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I graduated into the dot com bust as a programmer and made it – you will too

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Re: I graduated into the dot com bust as a programmer and made it – you will too

#71
post #33

Financial crisis is nothing new to the current working generation. We're getting kind of good at it I think..

It’s been every 7-8 years for me for my entire life. I find it very difficult to make large bets.

If you'd been betting along the market you'd be up big by now

Re: I graduated into the dot com bust as a programmer and made it – you will too

#72
post #31

This is just a personal anecdote. It is the very definition of survivorship bias.

I don't disagree with the logic. But a bit... wet blanket, no? I’m having a good laugh imagining the motivational oomph that's lost when adding the caps below. "To all the young programmers worrying about the uncertain job market, I promise things will get better FOR SOME OF YOU."

[deleted]

Re: I graduated into the dot com bust as a programmer and made it – you will too

#73
post #68
post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Recruitment spamming isn't useful for accessing hiring rate. Recruiters are always building their database of who is out there and gathering information.

I mean building your database via "I'd like to connect" message is one thing, getting specific job descriptions + being asked to start the recruitment process is a bit farther than that. I'm getting about the same ratio of type so far the past month. I'm not saying it's 1 to 1 but these companies are at least still actively hiring, and I have no reason to doubt that based on my company doing the same.

Gathering information is the recruitment process. It's just used to filter the good candidates out of bad candidates. The process is further used to get a valuation of what each candidate is willing or desiring to be paid and this is the main reason recruiters will always be working. I'm still being spammed as well and where the recruitment process is part of the spam. I work in academia which I enjoy and I'm not looking to leave my job but I do think the actual hiring will slow somewhat down. Too early to predict how much in all areas of engineering but I assume in a few months we will see.

Re: I graduated into the dot com bust as a programmer and made it – you will too

#74
post #31

This is just a personal anecdote. It is the very definition of survivorship bias.

I don't disagree with the logic. But a bit... wet blanket, no? I’m having a good laugh imagining the motivational oomph that's lost when adding the caps below. "To all the young programmers worrying about the uncertain job market, I promise things will get better FOR SOME OF YOU."

That’s what life is. There are no happy endings or do overs. It is only the raw truth of your circumstances. You can either look at that truth head on, or avert your eyes.

Re: I graduated into the dot com bust as a programmer and made it – you will too

#75

I graduated from university at the exact moment the dot com bust occurred, and the job market went from fizzing to non-existent in the space of a few weeks. I ended up working at a local charity, and then entering into a business incubator but for a couple of years I had no money to speak of. If I felt rich, I'd have McDonalds for lunch. On the other hand, I was living in a cool part of town with a group of people wh…

I graduated in 2002. It was devastating to my life and set my career back about a decade. Because I am from Appalachia, that only compounded the problem.

It took me 2 years to find a 'real' job as tech support with a starting salary of 28k/year. It wasnt until 5 years after graduation did I find a job I was really happy with as a DBA at a University making 40k/year.

I was still stuck, because here you have this east coaster from a no name university and their career hasn't grown much, not worth a phone screen. Things didn't really change for me until I got my masters at an Ivy league.

I was finally worth of a phone screen and risk flying to the west coast for an on-site. After that I have done really well as a data scientist for a top 5 tech, but it was not easy.

Given that I graduated in 2002, if someone finds out that I am not making TC 400k and worth millions, something must be really wrong with me.

If I made 100k out of college like many in tech do now, I would have been retired by now. At this rate, it will be about 15 years before I can retire - thats how far graduating during the wrong time set me back.

Will better days be ahead? yes. Did people graduating now end up winning a really shitty lottery? oh god yes, though probably not as bad as 2002.

Re: I graduated into the dot com bust as a programmer and made it – you will too

#76
post #52
post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's advisable to hold your RSUs for at least one year for a favourable tax treatment, so the 33% discount he got is still very good; he's likely not going to sell his RSUs in six months. He got the offer and decided on his start date way back in August of last year so any luck he happens by is good luck. He could've chosen to be luckier if the stock price goes down further, but I'd say this is pretty lucky as it is…

Isn't the favorable tax treatment only on the appreciation from the vest price?

Yes. RSUs for publicly traded companies are for functionally equivalent to a cash for tax purposes. Not selling them immediately is the same as if your employer had given you a cash bonus and you bought shares of the company with the whole thing.

Re: I graduated into the dot com bust as a programmer and made it – you will too

#77
post #75

I graduated from university at the exact moment the dot com bust occurred, and the job market went from fizzing to non-existent in the space of a few weeks. I ended up working at a local charity, and then entering into a business incubator but for a couple of years I had no money to speak of. If I felt rich, I'd have McDonalds for lunch. On the other hand, I was living in a cool part of town with a group of people wh…

I graduated in 2002. It was devastating to my life and set my career back about a decade. Because I am from Appalachia, that only compounded the problem. It took me 2 years to find a 'real' job as tech support with a starting salary of 28k/year. It wasnt until 5 years after graduation did I find a job I was really happy with as a DBA at a University making 40k/year. I was still stuck, because here you have this east…

Of all my friends from back in the early 2000's, we've all pretty much had the same life arc. Some people got jobs as lawyers, some at banks, some were in a band, some were social workers, and then there was me - no fancy job, no money, and just a crappy car and a very friendly cat.

20 years later, we live all around the world but the circumstances are largely similar. A job which is ok, a house, kids - nothing much to complain about really.

One of the biggest learnings I've had is that people make decisions (some of which I wouldn't personally agree with), but we all end up in mostly the same place.

People who are going to struggle for the next year or two will be fine, but the future and the path they take might be a bit different to what they expected.

Re: I graduated into the dot com bust as a programmer and made it – you will too

#78

This brings back so many memories. I graduated with a Comp Sci degree from a well-regarded university. I had friends who graduated a year earlier return to school for a different degree because there was just nothing available with a degree in CS. So demoralizing. I graduated a year later and took a job making a little over minimum wage. At that time, the most influential executives at my workplaces said software eng…

I'm pushing 40, graduated high school in 2000. I heard a lot of the same "wisdom." For some reason I just really wanted to be a software developer so I stuck with it even though the dot com bubble was in full catastrophe mode. I'm glad I did, but I can't claim magic wisdom. I don't know how kids are supposed to get good life/career advice. I surely didn't. Perhaps the only thing I can reasonably suggest is that peopl…

I'm a college senior who feels like the world has been pulled out from under me. Would love to talk to you about your life. Email is on my profile.

Re: I graduated into the dot com bust as a programmer and made it – you will too

#80
post #79

Why do you guys assume that this crisis will hit software development? As far as I can see software development will be one of the fields least hit, possibly even benifiting, by the fallout of the Corona-virus.

See other posts about all the software startups firing readers of this forum.

edit: latest related post on the front page is about OYO furloughing thousands https://techcrunch.com/2020/04/08/indias-oyo-furloughs-thous...

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