u/Particular_Good_3678

[removed]

Genuinely asking because a lot of people I know are sympathetic to socialism atm. Myself included. But honestly it feels like I'm with you when you guys talk about public options for essential services but then you lose me when you start talking about a socialist revolution and abolishing capitalism and private property ngl

Genuinely asking because a lot of people I know are sympathetic to socialism atm. Myself included. But honestly it feels like I'm with you when you guys talk about public options for essential services but then you lose me when you start talking about a socialist revolution and abolishing capitalism and private property ngl

Just got banned from the Democratic Socialist subreddit for advocating for Social Democracy. Anyone who thinks the DSA isn't calling for a full Marxist socialist revolution should pay attention to this! The mod literally messaged me saying liberals aren't welcome.

https://www.reddit.com/r/DemocraticSocialism/s/rUPRa3ys9i

Screenshots below

Note: it was not the DSA sub but the Democratic Socialist sub that banned me for the post. It was a cross post from the DSA I made for their credit the DSA sub still has it up at https://www.reddit.com/r/dsa/s/VKsfloKq2X

I am in my mid 30s and I have spent most my life volunteering, organizing and being involved with community outreach. Its just kind of what we do in my family. I come from a lot professional social workers, and sociologists. I love political science and almost went to school for journalism but ended up going for computer science because at the time it seemed like a good idea lol.

So I ended up getting a software engineering degree from ASU and am currently getting my computer science master's degree online from Georgia Tech. Like many in the current tech job market, I’ve applied to hundreds of developer jobs with no real success outside of internships and micro-contract work. A friend recently gave me a great piece of advice, "Attach yourself to an industry you can be passionate about and pursue tech there, not the other way around".

I would love to combine my love of pollical science with my love of data science. How could I do this? How do I get my foot in the door? Is it too late. I am probably too old to volunteer for a campaign. Are there specific places or job boards to find data-focused roles in political science? Basically, I want work for / be Nate Silver. Any advice on where I could start?

My story is pretty common in the current tech market from what I can tell, and I am not asking for advice on how to get a tech job. My question is: Is this really the best thing I can be doing right now?

My Background

• I am a recent software engineering honors graduate from ASU and am currently getting my comp sci master's degree online from Georgia Tech.
• I had a 9-month internship for my undergrad capstone project and have several AWS and CompTIA certifications.
• I have spent the last year and a half applying to hundreds of jobs. I have tried everything from data analyst to application developer.
• I am in a great master's program that is super affordable too—the OMSCS program costs less than $10k altogether. But I still have about $50k in debt from my undergrad degree.

My Current Situation

• In general, I am in my thirties and live with my girlfriend who works remotely.
• I drive Uber to make rent and we have no kids—at least not yet—because we are both so broke.
• We both want to move somewhere else, and we have nothing really holding us here: my classes are online, my girlfriend's work is remote, and I can drive Uber anywhere.

My Dilemma

I don't plan to give up on getting a job in tech. I have a plan to keep applying, this time targeting more specific positions and internships as I complete my master's degree. I do love software development and it would be nice to make a living doing it, but lately, I have been considering other opportunities in the meantime.

Long story short, I am tired of being broke, feeling stuck, and not being able to save for the future. Gig work plus job searching with rigorous coursework on top is mentally exhausting. Plus, I feel like I am being left behind and I'll never retire or own a house at this rate.

I’m just trying to figure out what my next move should be. Since I can live anywhere, should we pack up and move somewhere? Should I look into completely different industries in the meantime just to get a stable paycheck and health insurance, even if it delays my tech career? Does taking an unrelated job right now risk creating a gap that will lock me out of software engineering later? In general, I am tired of feeling like my life is stuck in a temporary or waiting phase.

What would you do if you were in my shoes?

My story is pretty common in the current tech market from what I can tell, and I am not asking for advice on how to get a tech job. My question is: Is this really the best thing I can be doing right now?

My Background

• I am a recent software engineering honors graduate from ASU and am currently getting my comp sci master's degree online from Georgia Tech.
• I had a 9-month internship for my undergrad capstone project and have several AWS and CompTIA certifications.
• I have spent the last year and a half applying to hundreds of jobs. I have tried everything from data analyst to application developer.
• I am in a great master's program that is super affordable too—the OMSCS program costs less than $10k altogether. But I still have about $50k in debt from my undergrad degree.

My Current Situation

• In general, I am in my thirties and live with my girlfriend who works remotely.
• I drive Uber to make rent and we have no kids—at least not yet—because we are both so broke.
• We both want to move somewhere else, and we have nothing really holding us here: my classes are online, my girlfriend's work is remote, and I can drive Uber anywhere.

My Dilemma

I don't plan to give up on getting a job in tech. I have a plan to keep applying, this time targeting more specific positions and internships as I complete my master's degree. I do love software development and it would be nice to make a living doing it, but lately, I have been considering other opportunities in the meantime.

Long story short, I am tired of being broke, feeling stuck, and not being able to save for the future. Gig work plus job searching with rigorous coursework on top is mentally exhausting. Plus, I feel like I am being left behind and I'll never retire or own a house at this rate.

I’m just trying to figure out what my next move should be. Since I can live anywhere, should we pack up and move somewhere? Should I look into completely different industries in the meantime just to get a stable paycheck and health insurance, even if it delays my tech career? Does taking an unrelated job right now risk creating a gap that will lock me out of software engineering later? In general, I am tired of feeling like my life is stuck in a temporary or waiting phase.

What would you do if you were in my shoes?

So this is my attempt to set expectations for newcomers and young people who are thinking about getting into the field of computer science, specifically software engineering. This is more or less what I wish someone had told me before I started. Don't get me wrong I always knew it was going to be difficult but I wish someone had actually told me just exactly how difficult it would be.

So this will mainly be about the requirements of actually getting through an interview not actually how to get the interview in the first place. But quickly I want to say I still hear these questions a lot like "what tool should I learn?" or like "should I learn python?" or "should I practice leetcode?" or "should I get a certification?" or "should I go to school?" or "should I make a project portfolio?". And the answer honestly to all of them is, of course, YES. You need to be doing all those things plus networking, contributing, getting internships and I guess even having a technical social media presence outside of github nowadays too, "building out loud" they call it. The bar is much higher nowadays than back in 2015-2020 when they were begging people to become developers. You no longer can get by with just certifications or a boot camp experience. You need to know computer science and you need to know your stack in detail. Because the hardest part is not getting the interview. The hardest part is getting through it.

The main obstacle that most people tend to underestimate is the difficulty of the interviewing process itself. Or at least I did. Like I said, I knew it would be tough but I didn't realize it would be this tough.

So for reference I live in Arizona and to complete the Arizona bar exam you need to complete over several days a background check, conduct a 60 question multiple choice ethics exam called a MPRE, then 200 question multiple choice MBE, then answer 6 essay questions called a MEE and finally perform 2 practical assignments called a MPT. Usually 4 rounds over 2 days for about 12 hours total. THIS IS VERY SIMILAR TO WHAT IT TAKES TO PASS A LOT OF CODING INTERVIEWS! Some are more and some are less but this is not far off. Honestly I wish someone had told me this plainly. That trying to get through a coding interview is like trying to pass the bar but for every single job you apply for!

Just in case you think I'm being completely hyperbolic, I'll give an example. The interviewing process for Epic a healthcare software provider consisted of five individual multiple hours long rounds. The first was a simple video question interview you record. Then there was a math and logic exam. Next was a psychological and ethics examination. Then came a coding and technical interview. Finally, there was a live interview with HR for personality and culture fit. And even after all five rounds I still ended up losing the position to someone who was more qualified for the "entry-level" role. While this was particularly bad I have interviewed for dozens of companies from Amex to Amazon now and most companies have at least three rounds. If you want to see an example of one of the coding exam questions I got from IBM you can visit my previous post at

www.reddit.com/r/can_you_solve_this_coding_interview_question

This is what it takes to pass a FAANG level technical interview.

All this is not to discourage people. I just want more people to be actually prepared.

I'm in my 30s, is life now just going to be chasing how I felt when I was younger? I feel like everything felt better when I was younger. Maybe not always better certainly more intense but that also meant the intense joy and satisfaction. Whether it was food or movies or video games or drugs or sex. Nothing feels as good as it did when I was just turning 20. I feel like I catch glimpses of it nowadays, but it's all just remnants or chasing nostalgia of that feeling that I once had. Will I ever experience something like that again as I grow older??

I just got done with a 8 hour interview for a developer job where I spent the last few hours digging ditches?!?! This is completely true and insane please tell me what you think! So I am still trying to figure out what just happened. I am writing this both for advice and to try and write it down to wrap my head around what just happened...

Quick backstory: I graduated almost two years ago now with honors from ASU with BS in Software Eng. Since then I have gotten certifications, put up projects on my portfolio website, had a year long internship (in school), contributed to open source, and even got into Georgia Tech for MS in Comp Sci. And even with all that I spent over a year and a half applying to hundreds of positions to no avail. This is not a new story I hear it all the time and that is not what this post is about. This is about the interview for a tech job I just had today.

Basically cold applying was not working so I started joining cs groups, and going to events, groups and fairs to meet people, network, and collaborate with hopes that it would eventually lead to a reference or just meet someone who is hiring in person. This week I thought it worked. So about a week ago actually on my birthday I went to a local web dev group meeting, my first time. A local company was debuting their newest agentic framework for creating SaaS products and putting developers out of work. So needless to say I was very interested. The companies' CEO and CTO were presenting and they started off by declaring "CODING IS DEAD". Then went on to showcase their product. I had a million questions and was talking to them the whole time. Then after I reached out to them on LinkedIn and the CEO said he might have a "paid internship as a developer for me if I was interested"!

Great I told him Id love to meet and talk more. First we met at my old college where he said he was trying to get a grant from NACOG to be able to start paying interns at his company. We talked for awhile and he then invited me to come meet him at his house the next day. I did. He showed me some cool tech stuff, how he runs his companies out of his basement, brags about how rich he was, about how many successful businesses hes had, about how many guys he has made rich and started their careers for them. We talked for hours and the longer he talked the more red flags I started to notice. First he kept saying he hoped he could pay me as an intern and that he probably wouldn't be able to put me on payroll for awhile, but could pay me in stock some day, then he started talking about all the people he had gotten revenge on and screwed over the years, then the weirdest part was that there were all these people around, seemingly desperate people who lived off him and he would talk about what losers they were and how great he was for helping them. Then he talked about how lazy people are nowadays and how we wants me to join the company and be willing to help however I can. He seemed very interested when I told him I had done landscaping in high school. And that he had a lot of projects related to the company that he could use some help on but they were more labor intensive.

So here is the crazy part. After talking AT me for least 5-6 hours never actually offering me a job, he tells me he will pay me to do some work right now, today. I say great and he loads me in his truck with a trailer we drive it to this other property where some other guy who works for him comes out with a bobcat and fills the trailer with dirt. We then drive to another one of his properties and there is some guy that he tells me is a crazy drug addict staying there. He comes out we unload the dirt together. We do this two more times. No big deal, really, I am happy to help. Then he tells me to grab a pickaxe and a jackhammer and he needs me to dig a trench across the property so he can bury his waterline. In my head I said wtf did you just say? But my mouth said "Ok but I only have like an hour or so then I have to go." He was very disappointed.

So finally little over a hour goes by I dig most of the damn thing and then say sorry but I need to go. He says ok fine whatever its not done but least I broke a sweat. He then goes to pay me and I say no that's ok I am happy to have helped and I'm not afraid of some hard work. Like an idiot I'm still trying to get a job at this point. Then when we get back to his house I tell him "Thank you so much for everything I really enjoyed talking and that he does not need to pay me because I have a job already and that I am really focused only on getting a position in my field." He gets noticeably irritated. He tells me that I have been wasting my time, that I will never find work, that my degrees are useless, that he was gonna offer me a position as a web developer for one of his companies but I did not earn it.

Im still trying to be polite so I said anytime he needs help with something like what we just did I am happy to help but I also tell him again I am only interested in a tech job and that I would at least need a title and to be on the company payroll. After confronting him directly about it pointing out that we have been talking all day and he has not actually given me a real offer for anything. And that I would need him to finalize some actual details about what kind of role I would have working for him. I also try to steer the convo back to professional and polite because I can tell he was upset. He then starts to tell me how great I am and how great a fit I would be but I have to do it his way and frankly he goes on for another hour about all kinds of crazy stuff like promising to make me rich. I then tell him again "thank you so much for your time I really enjoyed talking with him and even if we don't end up working together I would love to keep having conversations and coming to the web dev group meet ups. And I hope to hear from him soon" and then got the hell out of there.

Honestly my head is still swimming I am exhausted physically, mentally, and emotionally. I don't know how to feel or what to think. I am so confused like I said the company and everything is real I even reached out to an employee on LinkedIn before hand and asked him about this guy this is what they said "Yes I spent time at [Company], and it was great. I learned a lot and [Dude] genuinely invested into my growth. He's great". Do you think I should have just toughed it out? Def felt like this guys was just blowing smoke up my ass all day and there wont be any job from this. Like what do you think just happened to me? Do you think it was legit? He seems like a crazy old rich guy who uses desperate people. But like the company is real. Really though even if he does end up giving me a real offer should I even take it? Am I that desperate...

I just got done with a 8 hour interview for a developer job where I spent the last few hours digging ditches?!?! This is completely true and insane please tell me what you think! So I am still trying to figure out what just happened. I am writing this both for advice and to try and write it down to wrap my head around what just happened...

Quick backstory: I graduated almost two years ago now with honors from ASU with BS in Software Eng. Since then I have gotten certifications, put up projects on my portfolio website, had a year long internship (in school), contributed to open source, and even got into Georgia Tech for MS in Comp Sci. And even with all that I spent over a year and a half applying to hundreds of positions to no avail. This is not a new story I hear it all the time and that is not what this post is about. This is about the interview for a tech job I just had today.

Basically cold applying was not working so I started joining cs groups, and going to events, groups and fairs to meet people, network, and collaborate with hopes that it would eventually lead to a reference or just meet someone who is hiring in person. This week I thought it worked. So about a week ago actually on my birthday I went to a local web dev group meeting, my first time. A local company was debuting their newest agentic framework for creating SaaS products and putting developers out of work. So needless to say I was very interested. The companies' CEO and CTO were presenting and they started off by declaring "CODING IS DEAD". Then went on to showcase their product. I had a million questions and was talking to them the whole time. Then after I reached out to them on LinkedIn and the CEO said he might have a "paid internship as a developer for me if I was interested"!

Great I told him Id love to meet and talk more. First we met at my old college where he said he was trying to get a grant from NACOG to be able to start paying interns at his company. We talked for awhile and he then invited me to come meet him at his house the next day. I did. He showed me some cool tech stuff, how he runs his companies out of his basement, brags about how rich he was, about how many successful businesses hes had, about how many guys he has made rich and started their careers for them. We talked for hours and the longer he talked the more red flags I started to notice. First he kept saying he hoped he could pay me as an intern and that he probably wouldn't be able to put me on payroll for awhile, but could pay me in stock some day, then he started talking about all the people he had gotten revenge on and screwed over the years, then the weirdest part was that there were all these people around, seemingly desperate people who lived off him and he would talk about what losers they were and how great he was for helping them. Then he talked about how lazy people are nowadays and how we wants me to join the company and be willing to help however I can. He seemed very interested when I told him I had done landscaping in high school. And that he had a lot of projects related to the company that he could use some help on but they were more labor intensive.

So here is the crazy part. After talking AT me for least 5-6 hours never actually offering me a job, he tells me he will pay me to do some work right now, today. I say great and he loads me in his truck with a trailer we drive it to this other property where some other guy who works for him comes out with a bobcat and fills the trailer with dirt. We then drive to another one of his properties and there is some guy that he tells me is a crazy drug addict staying there. He comes out we unload the dirt together. We do this two more times. No big deal, really, I am happy to help. Then he tells me to grab a pickaxe and a jackhammer and he needs me to dig a trench across the property so he can bury his waterline. In my head I said wtf did you just say? But my mouth said "Ok but I only have like an hour or so then I have to go." He was very disappointed.

So finally little over a hour goes by I dig most of the damn thing and then say sorry but I need to go. He says ok fine whatever its not done but least I broke a sweat. He then goes to pay me and I say no that's ok I am happy to have helped and I'm not afraid of some hard work. Like an idiot I'm still trying to get a job at this point. Then when we get back to his house I tell him "Thank you so much for everything I really enjoyed talking and that he does not need to pay me because I have a job already and that I am really focused only on getting a position in my field." He gets noticeably irritated. He tells me that I have been wasting my time, that I will never find work, that my degrees are useless, that he was gonna offer me a position as a web developer for one of his companies but I did not earn it.

Im still trying to be polite so I said anytime he needs help with something like what we just did I am happy to help but I also tell him again I am only interested in a tech job and that I would at least need a title and to be on the company payroll. After confronting him directly about it pointing out that we have been talking all day and he has not actually given me a real offer for anything. And that I would need him to finalize some actual details about what kind of role I would have working for him. I also try to steer the convo back to professional and polite because I can tell he was upset. He then starts to tell me how great I am and how great a fit I would be but I have to do it his way and frankly he goes on for another hour about all kinds of crazy stuff like promising to make me rich. I then tell him again "thank you so much for your time I really enjoyed talking with him and even if we don't end up working together I would love to keep having conversations and coming to the web dev group meet ups. And I hope to hear from him soon" and then got the hell out of there.

Honestly my head is still swimming I am exhausted physically, mentally, and emotionally. I don't know how to feel or what to think. I am so confused like I said the company and everything is real I even reached out to an employee on LinkedIn before hand and asked him about this guy this is what they said "Yes I spent time at [Company], and it was great. I learned a lot and [Dude] genuinely invested into my growth. He's great". Do you think I should have just toughed it out? Def felt like this guys was just blowing smoke up my ass all day and there wont be any job from this. Like what do you think just happened to me? Do you think it was legit? He seems like a crazy old rich guy who uses desperate people. But like the company is real. Really though even if he does end up giving me a real offer at this point should I even take it?