Ask HN: Junior dev and I don't want to compete in this job market. Any advice?

I'm about to finish my BS in CS from WGU (remote accredited college, about as good as a state school, not a target school). I've struggled with health issues for many years which made remote the only option for a long, long time. Health is better now, but I'm still scarred.

Long story short, health and living situation made me lose nice full-stack remote dev job, networking opportunities, my confidence, and my motivation to compete in this job market. As I said, my health is better, but my will to grind leetcode and apply to a million job listings that might not even be real is gone. It's not just time-consuming, it's demoralizing and messing with my head big time And as I said, I have no network.

Remote is no longer a requirement for me, but flexible or second/third shift jobs are ideal. Sleep schedule is still a struggle, even now.

I've got some thoughts:

- Apply only to federal and state government software dev/IT jobs for new grads. These listings have specific requirements (you must be a new grad and an American citizen), so it might not be as saturated as the private sector. I've read online that the interviews are easy, no leetcode.

- If that doesn't work, look into which certifications would help me land a job in a tech adjacent role that isn't dev and isn't as competitive. Would appreciate guidance here, because from what I've seen, IT appears to be just as bad as dev right now.

- If that doesn't work, look into pivoting to tech recruiting. Hopefully I wouldn't need to go back to school for this.

- If none of that works, forget tech jobs altogether, and apply to jobs that are less competitive and only require a degree.

- I have been seriously considering selling software dev courses. Always had an interest in this, to be honest. I'd also love to build a one-man SaaS business too, at the intersection of these (e.g. software for Instructional Designers). Both of these are just dreams or potential side hustles, as I don't have the capital to sustain a solo/bootstrapped business right now.

Any advice, ideas or feedback on my current options would be appreciated.

You are literally one day away from the who's hiring and who wants to get hired threads. Review and apply, be willing and honest to discuss strengths and weaknesses. Have interesting projects that you have worked on and can speak about.

Best of luck!

That's harsh. The world is a grinder and if you fall for a second it's really harsh. I know the feeling myself. That being said, a lot of smaller tech jobs like coding for startups don't require a ton of leetcode. I once interviewed for a startup that asked some very basic coding only: open a file in Python, go through the file, replace some stuff, some basic array questions, etc. And I also got a job at another company where the interview was a bit more advanced but no leetcode or puzzles -- just something any competent Python programmer could do.

I would also just look outside IT as well. I eventually left IT and I actually like it a lot better. I actually still code here and there but it's not a main part of my work any more.

You only need to compete in dev/IT when you lack relationships. It's not about raw talent or raw output but instead absolute trust. Confidence that you (or whoever) has a good sense of direction and is grounded in their work. I don't trust anyone in this industry who has never had a mentor. I would never work with anyone else in this industry who is themselves not already a part of an active community where they are valued and can make their own valued relationships/experiences. An eagerness to "do more" is great but i'm more worried about ones' ethics under immense strain.