The good news for you is that you don’t have to become a developer with a CS degree :) a few other roles and tech companies would rather hire someone with a CS degree rather than an MBA. Look for positions like product manager, program manager, project manager, UX, QA, etc. You don’t have to apply for a software engineer role.
Ask HN: Got a CS degree, but I’m unable to be programmer. What can I do?
261–270 of 324 posts
Re: Ask HN: Got a CS degree, but I’m unable to be programmer. What can I do?
#262#1: have you talked to an occupational therapist? Software is going to be stressful, there are going to be time pressures. You might find an organization/industry where these are minimized. Medical, aerospace move at a very slow pace. I can think of a few companies in the industrial space where things move at a pretty slow pace as well. Otherwise, software test, product management, documentation off the top of my hea…
I think you're on the right track with therapy, just probably not occupational therapy unless you need rehabilitation for problems with fine motor movements (holding a spoon, writing, etc.)
> I think you're on the right track with therapy, just probably not occupational therapy unless you need rehabilitation for problems with fine motor movements (holding a spoon, writing, etc.)
OT's can help with PTSD as well. [1]
[1, PDF] https://www.aota.org/-/media/corporate/files/aboutot/profess...
Re: Ask HN: Got a CS degree, but I’m unable to be programmer. What can I do?
#263> Are there any career paths I can pivot to that are less cognitively demanding than software engineering where this degree would be an asset?
Have you thought about going into CS research or academia?
CS is not about programming. One of the best CS professors I've had barely knew how to type.
CS is more about math and algorithms and theory than programming.
There is also technical writing or teaching. High schools are desperate for CS teachers.
Re: Ask HN: Got a CS degree, but I’m unable to be programmer. What can I do?
#264If you have passable people skills and enjoy a bit of travel, you may consider sales engineering. You basically handle all of the technical things that are over the heads of the normal sales team, both pre and post sales. This will often look like integration type work -- trying to figure out how to make your companies product work in the prospect/customer's environment.
I came here to say this. Or even vanilla Account Management for a software company (you probably don't want to be an Account Executive given anxiety).
It's a very different role, but also valuable, and having any kind or CS background may put you ahead in many companies.
Re: Ask HN: Got a CS degree, but I’m unable to be programmer. What can I do?
#265As others have said, maybe doing tricky CS-heavy coding puzzles and applying to the companies that screen for them is not the way to go. Lots of companies just need someone who knows their way around particular language and web framework. How about building out an idea for a website in Rails or Django and putting it on Heroku? Go to meetups, show it to people, network, and get advice. Not a sure thing but definitely an alternative strategy to consider. Best of luck!
Re: Ask HN: Got a CS degree, but I’m unable to be programmer. What can I do?
#266Look for jobs at smaller companies. Not necessarily startups, but established small companies that have been around for 10 - 15 years. The interviews are much more about culture fit and technical background than just grinding out whiteboard questions. It helps you get your foot in the door.
Re: Ask HN: Got a CS degree, but I’m unable to be programmer. What can I do?
#267Would you feel more comfortable if doing a project at home? I read here on HN a nice advice to people that may be uncomfortable in a coding interview. Here it goes:
- Ask the company if you can do a project of their choosing instead of coding at the interview. I do not mean to replace that interview, but instead of solving a problem, you would walkthrough what you have done with the interviewee.
I never tried this, but I read some companies allow it.
Re: Ask HN: Got a CS degree, but I’m unable to be programmer. What can I do?
#268When you say
> I put all my eggs in the “being a programmer” basket and it’s clearly not for me.
are you judging based on your performance on these coding tests or on your enjoyment of the work of programming. If you genuinely enjoy coding/are interested by it then maybe it is for you.
Re: Ask HN: Got a CS degree, but I’m unable to be programmer. What can I do?
#269Degrees are worthless. A degree courses is designed to be easy to grade, not to teach you anything useful. The point is to show you are capable of learning, not to make you capable of doing a job. This makes them fairly portable, while jobs may ask for a degree with a specific subject they will generally consider anyone with a degree, unless its marine biology or some shit. Code camps and uni are a good start, but if…
>Degrees are worthless. A degree courses is designed to be easy to grade, not to teach you anything useful. My experience is very far from what you describe. I learned ton of stuff from teachers who were mostly enthusiastic about the field they were teaching. Do you write from your own experience? do you have a degree?
I'm pretty capable of demonstrating that my degrees have had a huge affect on my life and my career, so not worthless. You get out what you put in, however. Maybe that's what you meant? If you just go through life ticking boxes and collecting tokens, you get what you get. Gaming the system is a strategy, it's just not the one I chose.
Re: Ask HN: Got a CS degree, but I’m unable to be programmer. What can I do?
#270> I experience PTSD like symptoms from the constant barrage of negative thoughts the difficulty and stress of doing these problems are causing me. A lot of the other posters have given some great advice from a technical perspective. I'd suggest taking some time to evaluate and improve your mental health as well. If you're putting yourself under so much pressure, that pressure alone will hold you back to a great exten…
As a medical student who also happens to have a CS degree, might I suggest that a councillor is an excellent idea, and a psychologist or psychiatrist might also be worthwhile.
A good therapist helps, a bad one will make things worse. This is speaking as someone who has only had bad therapists and is a thread away from giving up on the healthcare industry altogether. American healthcare is a disgusting joke.