A Master's Degree Isn't the Job Guarantee It Used to Be
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Re: A Master's Degree Isn't the Job Guarantee It Used to Be
#2My learning about attaining corporate software employment, and I know there are numerous exceptions, is:
* Make yourself as replaceable as possible.
* Plan B, enter management and be good at managing people.
Re: A Master's Degree Isn't the Job Guarantee It Used to Be
#3It never was.
The lies we continue to keep telling the next generation.
Re: A Master's Degree Isn't the Job Guarantee It Used to Be
#4My learning about attaining corporate software employment, and I know there are numerous exceptions, is: * Make yourself as replaceable as possible. * Plan B, enter management and be good at managing people.
> Make yourself as replaceable as possible.
On the list of top-100 things SWEs need focus on to have the most prosperous career this one is 1 through 95
Re: A Master's Degree Isn't the Job Guarantee It Used to Be
#5My learning about attaining corporate software employment, and I know there are numerous exceptions, is: * Make yourself as replaceable as possible. * Plan B, enter management and be good at managing people.
> Make yourself as replaceable as possible. On the list of top-100 things SWEs need focus on to have the most prosperous career this one is 1 through 95
Can you expand on that? Seems very counterintuitive
Re: A Master's Degree Isn't the Job Guarantee It Used to Be
#6It never was. The lies we continue to keep telling the next generation.
For real. My dad got his MBA and proceeded to lose his job within 4 months and never got another one in the tech field again thereafter. Everyone said they couldn't afford him. He went on to do SAT test prep, blackjack dealing, and nowadays teaches bridge on cruise ships as his retirement job.
Re: A Master's Degree Isn't the Job Guarantee It Used to Be
#7It never was. The lies we continue to keep telling the next generation.
Most degrees are just advancing levels of verifying you can walk and chew bubble gum simultaneously, follow instructions, show up on time. Being able to attain a Master's is a side-effect of having that skillset but doesn't necessarily instill it, and employers generally don't care as long as you've demonstrated that capacity outside of school.
Re: A Master's Degree Isn't the Job Guarantee It Used to Be
#8Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Make yourself as replaceable as possible. On the list of top-100 things SWEs need focus on to have the most prosperous career this one is 1 through 95
Can you expand on that? Seems very counterintuitive
A couple of things:
* Employers do not heavily invest in training. They over invest in hiring/firing. If you want to shine at candidate selection time you need to look like that perfect guy who they can fire with minimal risk and replace you with a 22 year old.
* Employees that over prioritize in retaining their current employment, such becoming that irreplaceable center of attention that keeps all the lights on, are high risk. Nobody likes high risk.
* Software developers tend to prioritize all the wrong things. They tend to prioritize things that make their own lives easier at cost of everything else. You can label that immaturity, autism, sociopathic, or whatever. The result is the same. Employers have real product decisions to make and if you aren't on that same line they will consider you as a potential redundancy for elimination, because you consume more resources as an employee than you deliver as a developer.
Re: A Master's Degree Isn't the Job Guarantee It Used to Be
#9[deleted]
Re: A Master's Degree Isn't the Job Guarantee It Used to Be
#10The article gets cut off with some bizarre ad that takes over the rest of the screen, but from what is visible it states that the unemployment rate for the given cohort has rarely been higher, indicating that it has been higher, which doesn't suggest any fundamental shift, just the usual business cycle.