Ask HN: Any advice on navigating this job market or pivoting out of tech? (US)

I'm about to finish my CS degree this May and I'm already sick of the tech industry. I'm at a loss. I know the job market could get better soon, but there's no guarantee that it will, and things are looking bad for us with less experience. There are multiple things that are demotivating me and making me feel hopeless, it's not just the constant news about layoffs.

- Based on what I've read here, in news articles, in company portals, on TeamBlind and on Reddit, outsourcing seems popular again. Seniors who comment online are quick to scoff at this, claiming that companies doing this are shooting themselves in the foot, and that they'll regret it just like last time. But here's the thing - even if the seniors are right, I need a job when I graduate. I'll need to pay my student loans. I need to pay the rent. I can't just wait a few years for things to hopefully get better.

- AI appears to be a real threat specifically for juniors. This idea used to be met with ridicule, but it seems obvious now. GPT-4 and Gemini Pro are already impressive, but just imagine the improvements in a year or two. Sure, this doesn't necessarily mean it'll kill programming, it's possible that this is just the next step after high level programming languages, but it still represents a threat to entry level developers like me.

- Perhaps this is less important now (I'd take any job at this point), but I've gradually lost interest in the only domain I have any real-world experience in, full-stack web development. I have been strongly considering switching to game development, despite the industry's reputation, but now I don't know if I can handle an even more cutthroat, competitive job market.

- Freelance work is an option I guess, but for someone like me it seems impossible. I only have a year of dev experience (including internship). I don't have a network. My sales skills are terrible.

- I am absolutely sick of the job search grind. I went through it in 2021-22 when things were "better", I don't want to deal with it again now that even experienced devs are struggling.

What are my alternatives? What other career can I pivot to once I get my CS degree? So far, I've thought about translating (I'm bilingual)

P.S. Please don't tell me to stop worrying and "doomscrolling". I already tried that a while ago and it didn't help, the uncertainty is still there, my interest in webdev is still dead and the job market is still bad.

You really should stop doomscrolling though. Reddit and Blind are terrible sources of information. Compilers didn't decrease the number of programming positions available.

In any case, pick your struggle. Decide whether you want to be well-off and bored, or something else.

You're likely in a lot of student debt after uni, and even though job market is harder, there are still jobs available. If you switch fields, you would likely be competing against much better prepared candidates with more experience.

My advice would be to get a job in SWE and decide once you're in a better position than jobless with no experience.

Stop worrying and doomscrolling

Uncertainty is natural. The Web Dev boom is a random artificial boom. Most other STEM jobs pay in the 60-90K range depending how good your grades are.

So yeah, you probably wont get a FANNG job, but you can easily get a job that will keep you alive.

Couple things:

1) if your interest in web dev is dead, then what do you have interest in?

2) what are your standards for a job?

3) if someone told you that “ok this college degree was a waste” how would you respond?

There’s no magic bullet, but knowing the answer to these can help you feel empowered to navigate the job search process