my projects got me the job. I grinded leetcode to teach myself data structures and algorithms but it never came in use for getting a job and only had a leetcode problem in like 20% of my interviews. This is the UK, US might have different typical recruitment processes.
– Without an internship I would’ve had no chance. Could be worth trying to get some more internship experience.
– I wanted to off myself a lot thru that whole process, just remember you have like 40 years of work left and the market will get better. You can always just do a part time / low skilled job. Don’t compare yourself to those who got lucky right out of uni. Keep your eyes off that linkedin news feed full of guys kissing their own arse.
– Weird tip: half of interviews is about not being a stiff idiot and having soft skills. Go do a hobby / team sport that has you interacting with ppl a lot. This will naturally make you more confident and better at talking to ppl. I do mma and got to a sauna 3 times a week and chat with random ppl. I used to be shy and awkward before that.
Notes:
I was handicapped by having a MEng mechanical engineering degree instead of a CS
I was boosted by having a 6 month software engineering internship.
There is a phenomenon where those dissatisfied with their situation are often louder than those who are content. This “vocal minority” dominates discussions, meaning you hear more about negative experiences than positive ones. As humans, we often feel entitled to happiness, but it’s important to remember that things usually sound worse than they are.
Success often requires hard work, persistence, and sometimes a bit of luck. It’s not always simple, but it’s generally more straightforward than social media might make it seem. Your mental health and attitude also play a crucial role in achieving success. Are you actively doing the things needed for success, or are you relying solely on your degree?
You’re off to a good start with your freelance and personal projects. Many people complain on social media lack of portfolios or hands-on experience. A mentor once told me, “Do the things, and the other things will fall into place.” This advice applies across industries. In real estate, for instance, it meant waking up early, studying the market, reaching out to clients, and handling all the small tasks that led to closing deals. The same principles can be adapted to any field, including IT.
Take care of yourself and focus on your small, consistent efforts. Over time, these efforts can lead to significant results. Additionally, remember that content on social media is often designed to attract views. Negativity tends to resonate more, but this doesn’t mean everyone is struggling. Many content creators might be employed, running their own businesses, or not actively seeking jobs.
Your current projects and skills are valuable. Keep building and improving, and don’t let the negativity you see online deter you from pursuing your goals. Your journey is unique, and there are paths forward even in challenging times.
I was feeling like you (and still do feel like you).
I took a job at an HVAC shop as a helper (3 weeks now) I’m only getting paid $20 hr. I was making around $40 before as a developer (web).
It was nice to have that developer job. I was making good money and I was doing stuff I loved doing.
Now at this HVAC shop, I’m getting dirty, working hard physically. All for shit pay. It makes me want to off myself so hard.
However, I’m still holding on to hope. I hope as the years progress I can go back to making a livable wage again in this HVAC field.
The Tech industry is such a bitch to get into. Like Geez, they want you to be some super phenomenal extra intelligent being. The interviews are so difficult. They ask you stupid questions to Guage you. I mean man, it’s like you have to suck 6 dicks side ways, upside down and take two up the shitter to just land one of these fucking jobs.
After 6 months of trying to find work and not succeed I gave up. I try not to get excited when recruiters call but I always set myself up for failure. They call, you do the round of interviews, and then you get denied or ghosted.
It’s way too much for me. I want a job, I’m not looking to be some godly glory hole over here.