Ask HS: Career Advice for Someone Struggling
About a year ago, I graduated with a software engineering diploma from a well-regarded Canadian technical institute. To be a competitive applicant, I re-took all my high school math, did well, and was accepted into the program, where I also achieved excellent grades. I was a mature student with a goal.
Some years before, I earned a Masters degree in the humanities and worked in the post-secondary and non-profit sectors. I decided to switch careers for a few reasons: I've always loved technology, I wanted to use it to contribute a positive difference in the world, and I thought it would increase my earning potential.
Unfortunately, I graduated at what seems to have been an all-time low point in the industry: the COVID tech bubble popped, and the wave of AI came crashing in.
I did get a contract job, for which I am grateful, and it was initially geared towards programming tasks. But it's since shifted almost entirely to what can only be described as glorified data entry.
This has been really difficult. The work I'm doing is uninteresting and doesn't leverage any of my skills in a meaningful way. I'm also earning the least amount I ever have professionally. I feel like I've taken a big step back, and it's had a pretty big impact on my mental health.
I've asked to take on more work, and even offered to take lower pay to work on programming-related tasks. A lot of staff are contract or part-time, so mentorship and training has been hit-or-miss.
Frankly, I've never felt less engaged and motivated in my life. My self-confidence has taken a big hit. Recently, I've been struggling to even do the work. This is difficult, because I know I have a lot to offer, I love to learn, I take great pride in doing good work, I enjoy contributing to a team, and so on. I have excellent references and have, I think, proven that I'm a motivated, hard-working person. I do think, with my background, that I have a unique set of skills that would greatly benefit an organization.
But, like many others, I can barely get an email back from jobs for which I apply. I follow up my applications with personal LinkedIn messages, and I've leveraged my network, but so far, to no avail.
I know I'm not alone -- a lot of people, especially in this industry, many with far more experience than me, are feeling the same. My heart goes out to everyone in such a position.
For the first time in a long time, maybe ever, I honestly don't know what to do. I feel lost and uncertain. Do I return to my previous career? Do I continue searching for a job in this field?
I'm trying to frame this as a blip in my life, a low point that will help me build grit and learn more about myself, and that's a good thing. I also know that, to some extent, I'm getting in my own way, that I'm afraid of doing what may be needed for me to take the next step, and this is part of the learning experience. All the same, it's uncomfortable to live through right now.
(I will note that I'm working on small projects in Go during my off-time, trying to maintain and build me skills.)
If you have any feedback, any advice, anything you've learned, I'd love to hear and learn from it. I deeply appreciate you taking the time to read this.
Between layoffs and the economic contraction that garnered them, plus prevailing interest in exploring AI for junior-level tasks (regardless of its wisdom), there's just not going to be demand for inexperienced software engineers for a while. If you do manage to find opportunities, they're most likely going to be the marginal cast offs that were left to rely on you as a last resort for some reason, not the enriching or exciting experiences you want to have.
Only you know what your alternatives are, but you should probably just assume that good work won't be coming and focus your job hunt elsewhere. If you're really passionate about the industry, you can think of the next few years as a kind of self-administered graduate program where you keep your skills fresh and develop new ones while you attend to some other day job.
While you do so, you'll want to think about building a tangible and compelling portfolio the way any other early-career artist might, so that you can show it off when the market turns again (which it will). You might also casually monitor and apply for jobs/gigs just to test the waters here and there, but you're only wasting your own time and your own emotional reserves in trying to hold out for one.
Sorry I couldn't be more encouraging. You just got stuck with bad entry timing into an industry long beset by boom/bust cycles. We're in the bust now. You have to wait.
We in tech are going to have to look at our current reality. The SQL experience that was everlasting on our resumes for decades may not be what we think it is anymore. That's just an example. There's some soul searching that's going to have to happen, so whatever you are going through is not unique to you by any stretch of the imagination.
There will be a culling of this profession. Some will reinvent themselves and push forward, some will find peace in leaving it behind. Some will be excited to enter it, and some will be scared off by the sight of the wreckage. It's a challenging moment, and the truth is it's just not going to be for everyone.
We are seeing first-hand that our profession was never a 1000 year profession like a Doctor or a Policeman. My personal belief is that if you don't love this, then you are going to get eaten alive in the current and coming re-shuffle. It's not just the developers that are going through this crisis, as I still see companies (new and old) that literally have no business existing given new information (AI).