This post is to reiterate some rules and things I'm seeing develop in certain posts, and this is directed to commenters only.

Hi all,

So, I'm in a little bit of a crisis right now. I graduated with my PhD a few months ago. I want to work abroad, so, originally, I was applying for (industry) jobs in e.g., Asia/Australia.

However, this was incredibly bleak, and I realise that no company would want to sponsor me.

So, I realised my expectations and have been applying for London software engineering jobs for about a month and a half. About 100 applications and only one response, with an interview that went well. Though, when I received the technical test, I was at a wedding, so requested that I have another couple of days to do it. He said yes, but then they hired someone the next day anyway.

To put this into perspective and why I am so shocked. In 2020, I applied to 8 game enginering jobs. I had 4 interviews and 2 offers in the space of 2 weeks. My portfolio is significantly better than previously but I'm experiencing the inverse success.

The reason I mention this is a crisis, is because my parents want to kick me out of the house. I have little savings maybe for a couple of months rent. I live in the countryside without a car so can't easily get a part-time job, which I'm fearful of because when I last wasn't at my PC the only oppurtunity was taken.

I'm on a big time limit. My backup plan is to move to London to be a part-time croupier in a casino to make ends meet, at least I know they are always hiring. Again, I'm fearful of this becaue it will slowdown my application process.

I know the market is a bit slower now and the "golden age" is dead. But, seriously, what is going on? I am applying to JUNIOR roles for God's sake. Any suggestions about the current market? Should I just wait for the economy to be, well, better? Is this just a software engineering problem, or the market in general?

Finally, please be nice guys, Reddit seems to attract some rather disagreeable folk for some reason and that's the last thing I need right now.

Thanks :)!

Basically the title. I honestly do enjoy Computer Science including the strictly theoretical parts. I'm not entering the major simply because of some idea of a future hypothetical software engineering job. I also would say I have some aptitude for it.

I acknowledge that the job market is shit and will probably be worse when I graduate for all I know, but it is probably better than the alternatives (I would likely struggle with Engineering academically and be bored out of my mind in Business or whatever).

Hi everyone,

I'm a 2026 new grad and honestly, I'm feeling pretty defeated. I've been applying for months and can't even seem to get interviews. I know getting rejected after interviews is tough, but right now I can't even make it to that stage.

I've tried so many things like Tailoring my resume, Applying through company websites, Using referrals when I can, Cold messaging on LinkedIn, Building projects, Improving my resume over and over again

But nothing seems to be working.

I'm starting to wonder if I'm missing something obvious. Is it the resume? The way I'm applying? The types of companies? The timing?

If you've been in a similar situation and eventually figured out how to consistently get interviews, I'd really appreciate hearing what worked for you. Even small tips could make a huge difference.

If you're willing to look at my resume, share your resume template, or give more detailed advice, please feel free to DM me. I'd really appreciate any help.

I'm honestly exhausted and starting to lose confidence. Thanks in advance to anyone who's willing to help.

This is not a sarcastic post, I genuinely need help. Hey folks, I'm a recent BTech undergraduate and currently I'm unemployed. I've made some full stack projects and done internships as well. I've been applying to a lot of places for jobs, but I don't receive any kind of response. I want to ask, since I've got a lot of time on my hands, what should I do? Should I work on my projects and make them better, keep applying to jobs, do open source contributions, or upskill? The problem is that I've got time but I don't know how to spend it productively.

I graduated about a year ago at the time I have 2 years of internships I got a internship before graduating and they have kept me for 15 months of full time work AND given me real engineering tasks because I am cheap and leadership is stingy.

after trying to convert 2 times both teams liking me and there just being no budget I am told if this last one doesn't go through that's it they don't want to lead me on any more. So I have a ton of great experience and tons of projects

I am in a better position then many new grads dare I relist the last year and a half as an actual engineering job cause that is what it was. But the posts on here freak me out and I do t want to go back to the poor house. I'd rather go back to living in my car then go back there and start a business because at least then they can't control my future as much

is it really that bad or is it over blown?

my experience is mainly data engineering and AI engineering I've had ownership and work on projects that have saved my company around 3m annually. So real deliverables.

Going to get offer from this company. Help me with the expected pay and WLB. Should I join? Role SDE 1

Hey everyone, looking for some honest input from people who are actively interviewing right now or got hired in the last few months.

I was recently laid off and I'm on a visa, so my timeline to land something new is tight. I need to make every week of prep count and I don't want to spend it grinding the wrong things.

The last time I went through this loop, the formula was pretty predictable: LeetCode mediums/hards for the technical rounds, then system design for the later stages, plus behavioral. But with AI tools everywhere now, I keep hearing conflicting things. Some people say companies are moving away from pure LeetCode because everyone can solve those with AI, others say it's stricter than ever with proctored assessments and live coding where you can't use anything.

So for those of you in the trenches right now:

1. Are companies still doing the classic LeetCode + system design flow, or has the format shifted? Any AI-assisted coding rounds where they actually expect you to use Copilot/Claude/ChatGPT and evaluate how you work with it?
2. How much more prep is expected now compared to 2-3 years ago? Is the bar higher because AI raised expectations, or about the same?
3. If you were building a prep curriculum today, what would it look like? Still Grind75 + system design primers, or would you add/drop anything?
4. Anything that surprised you in recent loops that you wish you'd known going in?

Given my situation I'll be grateful for any advice, even the harsh reality checks. Thanks in advance.

I have 6 years of navy under my belt, getting out in September with no information security analyst experience. however I am very determined and just need some mentor advice!

is this job market to saturated?
with a high level clearance would it be easier getting a job?
what would make me stick out from other people?
what's a realistic track to get a degree for this job?

I started “coding” in high school by customizing MySpace and Friendster pages. From there, I took computer hardware, AP programming in Java, and a bunch of STEM classes like chemistry, physics, statistics, and calculus. I graduated during the Great Recession. My mom got laid off, and we were a household that needed two incomes just to survive. I had a full-tuition scholarship, but I still could not afford books, transportation, living expenses, and everything else that came with college. Couldn't even qualify for any types of student loan because of our financial situation (and not knowing how the system really works because my parents never went to college). It was also almost impossible to find a decent job right out of high school without a degree. On top of that, I did not have a good relationship with my traditional immigrant parents, mainly because I was LGBT, and I was homeless at one point.

I ended up working back kitchen restaurant jobs (dishwasher and fast food) in two different nearby towns. Between walking and taking the bus, I spent about three hours commuting every day. I did that for almost a year while waiting to ship out to Navy boot camp. In the Navy, I was literally a janitor, warehouse worker, and back-kitchen worker. Eventually, I gained enough trust to move into more technical work. I started doing database administration, systems administration, data analysis, networking, and communications. I deployed overseas, including to war-zone areas, and took college classes whenever I could. I failed a bunch of them. It was not because I was dumb. School just had to take a back seat to work, deployments, and whatever else I needed to do to survive.

After I got out, I kept pursuing computer science. I went to a coding boot camp and finally got my CS degree. A small company took a chance on me at $60,000 a year. Eight years later, my salary has more than quadrupled. I am still not making the huge big-tech salaries people post about online, and like everyone else, I am concerned about what AI will do to our industry. It took a lot to get to where I am, but some may have had it harder. I am tired but I am not defeated. Would I choose a different career if I could go back? No. Everything I went through helped make me who I am today.

For the past few months, I have also been building my own business. It is starting to get some traction, and I am having conversations about funding. Who knows where it will go, but the combination of my life experience and technical skills is what gave me the confidence to make that leap. Life has highs and lows. When things are going well, enjoy it, but remember it will not always stay that way. Save money and prepare for rainy days. When things are going badly, it is okay to be sad. It is okay to be tired. But keep going because the storm will pass. Eventually, the rain stops.

I've been working as a software developer for about 3.5 years, and I've realized that what I enjoy most is just... coding.

My dream job would be:

• Get a well-written ticket.
• Ask any questions through text if needed.
• Code.
• Open a PR.
• Get feedback.
• Repeat.

What I really don't enjoy are constant meetings, calls, explaining the same thing to different people, and chasing multiple people for requirements.

Does a job like this actually exist? A company where communication is almost entirely asynchronous (Slack, email, Jira, etc.) and developers are mostly left alone to focus?

I'd love to hear from people who work in environments like that. What kind of companies or roles should I be looking for?

Did the OA for BofA GT 2027 (SWE/Mainframe) 3 weeks ago and my portal is stuck on "Application received." I haven't heard of a single person getting a reply or moving forward. Did they freeze applications or did we all get ghosted? Anyone actually get an update?

I'm a new grad with offers for General Motors and Next Level Games (Nintendo) for basically the same position (SWE @ GM and Automation Engineer @ NLG), similar COL areas (no need to relocate for NLG role), and similar compensation. Which company looks better for future career opportunities? I just want an easy road to good WLB and high pay, so I don't really care which niche I fall into. I'm hearing that the gaming industry is volatile, so it's pushing me towards GM, along with the fact that the GM name recognition is better. However, I feel like I'd be more passionate working for NLG, since I've loved Nintendo games for a while now.

I'm looking for advice on the next stage of my career. I've had a somewhat unconventional path and am not experienced with job hunting. In fact, one of my major questions is what level of position I'm even in the running for. Anyways, here's the story:

• Physics PhD 2006 followed by a few years in research. This was theoretical pencil and paper work which is all pretty irrelevant for tech
• then two years as a C++ dev at a big corp before being laid off. Was on a small remote team and pretty insulated
• tried to do my own web development business for about a year but no real clients (just some family)
• Now, the bulk of my experience. I founded a tiny ecommerce company, that eventually found its niche in bulk liquidation sales. I fulfilled many technical roles here: built and operated a bespoke internal Node app for our unique needs in inventory management and order fulfillemnt; integrated with external APIs like Shopify and product data sources; managed AWS infra using IaC and config management tools (Ansible, Cloudformation/CDK, Terraform); managed DNS; DBA for Mongodb; crons and serverless workflows (Lambda, Step Functions, etc.) for syncing and maintenance. I have mostly done tech in some form or another for this business (my partner is more the "business" guy). I feel like I did a lot but never had to work at scale as our storefront was run by Shopify and usage of internal tooling was very low.

After about 10 years working on this company, it's basically kaput. We had a nice ride for a while but changes to our industry have just squeezed out all the profit. I don't think I have it in me to risk it again as an entrepreneur so I'm looking at tech openings. My problems are:

What sort of role and what level should I even be looking for? I've been in tech since 2011 and have developed a lot of skills, but because it has been as a solo dev for most of this time, I don't really know how to judge my situation. Should I be aiming at senior roles? My institutional experience is limited if not effectively zero as my one big corp gig was on a very small remote team in which I was pretty isolated and I feel like that would hold me back from senior roles (both getting the job and succeeding at it). Further, I've been a jack of all trades and master of none. I'm probably more experienced in application development but have acquired a lot of AWS knowledge (through experience and also recently two associate level certifications) and am more interested in infra at this point.

I feel pretty at sea so any advice or even just good vibes would be appreciated.

I just graduated with a CS degree from a college in India. Unfortunately, my college had almost no placements. Not a single company visited during my time there, so everything depends on off campus applications. (They had placement last year though)

To make things worse, I realized pretty late how important campus hiring is in India. By the time I started applying seriously, most of the large companies had already closed their applications for freshers. That was completely on me.

Now I'm seeing how difficult the market is for fresh graduates. It feels like almost every decent opening wants 1 to 3 years of experience. Even if someone has the skills, getting past the ATS without professional experience is incredibly difficult.

Another thing that's making me question my career choice is the lifestyle. Even if I get a software job, I know I'll have to keep learning constantly. Work all day, come home, study new technologies, keep up with AI and tech news, build projects, and stay competitive because the industry changes so fast.

I'm not against learning. I actually enjoy it. But I'm wondering if I can realistically do this for the next 30 or 40 years.

The screen time also worries me. An 8 or 9 hour workday already means staring at a monitor. Then learning after work means even more screen time. Even relaxing usually involves another screen, whether it's YouTube, Netflix, or gaming. It feels like my entire life would revolve around a computer, and I'm worried about the long term impact on my physical and mental health.

What really made me think was one of my college friends.

He got a job at a company that processes Australian insurance claims. His work is mostly reviewing documents, verifying information, contacting hospitals or third parties if something is missing, and forwarding cases to the next department. It's not a glamorous job, but it's relatively low stress. He earns higher then what CS freshers with great skills earn here, with a chance of a raise after a few months. He gets four paid leaves every month, has a predictable workday, and when work ends, work actually ends.

Seeing that made me realize that maybe not every career has to involve constant pressure to stay relevant.

Now I'm genuinely confused.

I'm not saying I want to quit tech tomorrow. If I get a software job, I'll definitely take it and give it my best. But I'm trying to think long term.

I'm also considering doing a master's abroad in the future, but I don't necessarily want to continue in software engineering if there's a better fit.

So my questions are:

• Are there careers that someone with an IT background can realistically switch into without starting completely from zero?
• Are there industries where a master's degree can help you transition successfully, even if your bachelor's wasn't in that field?
• Are there careers with better work-life balance but still good long term earning potential? I'm not looking for an easy job. I just want something where I can grow professionally without feeling like I have to constantly fight to stay employable.
• If you were in my position today, what path would you seriously consider?

I'm open to hearing from people in tech, people who left tech, and people working in completely different industries.

I'm not looking for validation. I'm looking for honest advice from people who have actually experienced this.

hi everyone,
i recently graduated from college and just started my first corporate job. i’m working in software asset management (sam), specifically software license management, at an automotive company.

my compensation is around 9 lpa, the work culture is genuinely good, and the biggest advantage is that i’m able to work in my hometown. those factors made it an easy decision to accept the offer, even though it isn’t a dev role.

the only thing that’s making me anxious is my long-term career growth. most of my college friends have joined software development roles, and i’m wondering whether staying in sam will limit my future opportunities or earning potential.
i’m not against staying in this domain if it has good growth, but i also want to make sure i’m building skills that’ll keep my options open.

a few questions:

is this considered a good long-term career, especially in terms of salary growth?
if you started in sam, where are you now?
what skills or certifications would you recommend learning alongside my job?
would learning cloud (aws/azure), scripting (python/powershell), sql, itsm, finops, cybersecurity, or grc make me more valuable? there are so many options that i don’t know what to choose. i just want to pick something that’ll pay well.
is it realistically possible to transition into cloud or devops?

would really appreciate hearing from people who’ve been in sam or made a switch from it. thanks!

Yeah, as the title suggests, I would love it if someone could answer my question and if possible some suggestions or advice.

Here goes -

I graduated in May 2025, MS in CE in Canada, with no internship or work experience but some decent projects under my belt. Afterwards I left the country as the last semester really took a toll on my mental health and I needed to get away from it. Came back to India and recuperated for a few months. At that point I really wanted to go back but having no job, the skepticism within me, grew.

So after 4 months, I got my PGWP and was thinking of going back but for some reason I couldn't and stayed back in India and ended up working as an intern at a clothing startup in my locality; the founder was a senior of mine in college. I left the internship in March of this year.

Now, I was talking to a friend of mine in Canada who graduated with me, and had to wait till June to get a job as a SWE.

I was considering going back, and maybe working at a job not in my domain, and make enough pay to make basic living expenses while I keep searching for jobs.

So, now the actual question, did I mess up? By not staying in Canada after my graduation? And is there any hope if I just stay in India and keep applying for jobs?

In your various respected careers actually knows how to code. Any how many are just using ai to do everything. What is the ratio to the amount of times you can code yourself to using ai. Please also include your careers/roles. (Both USA and Canada)

Basically the title. I’ve been out of job since 1 year 2 months and had like 3 interviews. I’m wondering if the gap on the resume is causing recruiters to not even pick mine? I did work on projects and have some good ones listed on the resume & on my GitHub. I’m following most tips out there like tailoring resume for every job, apply jobs only posted within last 24 hours, reaching out to people who can refer me etc.
If anyone did get a job after a long gap, please share your journey, it would be encouraging to still keep going.

P.S: this is written completely by a human almost on the verge of tears lmao.

Edit: I have about 4 years experience. Location: CA, USA. Potential bottleneck: immigration sponsorship.

Hi guys, hope you guys are well. I just need a favor. Next week I am going to take admission in Computer Engineering, but I am worried about the current situation in the job market. I have read many posts in which people say that hiring is frozen and there are very limited opportunities for new grads. What is your take on this situation? Would you recommend I do CE

Hey everyone , more specifically anyone that lives in Canada

Given how tough the entry-level tech job market feels right now, I’ve been thinking a lot about the path after graduation and wanted to open up a discussion to hear about your experiences.
If you’ve already graduated or are nearing the finish line, I’d love to hear your thoughts on a few questions:
Job Search & Timeline: When did you graduate, and how long did it take (or has it been taking) to land an entry-level position?
Field Alignment: Are you working in tech, or have you transitioned into a career outside of your degree?
Degree & Advice: If you had a younger sibling or relative entering university today who was looking at tech programs, would you still advise them to major in Computer Science or a tech-related field?
Retrospect: Looking back, do you have any regrets about taking the program, or do you feel it was worth it despite current market challenges?
Really looking forward to reading your perspectives and hearing how everyone is navigating things!
s played out—thanks in advance for sharing your experience!

Additionally, With salary do you think your earning want you deserve (obviously not sharing how much you make) (because as I look at job posting the amount of work your doing looks and sounds so much. And you look at the pay is and it so low

​Does anyone else feel like CS completely screwed them over? Landing a entry-level job in this market feels pretty much impossible right now.

I honestly think if I had chosen accounting, traditional engineering, or literally any other solid major, I’d easily have a decent, well-paying job by now. I’ve always been an overachiever, so it’s frustrating to know that if I’d picked a path with a market that isn't completely broken, I’d probably be thriving.

​Instead, I'm stuck sending out hundreds of applications into the void.

Fala, pessoal.

Queria pedir uma opinião de quem já trabalha com Segurança da Informação no Brasil.

Tenho 26 anos e atualmente trabalho como Analista de Monitoramento NOC. No dia a dia atuo monitorando ambientes críticos, analisando alertas, incidentes, acompanhando GMUDs e utilizando ferramentas como Zabbix, Grafana, Orion e alguns recursos de Mainframe (CICS). Também tenho experiência anterior com suporte de infraestrutura, redes, Linux, HelpDesk, Windows Server, DNS, TCP/IP e equipamentos Huawei/Fiberhome,Mikrotik,Ubiquit e outros equipamentos de telecom.

Meu objetivo sempre foi migrar para Cybersecurity, principalmente áreas mais técnicas, como Blue Team, Red Team ou Pentest.

O problema é que estou tentando mudar de empresa há um tempo e parece muito difícil. Envio currículo, faço entrevistas, estudo por conta própria, comecei minha facul de segurança recentemente, pois não era meu foco principal, mas comecei visando melhorar em chances no mercado de trabalho, e mesmo assim a impressão é que sempre pedem experiência específica em Segurança, mesmo para vagas consideradas júnior.

Às vezes fico pensando se estou seguindo o caminho certo ou se estou investindo tempo em uma área que está ficando saturada.

Então queria perguntar para quem já está no mercado:

Cybersecurity em 2026 ainda tem futuro no Brasil?

Ainda existe espaço para quem está migrando de Infra/NOC?

O mercado realmente está contratando ou só parece haver muitas vagas?

O que vocês fariam no meu lugar durante os próximos 12 meses?

Aceito qualquer opinião, seja positiva ou negativa. Prefiro ouvir a realidade de quem trabalha na área do que continuar estudando sem saber se estou indo na direção certa.