State of the world: would you recommend that someone start studying to become a SWE today if they aren’t one already?
Why or why not? TC 270k
Yes??? Why not? Because they could fail? Same goes for every other white collar career but almost none of them have the earning potential SWEs do and SWE is the has the lowest difficulty per dollar ratio of the high earning jobs The only other ways to make this kind of money are medicine, law, entrepreneurship, or holding a corporate executive/leadership position, all of which are objectively harder than SWE. People in other industries work their asses off for 20+ years to make as much as a new grad in big tech does Then there is the non tech side, where pay isn’t as fancy and there isn’t a lot of growth, but the jobs are so easy, low stress, WFH is common, and the money is still really good relatively speaking.
You make a fair point, that was me a few years ago. It just feels like the future is less certain these days for various reasons. Would you agree?
As opposed to 2017-2020 when companies were hiring anyone with a pulse because they were flush with cash? Sure But it’s not surprising that a job as appealing as SWE has the competition it has today. This is where it’s supposed to be. It’s never not worth it to try for anyone who is willing to try.
For sure, everything is being consumed by software. If you’re smart and need a stimulating job and work environment, this is the place to be.
I make 5 times less than you and am for sure studying to become a SWE. Just nothing else sounds as appealing when it comes to WLB and pay. Other fields may have higher pay or equal but come with guaranteed 60 hour weeks.
Good luck man, you’ve got this 🏃
No, stay out. I want as little competition as possible when there's a senior+ shortage in 5 years because of how fucked all the new grads have been for 2+ years now
I think the market is flooded, bar to entry has been lowered significantly, and demand will decrease with AI. We’re only at the beginning of this. There will probably be jobs in SWE for the foreseeable future but fewer every year and they’ll make less money. The heyday is over
bar to entry has lowered? not since q4 2022. it will only go higher
Oh I disagree. I think there are significant low code and even no code solutions in the space that can solve simple problems. You will see entry level roles that someone with rudimentary knowledge of Python can achieve. Eventually AI agents will replace those lower roles entirely. That’s where I see this headed. That’s what I mean about the bar
others have mentioned it, but hot areas to get into now are healthcare industry, accounting or the trades. Those industries look to have demand in the near and foreseeable future. Ship has sailed in tech - too many people saw the YouTube videos of 6 figs doing jack all or learning dev in 6 fucking months and flooded the industry. Combine that with higher interest rates going forward and less hiring frenzy as before and it's not nearly as good of a prospect as it has been in the recent past.
If you are a smart US citizen, better to pursue medicine or finance.
Agreed for the most part. What are your reasons?
AMA cartel will ensure good jobs and low competition for doctors indefinitely. Finance has high pay / prestige and cultural barriers to keep out immigrants.