Long story short, I’m another one of those dime-a-dozen career changers who’s in a master’s program. Pre-2019, the atmosphere was different. There was a lot of optimism in the air. People were welcoming and encouraging. Lately, this sub and real-life conversations sound a lot more grey. We know everybody and their mother wants to switch into tech and there’s extreme saturation at entry-level. The economy is at a higher than average risk for a recession. VC firms are tightening their belts. There are already layoffs and hiring freezes happening.
We’re living in some not-so-peak times of modern history. We Millenials and gen z remember 2008, we survived a historic pandemic, we are living in a hyper-competitive world, the wealth gap is wider than at any other time in modern history, 40-year high inflation, out of control housing costs, increasing prevalence of mental illness, there are mass shootings and we are lonelier than ever unless you’ve “made it”. But damn, I didn’t realize even my own classmates were on the edge.
In my lecture earlier this week, my professor (who was also a career changer) was nice enough to bring a near-FAANG tech recruiter to answer questions for career changers. People fucking went off at her. It felt more like a disgraced politician being grilled and hammered at a press conference by the media than a civilized Q&A session, which my professor intended. The whining attitude, impolite/impatient tone of speech, and frustration were visible in the air. I had second-hand embarrassment for the recruiter and my professor who were just trying to do a nice gesture.
I’ll be real with y’all, I have fears and concerns in the back of my mind. I have these thoughts that I don’t say aloud and actively suppress. But people literally said my hidden concerns aloud.
“Since everybody is switching to tech, what will happen to me, even if I build the best projects and ace leetcode?”
“There have been hiring slowdowns and layoffs, and a recession is coming, what will happen???”
“Oh man entry-level at a no-name company has 3000 applicants for a single listing”
“How the heck do you get entry-level experience if you don’t have experience in the first place, 3+ years experience requirement is dumb”
Whining about automated resume filters and rudely pressing the recruiter on how she filters out resumes.
Some whining about leetcode and technical interviews
More concerns and airing out personal insecurities about resumes
The recruiter was definitely put in a tough spot and she’s volunteering her time to be nice. She was not looking 100% comfortable at the moment. However, she does take the L for saying “I posted 17 positions and got 14000 applicants” when some visibly distressed guy was talking about some of his frustrations.
I was a starry-eyed scientist wannabe an undergrad before choosing pharmaceutical research. And I remember my old friends had these premed discussions in real life and showed me some discussions online that were so toxic. I felt like those people were losing their minds. It got to a point where you would get these failed middle-aged premeds in biotech companies throwing tantrums and taking their frustrations out at the workplace.
I’m hoping tech doesn’t go down this route. Because I remember one biotech company I was at, I was even afraid some guy would shoot up the place after he was acting erratically.
Just some observations I’ve made and just wondering about your opinions. Do you guys feel like people are about to lose their collective shit? It’d be cool to hear what everyone thinks, from vets to noobies like myself.
JobAdvisor:
There will always be jobs in tech, but the entry-level has its ups and downs.
It doesn't mean you won't be able to get a job in the industry, it just means it may not quite be the job you planned or wanted.
A lot of people that rode the Data Science wave when getting their masters are now becoming Data Engineers.
As long as you're flexible and not "I absolutely want to write the AI for driverless cars" you'll be fine.
I studied particle physics.
Now I write tons of ad-hoc code and algorithms for a very boring industry.