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

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

#101
post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's progressively gotten worse, but the point for me was when they removed access for third party apps. Many people who contributed meaningfully left in protest.

The comments were delusionally disparate from reality for a long time before that. Reddit always leant left, but pre... idk, 2014 you could imagine the conversations you read on there occurring with someone you might conceivably meet in real life, even if they would be a bit of an outlier. After that, no chance - everyone on there had the personality of a delusionally dug-in activist, the type of person you'd instinc…

> everyone on there had the personality of a delusionally dug-in activist

I question the credibility of people that use broad hyperbolic generalizations like this.

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

#102
post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's progressively gotten worse, but the point for me was when they removed access for third party apps. Many people who contributed meaningfully left in protest.

The comments were delusionally disparate from reality for a long time before that. Reddit always leant left, but pre... idk, 2014 you could imagine the conversations you read on there occurring with someone you might conceivably meet in real life, even if they would be a bit of an outlier. After that, no chance - everyone on there had the personality of a delusionally dug-in activist, the type of person you'd instinc…

Ah yes, the leftists who posted in fatpeoplehate, jailbait, theDonald, and all the gamergate subs.

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

#103
Firstly, do you enjoy tech? As in do you code and build things outside of what's required for education and work?

People in this industry tend to be very passionate about what they do and the industry moves very quickly. It's not a great industry for someone who just wants to spend 3 years learning then wants to go on to land a nice job. It's really requires having a love for building things and continuing to learn as new technologies emerge.

I know a lot of people who got a CS degree thinking working in tech would be fun, but just didn't have the passion for it to compete professionally. And as you're seeing it's even harder today.

If you're passionate and you're able to commit your spare time to learning, then I'd suggest you first get a job with some vague tech focus. Maybe work in an Apple store or a computer repair shop or something... This will look better on your profile than doing nothing or something entirely unrelated to tech.

Then while you're earning an income you should be applying to tech roles, and ideally asking people if they'd be willing to take you on for minimum wage. Even if it's just the odd project for a bit of cash, that's still very useful experience.

After a couple of years of this crap you'll be in a much better place to land a role, but you need to appreciate there's loads of people with junior coding skills out there. You need to set yourself apart and that largely requires doing what other people will not because you care enough about working in tech.

If you don't care about working in tech but just want to make decent money, become a truck driver or something. It will probably be much easier.

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

#104
post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t disagree with this, but when did this happen? About a decade ago I remember Reddit being pretty decent. Did Reddit change or did I change?

It's progressively gotten worse, but the point for me was when they removed access for third party apps. Many people who contributed meaningfully left in protest.

and they're licensing it for LLM training purposes. It'll only make the LLM output even less trustworthy.

https://arstechnica.com/ai/2024/02/reddit-has-already-booked...

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

#105

Pick any industry and this environment we’re experiencing in “CS” is going to occur 3 or 4 times in your working years. No matter if you’re an electrician or a software developer. Do you like building software? Based on your post I get a feeling (which may be wrong) you’re looking for the $$. If you like it, stay with it and keep studying. It will pay off. (Edit: my experience) I left college and started out writing…

Any tips on building a time machine and reliving ZIRP? /s

I'm not as pessimistic as OP, but I do have to wonder if I squandered my few years of ZIRP and if there will ever be another such period.

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

#106
With a CS degree you are well-positioned to get a job making good money after graduating. CS is still a good career, where you can work sane hours, with low stress, and get paid to think and solve and problems.

The current economic climate means it may mean a longer job search or worse job options, but getting any job with regular coding will be huge deal as the work experience will open many doors further down the line.

You already invested 4 years in training. You are qualified for a great many jobs. Unless you truly dislike the work itself, my advice is to stay the course.

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

#107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>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. Sorry, I accidentally removed the last part of that sentence. It was supposed to say this: So far, I've thought about translating (I'm bilingual) and technical writing. AI is already quite good at both of those, and Duolingo just replaced most of its translation staff with AI. Thank…

Btw, totally unsolicited advice, but please take care of yourself. You sound like you have quite some decisions to dwell on, and correct decisions are much harder in moments of hopelessness. If you feel hopeless, we (at least me, and HN in general) are here to help besides other resources.

I'm in similar boat. But I love CS and it seems easy for me.

But I butchered myself (meaning no substantial skills on paper) so I am unhireable. People don't even look at my resume. Deactivated LinkedIn because it was causing harm than good.

That's it!

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

#108

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

Answer for 3.

It is a waste. I graduated 5 years ago. Joined Master hoping something good would happen. Learnt a few things here and there. Now I am in objectively bad position where I ruined my family relationship, ruined health and ruined most of the things.

Life just sucks and everything is gray.

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

#110
post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The comments were delusionally disparate from reality for a long time before that. Reddit always leant left, but pre... idk, 2014 you could imagine the conversations you read on there occurring with someone you might conceivably meet in real life, even if they would be a bit of an outlier. After that, no chance - everyone on there had the personality of a delusionally dug-in activist, the type of person you'd instinc…

> everyone on there had the personality of a delusionally dug-in activist I question the credibility of people that use broad hyperbolic generalizations like this.

I am definitely incredible.
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