Everywhere I look, it’s doom and gloom. Reading nothing but negativity has started affecting my worldview and my life.
I am less than a year away from completing my undergraduate degree in Computer Science and Data Science. A year ago, everyone congratulated me on my hard work and wise decision-making. Over the last six months, though, all I’ve heard is how I’ve wasted my time, how there are no jobs, and how a college degree is supposedly worthless.
I’ve been told multiple times that tech is dead and I should become a plumber because “the trades are the new master’s degree.” Well, you know what? I don’t want to be a plumber, and I am tired of the negativity.
I’m not pursuing a career in tech for the paycheck. Anyone who chooses a career solely for the dollar amount is setting themselves up for a life of misery. I’m on this journey because it aligns with my interests and passions.
To the best of my knowledge, few career options out there guarantee a $500k salary, let alone make it achievable. My family can live a fulfilling, happy life on $60k a year, anything beyond that is just gravy.
Stick it out, I feel your pain as my son is a HS junior who wants to pursue software development. It’s tough for new/juniors during every downturn, and that will eventually change. But I believe the CS degree will be the price of admission.
As for longevity, I’ve been at this 20+ years and never
worked for FAANG. I have worked in a lot of industries that positively impacted real people. I’ve also worked with a lot of smart people who had great ideas of how to improve outcomes but lacked the technical skills to bring it to life. IMO more fulfilling and probably why I’m still building software and enthusiastic about it.
Good luck, the world still needs software engineers.
It is trendy now, to dump on the tech career. It is just the tendency of the moment, for the ones that look at it from outside. I have a tech career and I love it. Despite the current reality, I'm confident it will continue to be a rewarding career for still many years. Forrest's article describes risks that are real but they won't necessarily happen to everyone's careers.
now THIS is a comment I do agree with. Stop the crap about being success means solely having an edge salary and begin thinking about living fulfilling life's
I am a 55 year old individual contributor: not the boss where I work but a “lead.” I like what I do and I get paid well even though I am not in FAANG. I would not trade jobs with my boss for 5x of my salary. I look at my job as a kind of furniture maker or other builder and I have side projects that teach me things. Yes there are salary caps in tech. I code on vacation for fun: I doubt anyone does project management for fun.if you are into it, software engineering can be a great career, or at least better than the others. Not everything is what it’s cracked up to be. I read an interview with Steven Tyler from Aerosmith and he said that he was so bored playing the same songs every day for 40 years. I thought I wanted to be a rockstar but I don’t think I would’ve wanted that lifestyle.
Good article Forrest. It got me thinking. I have some 17 years in the tech career. I was a manager, but I hit a wall and 3 years ago I pivoted back to individual contributor. I'm loving it right now, and I want to still do precisely this job for many more years, but I'm aware, and your article helps me remember, that I may not want, or be able to, to stick to this kind of role for the ~20 years left in my career, and that I may need to pivot it again in the future.
I do not think he meant it applies to everyone or that everyone will face the events he described. But he described real facts and risks of this career. I read your article too. Both describe paths that are equally possible, depending on one's personal circumstances. Both describe scenarios to be aware of.
Everywhere I look, it’s doom and gloom. Reading nothing but negativity has started affecting my worldview and my life.
I am less than a year away from completing my undergraduate degree in Computer Science and Data Science. A year ago, everyone congratulated me on my hard work and wise decision-making. Over the last six months, though, all I’ve heard is how I’ve wasted my time, how there are no jobs, and how a college degree is supposedly worthless.
I’ve been told multiple times that tech is dead and I should become a plumber because “the trades are the new master’s degree.” Well, you know what? I don’t want to be a plumber, and I am tired of the negativity.
I’m not pursuing a career in tech for the paycheck. Anyone who chooses a career solely for the dollar amount is setting themselves up for a life of misery. I’m on this journey because it aligns with my interests and passions.
To the best of my knowledge, few career options out there guarantee a $500k salary, let alone make it achievable. My family can live a fulfilling, happy life on $60k a year, anything beyond that is just gravy.
Stick it out, I feel your pain as my son is a HS junior who wants to pursue software development. It’s tough for new/juniors during every downturn, and that will eventually change. But I believe the CS degree will be the price of admission.
As for longevity, I’ve been at this 20+ years and never
worked for FAANG. I have worked in a lot of industries that positively impacted real people. I’ve also worked with a lot of smart people who had great ideas of how to improve outcomes but lacked the technical skills to bring it to life. IMO more fulfilling and probably why I’m still building software and enthusiastic about it.
Good luck, the world still needs software engineers.
It is trendy now, to dump on the tech career. It is just the tendency of the moment, for the ones that look at it from outside. I have a tech career and I love it. Despite the current reality, I'm confident it will continue to be a rewarding career for still many years. Forrest's article describes risks that are real but they won't necessarily happen to everyone's careers.
now THIS is a comment I do agree with. Stop the crap about being success means solely having an edge salary and begin thinking about living fulfilling life's
i dont care about AI but i always say please and thank you to alexa just in case
I am a 55 year old individual contributor: not the boss where I work but a “lead.” I like what I do and I get paid well even though I am not in FAANG. I would not trade jobs with my boss for 5x of my salary. I look at my job as a kind of furniture maker or other builder and I have side projects that teach me things. Yes there are salary caps in tech. I code on vacation for fun: I doubt anyone does project management for fun.if you are into it, software engineering can be a great career, or at least better than the others. Not everything is what it’s cracked up to be. I read an interview with Steven Tyler from Aerosmith and he said that he was so bored playing the same songs every day for 40 years. I thought I wanted to be a rockstar but I don’t think I would’ve wanted that lifestyle.
Good article Forrest. It got me thinking. I have some 17 years in the tech career. I was a manager, but I hit a wall and 3 years ago I pivoted back to individual contributor. I'm loving it right now, and I want to still do precisely this job for many more years, but I'm aware, and your article helps me remember, that I may not want, or be able to, to stick to this kind of role for the ~20 years left in my career, and that I may need to pivot it again in the future.
Well written and emotionally intelligent ... for a 32 year old.
The comic at the end is fantastic.
Great thoughts Forrest, but they don't apply well to many of us! My response:
https://sheepcode.substack.com/p/im-glad-to-be-a-33-years-old-ancient
I do not think he meant it applies to everyone or that everyone will face the events he described. But he described real facts and risks of this career. I read your article too. Both describe paths that are equally possible, depending on one's personal circumstances. Both describe scenarios to be aware of.
I agree!