r/cscareerquestions

They say about 40% of people’s jobs are unrelated to the degree.

I’m a manufacturing engineer for an aviation company. I don’t use my degree at all.

I've thought a lot about AI. And it has always made me feel uneasy. But like most feelings it has been hard to accurately express it in words. But I think now I have a full model of what makes me very nervous about AI as a software engineer.

I think the issue is that AI eliminates differentiation. I think internally I start to ask "if AI can do almost everything, then what makes someone better than another person"? Because in the job market you need to look and be better than other people. That's just survival. You need to be able to really standout.

I felt I've learned a lot in my career. And my knowledge is a reflection of perspective. I started my career 25 years ago, right after the dot com bust. I started my career at the lowest level, working as a data center operator. Dealing with storage libraries/tapes. Then I moved into mainframes for a time working with the government. Then working as a Solaris admin and eventually a Java dev working in finance and banks. I moved into telecom and did lots of data engineering with hadoop, Java, Python and eventually Spark. Before pivoting back do devops, learning Go and cloud infra and learning kubernetes early on. And then I ended up moving into working on control planes in the cloud, dealing with IAM, and regional/zonal provisioning. I had a diverse and storied career. Never working in one domain, but expanding. 7 years ago that experience created strong diffrentiation. Most people didn't have the breadth or varienty. That is where I stood out

What I think is AI makes everyone seem equally competent. Even if that's not really true. I kind of thing AI does produce bad artifacts a lot of the time. But to decision makers it doesn't matter. People care about the the volume of output not the quality of output. That is why people say terms like 10x engineer. Software engineers didn't come up with this term, managers and business people did. And for them it just men artifact production

This is why some leaders say things like "Sure its fine if you know how to code, but I'm not sure if I'd hire someone who doesn't use Claude/Codex/Gemini". For them skills don't matter only output does. They don't care how good or bad the quality is as long as more things are being produced.

If there is any true differentiation in AI. Its mostly the knowledge of the user. If I had AI build me a game engine. It would probably suck if I have no knowledge of game architecture. So the quality of the engine would be different depending on who is directing it. The issue is that the decision makers don't actually seem to care about the differences in quality.

So to me it feels the evaluation is broken. Like most other false signals in tech hiring, it is yet another broken process, signaling things that don't actually matter. The fact that employers are evaluating people on how much they use AI is just silly. But the goal here is to eliminate skill differences.

In closing, to people who say "you're not special because you know syntax". No I learned architecture in my career. I've done event driven architecture and seen at many levels. From IoT systems, to provisioning systems for setop boxes. And I've worked at a high scale many times in my career. So I know more than "syntax". But my point is that even if you have strong knowledge of architecture (and I definitely do), that is usually not what's being evaluated in hiring.

I’m hoping to get some perspective from people who’ve experienced something similar because I’m feeling incredibly frustrated with how everything has unfolded.

I was recently placed on a Performance Improvement Plan (PIP), but the timing has made the situation complicated.

What was supposed to be my standard mid-year performance check-in turned into a PIP meeting. About three minutes before the meeting, my manager called to let me know I was being placed on a PIP so I wouldn’t be completely blindsided. I then met with my manager and my manager’s manager to go over the PIP.

The very next day, I started previously scheduled PTO, and I’ve now been away from work for about a week. Because of that, I really haven’t had an opportunity to begin working on the goals in the PIP.

While I’ve been off, I underwent a psychological evaluation, met with my psychiatrist, and we’ve been discussing treatment options for treatment-resistant depression, including Spravato. Based on those evaluations, I’m pursuing short-term disability and looking into whether FMLA applies.

I’ve also already reached out to my company’s HR department while on PTO to let them know I’m pursuing medical leave and to ask what documentation, paperwork, and next steps are required to begin the short-term disability process.

For additional context, I’d been telling my manager for quite some time before the PIP that I was struggling in this role and didn’t think it was a good fit. There had been documented coaching conversations over several months, but I wasn’t offered an opportunity to explore a different role within the company before being placed on the PIP.

What has been the most discouraging part is feeling like I’d been asking for help long before things reached this point. I repeatedly communicated that I was struggling and that the role wasn’t a good fit, but I never felt like there was a meaningful effort to work with me on alternatives. Instead, it feels like the process escalated to a PIP, and then before I even had a realistic chance to begin working through it, my mental health deteriorated to the point where my treatment team is recommending medical leave. It’s been an incredibly overwhelming experience.

My questions are:

Has anyone been placed on a PIP and then immediately needed medical leave?

If I begin FMLA and/or short-term disability before I’ve really had a chance to work the PIP, how is that situation typically handled?

Does the PIP generally pause while someone is on protected medical leave, or does it continue running?

If an employer terminates someone while they’re pursuing or taking medical leave, what factors generally determine whether that’s lawful?

I'm a CS student caught between two loves: the Linux workflow (using Niri WM) and the .NET ecosystem.

My courses currently use .NET Framework 4.8 + WinForms. The focus is on backend logic, ADO.NET, and solid C# fundamentals. Later we'll move to .NET Core, EF Core, ASP.NET... . My career goal is backend development.

The problem: I'm a Linux user. I can't run Visual Studio Community or SSMS on Linux. I know Rider exists, but:

· Is it truly on par with Visual Studio for .NET development?

· What are the alternatives for SSMS on Linux? (Azure Data Studio? DBeaver?)

· How does the overall .NET experience on Linux compare to Windows?

The alternative: I also have solid foundations in Java (Spring Boot, JEE). It runs flawlessly on Linux. Should I pivot?

My dilemma:

· I genuinely enjoy C# and .NET

· But I also genuinely love Linux

· Is the friction worth it, or should I commit to Java where the tooling feels more Linux-native?

Would love to hear from:

· .NET devs who work on Linux

· Anyone who's been in this position

Thanks.

Hi! I’m looking to get some certificates to enhance my CV and learn from them. I’m looking for non traditional software dev roles, preferably minimum coding. Areas of interest of mine are data/information/system analysis, dba and data engineering, IT compliance and IT audit, and project management.

Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA)
Cisco

CompTIA Security+
CompTIA

AWS Technical Essentials
Amazon Web Services

AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner
Amazon Web Services

Azure Administrator Associate
Microsoft

Azure Security Engineer Associate
Microsoft

Cisco CyberOps Associate
Cisco

CompTIA CySA+
CompTIA

Cisco Network Professional Enterprise (CCNP)
Cisco

Cisco Support Technician IT Support (CCST)
CISCO

SACA COBIT S
ISACA

Oracle Database 19c: RAC, ASM, and Grid Infrastructure
Oracle

Oracle Java SE 8 Programmer (OCA)
Oracle

Oracle APEX Cloud Developer Certified Professional
Oracle

AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate
Amazon Web Services

Oracle Database Administration 2019 Certified Professional
Oracle

Oracle Database PL/SQL Developer Certified Professional
Oracle

Azure Al Engineer Associate

ISACA Advanced in Al Security
Management™ (AAISM™)

ISACA CISA-Certified Information
Systems Auditor

CAPM® - Certified Associate in Project Management

Advanced Al Audit (AAIA)

CompTIA DATA+

Certified Data Privacy Solutions
Engineer (CDPSE)

Context:

I consider myself an introvert. About once or twice a year I go through periods of intense social activity – during these times I easily make new friends, take part in different activities like acting classes or trampolining; in general, my social life is thriving. But then I start getting tired of it, gradually reduce the intensity of social interactions, and just stay at home. I have a wife and a couple of friends with whom we often play CS; this level of socialization is enough for me. Sometimes it's even too much, and I spend days completely alone. In most cases I feel self-sufficient when I'm alone, but sometimes I feel the need to recharge emotionally from people – when I go out, I like being the center of attention and I really enjoy provoking emotions in people, usually through humor. But this only happens in real life, I don't use social media.

Problem:

Right now reality is forcing me to build new connections with people. The job market has changed because of AI, and my old professional contacts have become irrelevant, while I haven't built new ones for a long time. So now is the moment when I need to do it in order to maintain my previous standard of living, but I'm currently in a phase where social interaction is difficult for me, which significantly reduces my creativity and engagement when dealing with new people.

My strengths in work are responsibility, honesty, moral principles, fast learning, and ability to design and develop full-stack systems. I don't like approaching strangers and pretending that I want to help them when in reality from the very beginning my goal is to earn money. I don't like pretending to be interested in something when my main interest right now is money. Actually, you need money first - it frees up space in your head from thoughts about basic benefits for your family, and only then can you think about contributing to society or your own interests. I can behave differently to achieve results, but this is how I feel, and from my experience, building a strategy based on my feelings is the most correct approach. But seriously, what kind of strategy is even possible in this case? Has anyone been in a similar situation?

TL;DR:

Introvert with cyclical social energy: I alternate between highly social phases and long isolation. Now I urgently need to rebuild professional connections because the job market changed (AI made old contacts obsolete), but I currently struggle with socializing and feel unmotivated/inauthentic networking just for money. Looking for strategies or experiences from people who've been in a similar situation.

Hello everyone,

I will try to keep the post short. I am a PhD student at the intersection of ML and Finance, nearing the end of my studies. My PhD was not that successful compared to my peers (few works, some of them I am still trying to publish), no top-tier conf publications (NeurIPS, ICML and stuff) but I am doing the PhD at a decent university (now abroad at a more reputable university).

The time is coming to decide what to do next and I am a little bit lost. For sure I want to go into industry, but there are still plenty of options. One of them is going into the finance industry as quant research / quant trader / risk. I enjoy finance, but I am afraid that even though in the short run I would get more money, the work-life balance would be really bad.

The other option is tech, but still plenty of options (Research Engineer, Software Engineer, etc.).

The things that I know for sure are:

1. I don't want to stay in academia
2. I like to build products (thus I guess that all the consultancy stuff is a big no)
3. I don't feel that tailored to roles that are too much into research (i.e., Research Scientist)
4. I am not afraid to jump into different things despite my PhD
5. I would like to have a bit of stability (no early-stage startups)
6. I want to earn a decent amount of money (I am tired of PhD life)

That said: Do you have any suggestions to give to this poor PhD student?

Did this happen to you in the past as well? How did you find your way?

Howdy, I have just completed a BS in software engineering. I’m older and currently work in construction but I’d like to move to software, however, as everyone knows it’s freaking impossible to get into entry level positions right now.

For my senior project, I created a maintenance management system (CMMS) with the goal of making something lightweight and easy to use without a lot of power features that would be better for small businesses and non-profits. I presented it at our school’s symposium/science fair and got some really great feedback from people who would be interested in using it in their business. i tend to think that if I pursued it and started licensing or selling it to non-profits and small businesses it would show a skill set that a lot of new grads/entry level hires don’t have. However, my wife, who has done a lot more hiring than I ever have, thinks it could hurt as hiring managers might think I will just leave and start my own business. I’d appreciate any perspectives or similar situations on this. thanks!

Hi everyone! I’m joining Google in about a month, working in Corporate Finance, and I’ve already been sent a Chromebook as part of the onboarding process.

I had assumed I’d be able to choose between a MacBook and a Chromebook, but it looks like that’s not the case.
I have a few questions for anyone working at Google, especially in Finance:

1. Do most people in Finance use Chromebooks, or are MacBooks fairly common?

2. If you start with a Chromebook, is it easy to switch to a MacBook later? Is that a normal request, or is it generally discouraged?

3)How do you handle Excel? I know Google Sheets is the standard (and I actually prefer it), but there are times when Excel is just more practical, especially for very large datasets or when working with files from external partners.

Would love to hear what the typical setup is and how people make it work. Thanks!

I've been a SWE for 8 years and now I got back to do my masters and get specialized in something, would AI automate computer Vision in the long run?

I think it's very realistic scenario that companies wouldn't need thousands of employees but maybe they keep 10% of them and fire the rest.

All engineers at my company use Claude find and fix bugs, implement new features, write Jira ticket, plan the architecture and design and even post on slack the updates.

PMs and even QA testers write code same as senior SWEs using prompts and it works perfectly fine.

Why would any company hire an expensive engineer to prompt to Claude?

first year student so if theres a time to pivot, it would be now.
i neglected college forever for many reasons, so a 4 year degree that has the capacity to pay me well is very important.
i have a very strong passion in tech, hence me wanting to get a bachelor’s in CS. particularly in cybersecurity and networking
but jesus christ, i know this job market is bad right now but its extremely disheartening for anyone left who is passionate. people really talk like it will never get better, and that you’re pissing your money and life away if you get into this field.

no one can predict the market but its extremely hard to stay positive anymore. it makes me want to pivot but i have no clue as to what.
my other passions would make significantly less money, are just as difficult to get into, or have awful work-life balance as far as im aware (marine biology, environmental science. basically anything to do with animal preservation or nature)

if i could roll back time and go into the medical field i would. i’d love to be a dermatologist or anesthesiologist but i absolutely do not have the time or money for a 8+ year degree.

i considered engineering of any sort but i simply dont have the passion to carry me through the hell that is engineering academics.

i feel quite lost and directionless

I’m curious to hear more about this. Even at some of the AI labs, SWE jobs are being posted. Jobs for startups are still being posted, big tech still has software engineering jobs posted, etc.

And the job descriptions are similar to what was there pre-AI boom.

What gives?

The other day, I was preparing for my annual employee review. As part of the review, my leadership always asks for a snippet of code to review that you're particularly proud of.

Usually I find this quite easy. I take a lot of pride in writing very clean code, so when I feel like something 'Just works' and looks good, I feel good sharing it. However, this year was different. I was thinking about it, and while I definitely had some cool things I put out into a pull-request, I kind of felt like a poser sending it. I always think it's so funny when people post their AI generated images of themselves on Facebook and say things like 'Look what I made!'. You didn't make it. AI did.

So, here I was being asked to 'Show me what you made!' and honestly, I didn't feel good about sending any of it.

The code I sent, I felt more proud of it in a 'It solved a problem in a non-conventional way' kind of way. It solved a real problem on our project, and it wasn't my responsibility. In that way, I felt good I was helpful. It wasn't hand written, though.

I still love working in this industry, but it's just different now. Quite different.

I've been jobless for a while now.When do I know i should move on from this.I have a sales job offer.How do I know when to give up?

I'm new to being a senior dev, and I've been told by other devs that seniors aren't just supposed to do tasks that are assigned to them, they're supposed to be coming up with ideas to improve the product on their own.

I have come up with quite a few ideas that would improve our workflows or improve the quality of the product, but those have all been shot down. I'm told the only thing we can work on is things that we can sell.

The problem is that the user base is a specific blue collar workforce, and I'm not allowed to interact with them directly. And the feedback that we've gotten from them has just been "everything is fine how it is"

So how do I invent new features that the user base will actually want to buy?

For more context, they want me to code live using AI, and it’s a relatively short interview. I know it may seem obvious to some, but I’m curious as to any tips/tricks or must do things.

I’m sure Claude opus 4.8 could easily finish the mini project in 1 go. So I’m more worried about the competition, not whether or not I’m able to “ace” it.

Fable, Sonnet, Opus, curious what's the one you select.

Im just ramping up to it so curious.

Seriously, multi trillion dollar investments are just to make a random Joe vibecode some shit no one will use or to ask Claude code to make a rest endpoint triggering one of the CRUD.

Otherwise I don’t understand that euphoria about “yet another AI breakthrough”.

What do you guys expect from smarter models? That you will just write a single prompt once a week like “close all my sprint stories and make no mistakes“ while still earning your $200-300k.

i’m not even sure if electives even matter?

but my idea was to take more useful ones like databases, networks, etc just for a foundation for future jobs and to put on my resume.

but presumably i’d learn what i need on the job… so maybe i should take what interests me