Let me explain.

Having worked for around 10 years in tech (small organizations, mid-sized products, and large consultancies) — with about 3 of those years as a lead developer — I’ve observed an interesting pattern: the higher the role, the more “random” the person in that role often seems to be (of course from my subjective view)

Don’t get me wrong — sometimes, there are truly great people in these positions. But, for example, before COVID, I witnessed someone who had spent only 6 months in a lead position in our product jump straight to an Engineering Manager role at one of the FAANG companies. Within just 3 years, they progressed to senior management there. It was a great person, but how is it possible? I've seen them at work, nothing outstanding, same level as we all were.

Meanwhile, some genuinely talented individuals are still stuck in lead developer roles even to this day.

I’ve always known this, but it still gets to me. It’s very sad to scroll through LinkedIn and see posts from people bragging about their FAANG-level positions, knowing that only 50% of their success can be attributed to effort. The remaining 50%? Just... luck?

Share your own observations in the comments

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I did a bachelors in some completely unrelated hard science and switched over to a masters that fast-tracked people into cs (im somewhere in the eu where getting a masters is normal for higher education). Got my first job at a big consultancy and basically stayed on a (pretty broing) backend python job the 2 years i was there. Did some golang/web dev in my free time as well, not all that much tho. Somehow switched to a big telecom company doing sysadmin/containerisarion stuff without previous experience (been there for 3mo now). I like coding, i like the kubernetes stuff on the side but dont like only sysadmin stuff (maybe partially bc its waaayy too much to grasp for me atm, im doing babysteps but also bc i really dont fit into my team personality-wise). I know I'll quit soon because I'm moving out of the country.

I like learning new things and get interested in a bunch of stuff i see on yt (linux stuff, hacking stuff) but dont feel like im moving towards a coherent set of skills.

So now, where can I go from here? Im not looking for "an answer" so much as inspiration so maybe the question is, what did you specialize in, how did you know?

I need help on starting to build my own network and make connections. Im not looking for a job yet for a while but i want to start networking early on so any tips will be welcome

I am 30 years old and looking into a bachelors degree in either Computer science or Software Engineering at WGU. I have 3 years of work experience in software development and about 5 years working in IT helpdesk, Networking, and System administration. I have some credits I’d transfer over. About 1/2 the degree if going into software engineering. About a 1/3 of the degree if going into computer science. I’m slightly avoiding computer science because of the classes are harder and would take longer. I’m not opposed to it and am leaning the way of a computer science degree even if it takes an extra year just to get the masters later down the road. But the main goal right now is to switch jobs and to get a degree. And more and more jobs I am seeing require a degree either Computer science or related.

Essentially the goal is to get a degree to get through the recruitment filters.

I have to work on my resume, portfolio, and some leetcodes. I haven’t looked for a job in 3 years so that stuff could be updated and projects don’t represent my current skill level. I’m happy enough with the current software development job to stick with it but idk if I can make it here and attempt a cs degree at the same time.

I see a lot of people say experience and portfolio matter more. I’m not sure if that’s 100 percent true though. I could always get a software engineering degree then take an additional one or two terms to complete the CS degree after switching jobs.

This has been a flow of consciousness. Would love your feedback. I appreciate you guys.

Hey everyone,

I just got an invite to a Walmart round one interview, and I could use some advice! The email says it will last about an hour and consists of technical knowledge and behavioral questions aligned to the Cybersecurity field.

Here's a little background about me:

• I’m not super focused on Cybersecurity but have taken a Cyber Defense class where we covered tools and topics like Wireshark, Scapy, Hashcat, ciphers, man-in-the-middle attacks, and certifications.
• I’ve been to several hackathons, mostly building web apps.
• Last summer, I interned at a construction company and built an internal tool using React, SQL, and other app dev stuff.

i am honestly not super focused on cybersecurity per say but i will take this interview and give what i have

I’m curious if anyone has gone through this process or has tips for preparing for cybersecurity interviews at Walmart. What kind of technical questions should I expect?

also how many rounds does walmart have ?

Any advice for behavioral questions or how to frame my background to make it relevant to Cybersecurity?

Thanks in advance for your help! 🙏

"What do you do?

“What Attracted You to This Career Path?”

“What Previous Professional Experiences Have Helped You Most in This Role?”

“What’s Something That Would Surprise People About Your Day-to-Day?”

“What’s One Thing You Wish Somebody Would’ve Told You Before Going Into This Field?”

“How Would You Describe Somebody Who Would Excel in This Career?”

“What’s Most Important to Prepare for a Role Like Yours?”

QA, IT specialist positions rejected me, been thinking really negatively.

Applied and Interviewed for a role for the last 6 weeks with 3x interviews. I've been formally offered the role at $112k, which would require me to move to the otherside of the country to a big city.

Given it's end of November i need to wrap up my current role and then it's Christmas time when everything will be shut down. They are insisting i start December 9th and move across the country 2 weeks after the start date, with no relocation help.I feel this is quite unfair especially in December, finding accomodation during the holiday period would take up 2 months of salary and they are only offering a 1 year contract. I would be ok to start in the new year which is only 6 weeks away but it doesnt seem like they will even accept that.

I also talked about this in my offer call with the recruiter about start date and i said i would send a prefered terms email after our chat, shes gone directly to the team without even waiting to receive my email and then came back with a non flexible start date.

Realistically, i wouldnt be able to relocate and find accomodation in a major city until February and would work remotely until then.

Ive been searching for 4 months but im not particularly happy with such an offer and their lack of flexibility am i being unreasonable, do i walk?

Not sure if this is the right place to post this, but just wanted to get some advice on my situation. Currently a new grad, and I'm lucky enough to have landed a SWE I role.

I'm originally from the West Coast, but I went to school on the East Coast. After graduation, I was set on moving home as I had missed my family very much (which I have a good relationship with) and finding a job there (Bay Area). However, due to the job market I wasn't going to let this opportunity to get experience pass me by just to stay home and keep applying, but I would be lying if I said I didn't miss my family like crazy all the time.

In college it was okay, because I always knew that I'd be going home for winter break/summer break, but now it's a lot scarier that I don't have those long periods of time to spend time with my family. and that I don't have a definite time where I'll be returning home. A close family member passed within the last year and that has made me realize how important family is to me and how limited my time with them could be.

Finding a job in my hometown (Bay Area) has been much more difficult than finding a job out on the East Coast. I'm still searching and hopefully I'll be able to return home soon.

Has anyone gone through something similar, and if so, do you have any advice as to how to cope with these feelings? I can’t even think about career right now, I just think about the time I’m missing out on with my family.

I'm tired of this problem not getting the attention it deserves. This unspoken silence, is why a guy like Trump win. My company shrunk from 950 US workers to some 300 US workers, with only offshore teams growing. I really hope in this really slim labor market, competition likr h1b & outsourcing is discussed and solved as a real problem like a union, without treating it as a stigma to grand stand your liberal values.

Mathematically, jobs are a limited resource, and should be shared on a careful basis. We shared in the past, and hopefully will share in the future. But it's time in the current climate we pay attention to our own graduates. Please bring this issue up with your representatives. Puck up the phone and call your congressmen.

As someone nearing the end of their undergraduate degree in CS I'm coming to terms with the fact that I may need to be open minded about what jobs I apply for. Given the state of the market, I am a bit unsure about the likelihood of getting a SWE position, although I do have a bit of development experience at a startup and I did have a bit of response from some applications.

What are some other sort of "non-traditional" jobs some people have gotten with a CS degree? I see lots of people say "you don't need to be a SWE, try applying for DB admin jobs or IT helpdesk", but is there something less tech related that others have gone into? I'd like to hear others' experiences.

Have new grad offers for both. Here are my thoughts:

Anduril:

• Higher TC (~50k difference, although most of that is stock which is illiquid)
• Higher upside in the case of an IPO

Meta:

• Better resume value
• Faster career growth

Location and my personal interest in the work is irrelevant for me.

Hey guys,

Yes, I've made a few mistakes, but the way they are choosing to handle it leaves me confident, that this has little to do with my actual performance, and is more about inter-management politics and finding the scapegoat. I had a one-on-one with the manager. He's the guy who found me and hired me, he tried assuring me that he's in my corner, but I know that you can't trust anyone in this situation. I'm going to do everything within more than reasonable limits to improve, but I'm already long past a point where I feel like I can actually please everyone and get off the hot seat. So, I'm bracing for the possible termination.

Anyway, I was given a document outlining the PIP and given a 30 day frame of meeting certain metrics. I don't agree with some of the points on it. The one that particularly worries me is I technically broke the company hybrid policy. There was one week, where I worked 5 consecutive days remote. I did it, because we had a very important project to get out the door, I knew that the hours will be long, my commute is 35 miles one way. When we have meetings, they are all still video calls, even if everyone is in the office. As a result of doing that week remotely, it was infinitely easier for me to lock in and also be online for longer hours. In addition to that, I also volunteered to spend 6 hours the following weekend to check on things post-release. Of course, none of the latter part of why I did it like this is written out in the doc, and text makes me look like a nasty, nasty on-site hours dodger.

They want me to sign this document. If I do sign it, should I still be eligible for collecting unemployment, even with the breaking of remote policy?

I honestly don’t know anymore - my first gen parents aren’t any help except the typical doctor or lawyer - I honestly never knew anything but CS during highschool

Almost all of my extracurriculars and even my essay is literally just about computers and code, like I have no other skills except programming

Physics or a math degree interests me a lot but i’m not the best math person at all

I have been trying to teach myself how to create a full website, from the front end to the back end.

To do this, I have studied extensively with react.js (and learned some of it with typescript) and I have also been studying django to quickly set up backends.

I just completed I guess what some would consider a 6 month boot camp in software development, that refreshed my HTML, CSS, React, SQL skills.

I feel like I know generally how programming languages work and can create basic things. I've had this knowledge for a while now, probably since 2018, but I really just need a good environment to further it and practice.

A lot of the times I hit a wall and I always seem to get this thought of "wow, am I really dumb? Is this the career path I want?"

It's very discouraging seeing the level some people are on and thinking I may never reach that.

I even have a career coach who is basically there to help me create a resume and a linkedin.. but she can't give me any advice on how adequate my technical skills are. She just tells me that my willingness to learn is what companies are searching for.

I know that once I start doing this 40 hours a week for a career I'll learn quickly, but still.

Until then, am I just stuck in this loop, not knowing enough to get an entry level job and getting discouraged when I try to learn basic things?

Can some of you maybe share your experience about how much knowledge you had when you got an entry level job? I'm just feeling very lost and undereducated.

Edit: I guess I should include that I've taken at least 30 credits of college classes on beginner programming concepts / OOP / electrical engineering a while ago.

So I’m interested in a lot of things, but I want to go more towards seeing my code do real physical things.

My hopeful path is finish up my current CS bachelors, minor in ai and robotics, and get a masters in electronic warfare. I want to end up doing DOD work where I get to see my code do real physical things on planes or boats.

I talked with my advisor and he said that there is a definite need for people to program robots and physical things. I have an idea of what jobs I’d want to do: robotics (something software related) or embedded systems. Basically, I wanna see stuff move with code.

What should I be doing right now to work towards that? Is it a hard field to get into?

Technically I asked a question in my title, it was meta, but it was still a question.

Back to the statement: in the past two weeks I've had more recruiters reach out to me than in the last six months at least. As I said, it is anecdotal of course, could be particular to me, but things do seem differently suddenly.

I do have some experience and am happy where I am and am not currently looking, but even for me since the peak in 2021 and early 2022, when I was getting hit up literally every day and actually hopped jobs three times, I have really not had many recruiters contact me at all. Things went dead very abruptly and have stayed that way for over two years.

Now six in two weeks, two just today, from different sources, one was a cold call even. Maybe things are thawing out a little bit?

Anyway, I hope that gives someone a little hope.

EDIT: I just noticed someone else posted about this too on the experienced sub: https://old.reddit.com/r/ExperiencedDevs/comments/1gv5o32/i_have_anecdotally_noticed_a_massive_uptick_in/

Several there saying they're seeing something similar.

Cue the Ron Paul "It's Happening" GIF.

Hello everyone, it's been 6 months since I graduated from uni and things have not been well thanks to the job market. I have been applying for web dev positions and building couple of projects. I initially started to build projects using MERN, then a couple of people i reached out to on Linkedin suggested me to pick Springboot on backend, since I already knew Java I picked it up. Springboot is much harder than I thought and is taking me a lot of time to build something. I do work part-time at a Costco, only get limited amount of time. Now im stuck in a situation where i feel i wasted my entire time learning stuff and not building anything worthy for my resume and feel more depressed about it. Has anyone faced this before? Any suggestions?

This is a bit of an unusual goal since I don't really care too much about pay. My primary goal is maintaining a skillset/employability so that if a global financial crisis wipes out my investments I can have a fallback.

I'm graduating with a Masters in CS soon and currently looking at Co-op positions. This is a good point to weigh in which type or role or company I want to pursue to achieve my goals.

My long term goal is finding a relatively easy, fully remote job where I can work for a few days a week (20-32 hrs, ideally even less) - even if it pays far less (30-40k would be acceptable, my degree's graduates typically get 100k starting).

Wondering what the best way to work towards this goal is? Aim for any particular companies? Or any particular kind of roles?

Have an online assessment with amazon coming up but not sure what to expect; Would it be more classic leetcode style questions or more frontend focused coding questions? The only language supported for the assessment is javascript

I've been working on a project for the last 3-4 weeks to deliver a big change to our app.

Everything was good to go. I had designs done, a technical requirement spec, that I wrote up. I got sign off for it, etc.

I was about to start the implementation where I put things behind a feature toggle and he basically said "Oh btw, make sure it supports feature X"

Well it turns out feature X is super complicated to implement. I've been working on it for 3-4 days now and I'm sort of painted into a corner here.

It turns out it might have been THE MOST complicated feature in the whole project.

Normally when I design things I write up a TRD (technical requirements doc) and then front load anything complicated so that I can make sure we're not trying to do the impossible and that I can predict timelines properly.

This totally nukes me though.

I talked to him today and I basically have the rest of tomorrow to finish up the implementation and if that doesn't work he wants me to work on 2 completely different projects then resume this in January.

If we don't implement this we lost 3-4 weeks of dev time and I'm almost certainly going to forget all the technical details of this work when I go to resume it in January.

I can't help but think this still reflects poorly on me as I could tell he was frustrated on the phone just now.

However, it's totally NOT my fault. I tracked ALL the technical requirements in this project properly, had everything written down, everything was auditable and no one gave me feedback on this issue until now.

I wanted to knock this out of the park and really crush it here but now I'm kind of screwed.

I’ve recently secured a full-time software engineering job with a $98k base salary and a $20k bonus. I’m incredibly grateful for this opportunity, especially in the current market, but I can’t help but feel uneasy.

I’ve applied to hundreds of other positions and barely heard back. It’s been a long and exhausting process, which makes me wonder:

Will it be significantly easier to find a new SWE job after gaining 1 year of experience (1 YOE)?

Or will the tech market always be this difficult to navigate?

I’ve always considered medicine as an alternative career path. I’m 22, so it’s not too late to pivot if needed, but I also recognize the intensity and commitment required to go down that road.

For those who’ve been in the industry longer, how much does 1 YOE change the game? Is the job search grind just as hard after that? And for anyone who’s made a switch to or from medicine, how did you decide what was right for you?

I’d love to hear your thoughts and advice. Thanks!

Games industry is really not hiring in the US, and i think id rather stay indie anyway. Im an experienced 5+ year c++ dev, but most of my professional experience is writing code for Unreal Engine. I've applied to Epic many times and never get anything back. I am feeling my career stagnate (same job almost 4 years now) and want to keep progressing, but I'm genuinely not sure what im meant to be applying to. Nearly every job i see is full stack or AI. My expertise is architecture and system design, i primarily make systems and tools for artists and other developers to use. Anyone left the industry before and what did you migrate to?

Id be fine if the answer is basically 'learn full stack', but specialization is the key to becoming a successful engineer I've always understood, so to pivot now would feel like a mistake unless that's the advice I get.

Open to all suggestions.

TL;DR: VR Unreal Engine c++ system designer working in 'serious games industry', what other jobs can I apply to realistically that will utilize my skills? Goal is career advancement.

I'm currently a full stack, lead developer in the govcon world. Around 5 YoE with total comp around $180k and a clear path to $250k in a year or so.  Due to it being cleared work, I'm required to be onsite in the MD/VA area. 

In an ideal world, I'm working remotely (or hybrid) in PA/NJ making a similar amount to be closer to family while raising a child.

I haven't really explored the commercial job market since graduating back during COVID times. I know jobs fitting my requirements do exist (likely a tech company with a fully-remote culture), but they seem to be much more difficult to find compared to a few years ago. I wouldn't even be opposed to commuting into NYC on a limited basis. I'm happy to go back on the Leetcode grind, and since I'm content with my current situation, it's not a big deal if the job search takes a bit longer.  I feel like I'd be able to find something in the next 6ish months. 

However...my concern is a few years down the line.  I make a decent amount more than my spouse, and her income alone wouldn't be able to support us.  If I get laid off in the future, since my job would've been more-so a "unicorn" job, I'd worry I'd struggle to find another one in a timely manner.  I could probably find something similar comp-wise onsite in NYC, but we're reallllly not trying to live there long-term.

As long as I stay in the cleared industry, I'll never have to worry about my job.  I honestly don't know what it's like to have to worry about layoffs, so I'm not sure how much I should be valuing that aspect of it.  It's just that the MD/VA area isn't ideal for us long-term.

I know this sub skews a little more towards new grad/early career folks, and those who are struggling with finding jobs will typically be the loudest voices...but is it really as bad as this sub makes it seem? Would I be making a mistake giving up my clearance? There has to be a demand for good devs...right?

Hi everyone,

After working as a software engineer for three years, I’ve decided to take a shot at applying to the Winter Batch 2025 at Y Combinator! This feels like the right time to see how a program like YC would evaluate my project and its potential.

Over the past few months, I’ve had users contribute to RateMyMajor, and the feedback so far has been encouraging. This inspired me to think bigger about what the platform could become, and YC seems like the perfect environment to refine and scale it.

Here’s the description of my project:

Choosing a major or career is one of the most critical decisions people make, but most students and career changers don’t have enough real-world insights. They rely on limited advice from counselors, family, or generic information that doesn't show what these paths are like in real life. This leads to confusion, wrong choices, and wasted time and money.

Our platform solves this by giving users access to honest reviews and experiences from real people in different professions. This helps them make smarter decisions about their future, ensuring they pick a major or career that truly fits their goals and interests.

Additionally, the platform serves as a resource for professionals already in their industries. It allows them to gain insights about current trends, challenges, and career opportunities within their field, empowering them to grow and adapt in their careers.

I’d love to hear your thoughts—whether it’s advice about applying to YC, feedback on RateMyMajor, or anything else you think could help strengthen my pitch.

Thanks in advance, and good luck to everyone else chasing their goals! 😊

I graduated with BA in Computer science focusing software development right around Covid. I never got into the field I study for. While I’m employed I’ve been considering joining a boot camp (Triple Ten specifically) to refine my knowledge and try to land a job. I’m tossed between Data Analytics and Software development. But everyday I see a post on here about how Ai is the reason people are getting laid off. Or some other reason. Is tech even a safe field to get into as it was years ago?

Hi everyone,

I recently got a return offer from my summer internship in a big fintech company and in the process of doing background check with sterling (for the second time, since I did one for the internship too). I'm currently a graduate student, and I made a problem while filling out my education. I wrongly tagged my undergraduate as "Master's" and sterling marked it as "unperformable". I contacted sterling upon noticing the error, but they refused to update my information.

I'm wondering if this is something I need to take seriously and contact my recruiter ASAP.

Recently, I took interest in upgrading my copywriting skills as it felt natural to me, given my background in marketing. Along the way, I chose to specialize in Website and Landing page copywriting. And, going onto the concept that visuals work hand in hand with words, I decided to take a UI design course to distinguish myself from other copywriters, since I would be able to make my websites visually appealing too.

Now, I decided to polish these skills further by taking a course in front end development, because well, since I also have some coding experience (Python, HTML & some basic JS), why not code my websites and landing pages myself right? This brings me to today's question.

What job should I get with these skills? Is it Frontend Designer with copywriting abilities? Or is it Design engineer? Or Front end developer? I'm honestly confused right now.