Live data from Hacker News

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

news.ycombinator.com

61–70 of 116 posts

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

#61
Game industry is going through huge cuts right now[1][2] after a covid/free money boom over the last few years and stagnant revenue growth now.

If you end up staying in this field, one very valuable piece of advice is use your free time, while looking for work, to prepare for interviews and specifically leetcode and other interviewing processes you're likely to face. It's basically standard operating procedure right now for both big and small companies. Look online at tech interview guides. If you're in the US, when hiring picks up again, it's probably the single best chance to financial well being, getting into one of the cushy tech jobs.

[1]: https://gamecraftpod.com/podcast/episode-02/ [2]: https://www.matthewball.co/all/gaming2024

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

#62

Random personal opinion: get a masters degree, researching computer vision or NLP, or something that hedges you against AI. Or if you are inclined, do a PhD. Also you sounds like you are a bit burned out. Translating sounds even much more AI-replacable than CS -- don't do that if you fear CS. (Also Blind is toxic albeit informational! Call up some people. Ask me; or ask HN or some less negative places for how the ind…

Anyone entering graduate work in AI now is likely going to be entering a market with a glut of similar graduates in 2-4 years.

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

#63
post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No? Web Dev and Com Sci are incredibly different topics.

He said they are a venn diagram with no overlap. I feel like that fact they both use computer programming negates that argument.

Computer programming doesn’t mean computer science.

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

#64

You need to do some soul searching (or, I like punk rock, "you've got soul doubt", to quote Fat Mike)... Are you just nervous because of the news you are reading OR "my interest in webdev is still dead" Have you gone through your college career and you realized you do not like CS? You need to answer this question first. Then you have the answer... if you love CS, the the job will come. Forget what you are reading and…

I think I do like CS, but dislike the domain I'm in. I think webdev is pretty boring, both frontend and backend. So this recent shift in the job market makes me think "So I have to go through the applying/interview grind again, this time with much fiercer competition, all for a job I won't even like?" I have always found game development more appealing (tools programming, game design and gameplay programming in parti…

Have you considered doing webdev for a business in the entertainment industry? Anything from small organizations You' to large like Disney. You wouldn't get paid the big FAANG bucks but you'd be able to make a living off your education while remaining connected to your other passion.

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

#65
I went through the same situation in 2001.

I finished my degree and the job I had lined up with Intel fell through.

I spent the summer building up new skills.

Found a contract gig first. It is easier to find a job when you have one.

This allowed me to bide some time the I found a better gig from there.

You can doomscroll all your want. But if you want to find a job, focus on networking and marketing yourself.

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

#67
post #50

Few counterpoints: * AI is better for juniors than seniors. It doesn't do legwork; it just provides knowledge. * Blind is a toxic hellscape and redditors are broadly pretty dim. Plausibly AI is a problem for your employment in like ~2 years; so I'd speedrun into SWE somewhere where you can make as much use of AI as possible (e.g. ask about whether the firm allows copilot, etc). There's no better industry to be in tha…

[deleted]

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

#68
Hello, first of all you have my sympathies and I share your opinion that the 'tech' job market is seeming less appealing to new graduates for a variety of objective/measurable reasons you've mentioned. I also think your self-described lack of interest is sufficient cause to seek other careers and the previous justifications may be worth not focusing on too much... The world has more interconnected opportunity now than ever before and even if you don't do full-stack web development ever again I am sure your computer skills are valuable in very many domains.

I finished college 8 years ago and have been coding since. I still code, but I have just begun tutoring/teaching Adult Education classes for a Service-worker Union (Search for SEIU + ) and have found the work to be fulfilling, flexible (fully remote), and pay surprisingly well (over $50/hr entry). In my limited experience there is great demand from this somewhat hidden (but growing!) demographic of multi-year-industry-specific professionals seeking to upgrade their career flexibility through education. Digital literacy is a subject us programmers take largely for granted that has nearly constant over-subscribed classes in my branch, and one of the first questions I was asked by a much-adored veteran teacher when observing their science/math TEAS prep class was 'How's your Google-fu?' I felt right at home...

Part of the reason I got into CS was because I had a diverse range of interests and somehow computers seemed to power the foundations for interacting with and connecting the vast majority of them. If you've got similar motivations I think you'll enjoy the wide range of challenges that teaching adults offers. Fwiw, I think most folks in the world face professionally uncertain times ahead but at least we can understand enough to try and make the most of the inevitable instead of squandering precious energy...

I hope my perspective offers you some assistance, and I thank you for sharing. I know a lot of people (both your age and older) have similar feelings.

PS English Literacy classes in my branch are also heavily oversubscribed, and with bilingualism you might be a marvelously effective teacher in that meaningful domain as well.

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

#69
post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He said they are a venn diagram with no overlap. I feel like that fact they both use computer programming negates that argument.

The overlap is minimal. 99.99% of web dev requires no computing, no science, no math.

Yes. Web developers never tackle with caching, database query optimisation, protocol development, or data modelling.

Just HTML and CSS and nothing else.

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

#70
The job hunt process sucks. Do you like software engineering? If so look for jobs at smaller shops in areas you are interested in. Networking may be needed. Things are way more stupid than they were 10+ years ago. Everyone seems to think the FAANG interview process is the cats meow. But if you can connect with someone at a company you are interested in that can help.

Freelancing could be an option, but a track record helps.

Honestly, look at old school options like craigslist and find options.

Post reply on HN