Hi y’all! I hope you guys are doing well. So basically I am going through a lot right now. I just need some advice. The thing I am going through is the following and yes I copy pasted from reddit cause the advice there wasn’t the best I’d say. I was hoping if you guys could help. Thanks in advance!
I’m feeling really stuck and could use some guidance. I have a CS degree and worked for 1.5 years at a major financial firm building data pipelines, working with financial datasets, and using technologies like Python, SQL, and AWS. I was put on a PIP earlier this year and eventually let go, so I started applying for jobs during that time and have now been unemployed for a few months. I’ve sent out 400+ applications with minimal callbacks, tailoring my resume to each and every job. The tech market is absolutely brutal right now with mass layoffs and companies choosing overseas teams over domestic engineers.
I’m at the point where I don’t even know what direction to go anymore. I’ve been considering pivoting to becoming an actuary since my background with financial data analysis seems relevant, and I’ve read that programming skills are increasingly valued in that field. The work seems like it would fit my analytical mindset and the career appears more stable than tech. However, when I looked into it more, I found conflicting information about how competitive the entry-level market actually is, and I’m not sure if I’d just be trading one oversaturated field for another.
I’ve also tried applying to healthcare IT roles and local banks and credit unions thinking they’d be less competitive than major tech companies, but even those seem incredibly hard to break into right now. I’m getting rejected from positions that should be a good fit for my background, which is making me question if there’s something fundamentally wrong with my approach or if every industry is just this broken.
The financial stress is getting to me, and I’m doing some gig work to survive, but I can’t keep this up much longer. I even considered joining the military, but I’ve been on antidepressants and would need to wait at least a year to be eligible.
Has anyone else made a successful pivot from software engineering to another field? Should I stick with trying to leverage my existing technical skills in adjacent industries, or is it worth investing time and money into studying for actuarial exams? I’m really struggling to figure out what my next move should be and would appreciate any advice or perspectives from people who’ve been in similar situations. Should I just grind hard on leetcode at this point for SWE jobs with how terrible the job market has been?
I’m honestly just feeling defeated and don’t know what path forward makes sense anymore. Any guidance would be really helpful
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The industry is pretty fucked right now to be brutally honest. I was let go a few years ago after nearly a decade along with another member of our team. Took a full year and easily 1000+ applications for me to find something new, and even longer for my former team member.
Didn’t get back into SWE either. I work in software support now, making literally half of what I used to make, and I believe my friend is in a sort of sysadmin role.
The best thing I could say is expand your options. Between RTO mandates, huge pushes for genAI bullshit, and just complete oversaturation of the market, SWE is a hellhole right now. The job market as a whole is a disaster right now, but tech is on another level. Expand your options to different roles and tune your resume to get past the automated bullshit systems and read by real people. I hate to be pessimistic but frankly I would not expect to get into another SWE role with how things are right now. Software support is a strong adjacent field but don’t expect anywhere near the same salary.
Lawyers went through something similar post 2008.
It seems any time a job gains popularity and has high income, corpos will target it and cut it down.
PE currently acquiring medical providers to do the same.
As for advice, I am not sure but can’t go wrong being flexible. Ie keep applying in your direct field. Make a resume and start applying in another.
Being youngish allows for this transition to go smoother
This is the kind of post that really makes me worried for the future. I’m a full stack dev with 12 years of experience and I’m not entirely sure how I would do our there in the job market if I were to lose my job tomorrow. My boss says I need to get extremely familiar with vibe coding to get the edge if I were to apply around.
As others have mentioned, definitely speak with a recruiter if you haven’t yet. Best of luck to you!
Im not sure what to say. Problem is that tech was sorta the haven of decent pay and as far as I can tell no other industry as the capacity to absorb the tech sector people no matter their skills. Add to this some who jumped to tech did so do to having to support other people or such and anything they can get outside of it will not meet basic costs. I dunno.
I’m sorry you’re having such a rough time. I took a break to try to launch a startup which didn’t go anywhere. Then I spent time just honing new skills. Before I knew it, I’d depleted my savings while racking up a long period of unemployment that made me toxic to job submissions. I couldn’t get callbacks in tech as a result but I also couldn’t get labor positions because my resume had much-better-paying jobs that made it obvious that I’d leave at the first opportunity. It was a vicious cycle and that’s before the economy and tech sector went to shit.
I would switch careers, given your limited time investing in your current profession. After people found out that tech could pay a lot of money, the market got flooded with people who don’t have a passion for the work. It used to be filled with nerds and it was awesome, but that gradually changed. I seriously considered switching professions and thought about what work I might find fulfilling. I would have become a professor of history were it not for the accredidation required (I have no college degree because you can be self-taught in tech).
Do what you can to get by. I don’t know what to suggest regarding other possible employment, but I’d take whatever you can find perusing job ads in adjecent market and try to stabilize. I went from software development to IT because I needed to interact with the people I’m helping to feel rewarded. There’s less money in it, but I’m happier overall.
If you can find a government job (preferably state, not federal, for reasons I shouldn’t need to point out), that’s awesome. I landed in a state position and love it. There’s a lot of beaurocracy and it takes forever to get hired (as a friend just confirmed when he got a state job), but it’s stable.
Good luck!
Sorry about what you went through job-wise, glad you found a new gig and enjoy it.
Are you able to talk about your try at launching a startup? After getting RIFed, I immediately thought about going into self employment, creating a micro-saas or such. Obviously something like that is much more challenging than working for a salary at a company but I’m still hopeful and open to learning more about that route.
I had a business partner. He had an idea for a website that connected parents with childcaregivers. We agreed I would code it and he would do the design. It turned out I should have probed more about his design skills. He had none. All his ideas were terrible, too. He wanted lots of animations during transitions and stuff and I tried to explain that people don’t like that and the site needed to be snappy.
I backed out when I realized he couldn’t deliver his end. I also can’t do design, but I at least knew his ideas were much worse. I’d been coding for several months at that point. Oh well.
Sorry it didn’t work out. It’s a challenge for sure, so many things need to work out: have enough runway to execute, skilled, driven partners you trust. Assuming you have a working app, I assume the biggest factor is marketing/sales/growth.
Doesn’t seem like a terrible idea, though, I’ve had similar ones, given the aging population. I’m sure there are apps in that space that exist or will exist soon.
Thanks for the story, appreciate it.
Are you Indian?
Nope I’m an American
asked because I was thinking of more geography-based advice.
Try the monthly Who Is Hiring thread on news.ycombinator.com, first business day of each month so you will have to wait a couple weeks for the next one. Here is the last one:
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44159528
Try this too, though pickings might be slim under present circumstances: https://www.otherbranch.com/
Sorry to hear this is happening to you. I went through something similar as I graduated with a CS degree in the middle of the dotcom burst. I ended up having to move from NY to AZ (USA) to find a job. It was terrible and I have so much sympathy to anyone going through that now. Wish I had a solution for you, I really do. I sent out crazy amounts of resumes and applications. About the only thing I can think of is to keep applying.
It’s okay. I appreciate your sympathy. It’s just hard like the skill barrier has gotten higher like with companies I’ve interviewed with in the past i could get away with easier leetcode problems and my personality skills however now its just they’re asking harder leetcode questions and more direct detailed answers on what I’ve specifically worked. Like they’ll test me on frameworks or ask me some very archaic questions which is just so frustrating to get through like I haven’t had that much experience that they’re demanding from me even in entry level positions it’s been like that.
Like they’ll test me on frameworks or ask me some very archaic questions which is just so frustrating to get through like I haven’t had that much experience that they’re demanding from me even in entry level positions it’s been like that.
Unfortunately, there is probably someone in the same boat as you but has a passion for the field and is able to answer all of their tricky questions. Be the best at what you do. Did you immediately go home after these interviews and study everything they asked that you didn’t know? As an early career technologist, you’ll need to put in a lot of hours studying and applying knowledge. You’re at a disadvantage because you need to prove to them that you will add value to their organization. A CS degree isn’t enough. I’ve interviewed and rejected plenty of MS degree holders too. What matters is demonstrated ability. If you’ve not setup a portfolio of personal projects, or contributions to FOSS, you need to do that. And I’m not talking about vibe coded slop, but your own blood, sweat, and tears. That will demonstrate practical skill. Getting involved in a FOSS community can make a big difference in increasing your network and getting you exposed to others that might be looking for hands. Plus, it is cool and you’ll meet really smart peeps. If you really want to be RIF proof, you need to be really good and have a very good network of people that would love to work with you.
TL;DR: git gud
I agree, the interviewing has gotten tougher because it’s an employer’s market. It’s more competitive, it just is, supply and demand.
Since you’re good with data sets and have a relevant degree, Geospatial Information System (GIS) is a good field to get into. You could study a program or two (ESRI, ArcGIS) to get a job in the public sector. Governments be mapping everything
GIS has been the golden goose of government jobs for decades now. If you can snag a position doing that, you’re set for life.
I was unemployed for over a year. Recently got a job in SWE. I regret it. Waste of my life. It’s worthless work, I don’t do anything that matters to anyone but shareholders. Contemplating quitting during my probation period and learning a trade (it would be a no brainer if 10 years as an SWE at a desk for 16 hours a day hadn’t physically destroyed my body) or getting more involved in political activism.
In your situation, if you insist you want to get into tech, I would recommend applying to jobs that closely match your skillset and then spend some extra curricular time making friends with the in house programmers, finding ways to collaborate, and showing that having you spend time with them is valuable.
I guess heads up, trades can really further destroy your body, but in a different way. I’ve worked one for about 10 years and I’m doing fine but some of the older guys absolutely have blown out their knees, backs, etc. Expect to be digging a trench or running up and down flights of steps for tools and materials, lifting the heavy shit etc when you start an apprenticeship.
Fortunately I’m at the point now where I do way less hands on work (for better or worse, I miss it sometimes) unless I’m in the field on industrial sites. Then it’s go go go, work 14 hours a day get it done and it’s heavy dirty hard electrician work, etc. But when I’m in the shop, all I do now is test our systems and do QA. So I feel way more like an inspector than I do a technician, despite that being in my job title. That’s also a love/hate relationship if I’m being honest haha, but it sure beats working at a desk all day.
I’m at the point in my career where I’ve turned down a promotion to a desk job multiple times for the simple fact that I can’t commit to cubicle life and want to be on my feet all day and physically looking and working on things to make sense of them. I also make way more money with overtime pay anyway. Maybe when I get into my 40’s I’ll consider making the jump.
Thanks for your perspective! I absolutely don’t think trade work is easy, it can be extremely demanding, and I don’t think I’m physically capable of it now. My back was destroyed for a week after putting up ceiling panels recently. I’m not romanticizing it, just comparing it to most software development roles that involve finishing tasks that are not very useful to anyone and exist mostly in service of either shareholders or making things a little easier for their employees, often at the expense of the users. If you build a wall, that’s a real useful thing for some people. I’m sure there are a million other examples of jobs like that (care work, teaching, arts, governance, etc) but trades was the subset I personally wish I had done instead while I still had the physical fitness.
Man, I’ve had similar thoughts. I do feel good about my work helping the business run and bring in income, which in theory, helps them pay me an income. But I’ve also low-key fantasized about doing work that creates something physical and “useful” on a much more fundamental level. In a zombie-apocalypse scenario, no one is going to need software developers, lol.
The tech market is shrinking rapidly and permanently. Sounds like you’re still pretty young, so if you have the time to change careers, I think you should.
I spent some time contemplating my life choices and I realized that if I had it to do over again, I’d like to have stuck with computers as a hobby, not a profession.
I need an engineer familiar with data pipelines but specifically on the SQL side and financial type analysis and schema design.
dm me
Actuary of 3.5 years - entry level is also tough in this field. If you have no exams passed, you’ll probably need at least 2 to be considered for an opening. Your CS degree may count at some places but not others, although I’ve seen more openings accept them these days so the trend is in your favor. If you started studying hardcore now, I’d expect you to pass 2 exams by next spring. If you’re interested in the field, I’d recommend trying to also apply to actuarial internships since nearly all are well paid, include room and board, and lead to employment opportunities.
Hey man, thank you so much for your comment. I’ve been really thinking about doing those exams. It’s just I’m really worried about the internships cause they’re reserved for college level students mostly? Do you think it’s a good idea to go back and do master’s for a better chance at internships for actuary?
I have plenty of colleagues with their master’s degree - some went back to get a math related degree for actuarial roles, and some finished exams and just wanted more money when they switched companies (already employed as actuaries). The latter usually focus on data related degrees as the market aggressively hunts for folks who can pass new technical skills/knowledge onto their team of juniors.
If you can swing the master’s degree with your personal tolerance for debt, I think it’s a viable option. However, I’d aggressively study for exam P and FM to get at least one passed by the middle of fall semester so you’ll be ready to apply for summer internships. If you snag one, you may be able to work part time during your final 2 semesters if you prove yourself valuable enough.
Also, a huge topic in actuarial science is proving you met regulatory standards, and I presume you’re very familiar with git and/or other VCS, which can be a useful skill (include on your resume).
There is always a need for a skilled electrician or plumber.
Walmart has openings if you’re willing to relocate
Thanks I appreciate your comment. I’ve applied to them. I’m hoping to hear from them. Have you applied to them and if so interviewed with them?
