r/cscareerquestionsOCE

Hi everyone,
I’m 32 years old, based in Germany, and I’m facing a difficult career decision between two job offers. I’d really appreciate some advice, especially from people who have worked in consulting or industrial engineering.

Option 1 – Accenture Industry X
- Team Lead / Consultant
- Good salary
- Annual performance bonus (up to 20%, although I know that’s not guaranteed)
- Hybrid work
- International projects
- Opportunity to learn consulting, project management, client management, leadership, and digital transformation

Option 2 – Industrial Technology Company
(Mid-sized Industrial Technology Company)
- Electrical Engineer
- Around €10k/year higher salary than Accenture
- 100% remote (only traveling to customer sites when necessary)
- More technical and engineering-focused role

I’ve always been interested in management, leadership, business, and entrepreneurship. My long-term goal is to move into leadership positions or eventually build my own company. That’s why I’m wondering whether consulting at Accenture would give me more valuable and transferable business skills than staying in a highly technical engineering role.

So my dilemma is:
Accenture
- Lower salary
- Less flexibility
- Strong exposure to consulting, project management, clients, and business
Industrial Technology Company
- Higher salary
- 100% remote
- Better work-life balance
- More technical engineering work

If you were in my position, which one would you choose and why?
For those who have worked at Accenture Industry X (or similar consulting firms):
Is the consulting experience really as valuable as people say?
Would you choose consulting over a technically stronger engineering role if your long-term goal was to become a leader or start your own business?
Looking back on your career, which path do you think offers better long-term opportunities?
I’d really appreciate hearing about your experiences rather than simply choosing based on salary. Thanks!

I’m a CS major in NZ. Graduated end of last year and haven’t been able to land a role. I’ve only got a single 3 month internship at a small company on my resume. I get callbacks but always get the “they’ve found someone with more suitable experience”. I understand everywhere in NZ is struggling rn but do you think this would make me more competitive in this job market?

https://devacademy.co.nz/courses/agentic-launchpad

Hi,

I'm doing some finance planning and looking for some insights regarding bonuses for SWE.

How often throughout one's career does the typical mid / senior level software engineer in medium sized companies get performance bonuses? Assume they meet expectations. Google says its typically annualy or bi-annually.

What is usually the target bonus for meeting expectation? Google says 10%.

Thanks in advance!

what do they test/check you on the phone call process for the intern position as an SWE? Seems to be a short 15 minute call, so I don’t stress too much about it, but it’d be great to get a heads up.

Also confirmed by the FSU: https://www.fsunion.org.au/cba-job-cuts-your-rights-and-union-feedback/

>CBA has proposed another round of job cuts. This time, 274 jobs are expected to go - 176 of those cuts come from within Technology, with Engineering roles facing the brunt of the cuts.

>Other areas impacted by the changes include roles in the Chief Operations Office, Business Banking, Institutional Banking & Markets, HR, Retail Banking and Support Units.

>Tragically, these cuts will also have a significant impact on Bankwest, with support roles cut due to the closure of branches and functions absorbed into CBA.

>CBA has attributed the cuts to workflow automation, realignments, streamlining and consolidating functions.

>Once again, we are seeing CBA cutting local Technology jobs in favour of cheaper offshore labour, as the bank expects 54 of the 176 roles to have “remaining tasks which may be performed across teams located between Australia and India”.

I have done 3-4 hirevue virtual assessments for some of the big companies. Every time after I finish they send me a report with a bar, just wondering if that’s any sort of indicative of selection bottom line, is there a lowest percentage to be selected?
I kept getting around 50% on that bar despite being confident about all my answers QAQ

Hi all,

​I’m currently in the first rotation of a graduate program at a major Australian bank. I’ve been heavily involved in our AI roadmap and have been given significant autonomy. I’ve just been offered a permanent role on the team, but I’m struggling to reconcile the offer with the actual technical complexity and impact of the work I’ve delivered.

​The Context:

​Role: AI Engineer.

​Current Offer: ~$95k base + super + bonus.

​Market Context: Standard grad roll-offs at the firm are tracking at a ~$110k.

​My Achievements (First Rotation):

I haven't been doing standard "grad" tasks. I’ve architected an autonomous multi-agent framework that is currently integrated into our data governance compliance pipelines.

​The Workflow: I’ve leveraged tools like GitHub Copilot as force multipliers, allowing me to ship production-grade architecture at a velocity that would typically require senior-level oversight.

​The Architecture: The system functions as a live reasoning engine, it handles context retrieval via custom RAG pipelines, autonomously resolves data discrepancies, and de-risks our production deployments by validating them against strict internal security schemas.

​The Impact: This work has moved past "prototype" into our core production strategy. It’s received direct visibility from GM/CIO-level leadership and was featured in a recent town hall.

​The Dilemma, Junior vs. Mid-Level Definitions:

According to current industry benchmarks, here is how the roles are defined:

​Junior/Entry-Level (0–2 years): Typically focuses on learning and execution, such as cleaning data, prototyping models, and implementing algorithms under the watch of more senior team members. The salary range for this tier is $80,000 to $120,000.

​Mid-Level (3–5 years): This professional takes ownership of entire features or model pipelines. They are responsible for translating business problems into technical solutions and solving tough challenges without constant oversight. The salary range for this tier is $120,000 to $170,000.

​Why I fit the Mid-Level Tier:

My output aligns with the mid-level definition because I have moved beyond "executing tasks" into taking full ownership of entire model pipelines. I am autonomously translating business problems (like our governance compliance bottleneck) into production-ready technical solutions without needing constant oversight.

​I am pushing to negotiate for a $115k base salary. My reasoning is that I’m fully committed to this team and the roadmap we’re executing. I don't want to just optimize for today; I’m planning to stay here long-term. Establishing a fair, market-aligned base salary now is crucial, as I don’t want to feel underpaid as the complexity of my work scales up and I take on even more technical ownership.

​My Questions:

​Is a $115k base reasonable for a grad who is operating at a mid-level impact, or am I overvaluing "impact" vs. "tenure" in a big bank?

​If HR is rigid on the "grad tier" base salary (the $95k range), what are the best workarounds to bridge the gap? (e.g., specific sign-on bonus structures, formal 6-month review clauses with a salary floor?)

​TL;DR: I’m a first-rotation grad who architected a production-grade autonomous agent framework. I’ve been offered $95k base, but my work aligns with mid-level engineering (which ranges from $120k–$170k per the AI Jobs Australia benchmark). I want $115k to reflect this output and ensure long-term pay fairness as I scale my technical ownership. Is this a realistic ask?

Hey everyone,

I'm a final-year Computer Science student in Australia. To be completely honest, I mostly chose this field for the money and job stability.

I recently landed an upcoming graduate Software Engineer role at a big 4 bank. While I am incredibly thrilled and grateful to have secured a role in this brutal market, I am also dealing with a lot of anxiety about the tech industry's future.

Between the non-stop talk about AI advancements, ongoing layoffs, and offshoring, I am genuinely worried about long-term job security. It has gotten to the point where I am seriously considering jumping straight into a new 4-year Electrical Engineering degree after I graduate, as I hear EE is booming and offers better physical job security even if pay is slightly lower.

Is it worth taking the jump to re-study engineering or should I just take the grad role and make the most of my situation? Thanks !

Hi,
I’ll be relocating to Barcelona later this year for a Data Engineering role, and I’ve spent the last few weeks reading this subreddit, watching YouTube videos, and browsing apartment listings.
The more I read, the more I realize that there’s a big difference between visiting Barcelona and actually building a life there.
I’m curious about a few things from people who live and work there:

What’s something newcomers almost always underestimate about living in Barcelona?

How’s the work culture in tech? Is it generally relaxed, or does it depend entirely on the company?

For those in data engineering, data platforms, or software engineering, how would you describe the local job market?
Is Barcelona somewhere people build long-term careers, or do many eventually move to other European tech hubs?

Finally, what monthly budget/income do you think is needed to live comfortably, save consistently, and still enjoy travelling around Europe from time to time for a couple?
I’m not looking for perfect numbers and just honest experiences from people who’ve lived it. Thanks!!!

When people think of Australian technology companies, either Canva or Atlassian are first to come up. Ifykyk then WiseTech or Xero come up, but I don't think these 2 are as interesting as the other 3. It seems to me that Airwallex should be more notable given its success, business and scale. Is there something I'm missing here?

Hi all,

I'm a recent grad starting my first software engineering job next year.

Just out of curiosity, how common is it for an average-performing engineer to reach senior level (total comp: 150k+) after about 6 years of experience?

Likewse, how common is it to reach lead / principle level (total comp: 170k+) after 10+ years of experience?

I know it varies between companies, but I'd love to hear what you've seen in the Australian / Sydney industry.

Edit: if your answer is "it depends", I'll narrow it down to mid tier companies. E.g. Freelancer, Optus, Nine, Medibank, ResMed, Cochlear, Westpac.

Thanks!

Hi guys. I am a 2025 CS grad, offered a role with Capgemini consulting for the cloud team. However pay is around $66,000 AUD. EDIT - with super it's $75k

I have no other grad offers though I have gotten to assessment centres many times this year so I could potentially land another offer elsewhere.

Would you take this or keep applying?

Hey everyone,

I’ve received grad offers for both EY (Tech Consulting) and the Kmart Group Tech program. I'm just trying to see which option would benefit me more career-wise.

I know EY looks good on the resume, but I haven't heard many good things about it. On the flip side, I don't know much about Kmart Tech's reputation or if it's a good place to start a career.

Has anyone worked at either of these, or have any advice on which one gives better experience for the future?

Cheers.

Throwaway account for privacy.

I have ~3 YoE, all at the same mid-tier company. I've been working in a client-facing FDE/AI engineer role for the past year. Think short-term projects (15-20 weeks per engagement), with a tech stack that's fairly easy to pick up (python/js + any cloud provider). TC is ~120k base + 10% bonus + super.

I feel valued at the company and have good relationships. I'm due for a promotion in the next 6 months, which will likely put me at ~140k base + 10% bonus + super. The work is relatively easy, but at times it feels more client and people focused than tech focused. I don't foresee more technical growth, but moving into management or consulting in 3-5 years is a realistic path.

The bonus isn't guaranteed. It's based on personal and business performance, although it's been consistent in my experience.

I also have an offer from another mid-high tier company for a backend role. It's a more traditional dev job and isn't client facing. It would be an entirely new language, stack, and domain for me, but the tech seems really solid (think low latency, high concurrency, and large scale systems). TC is ~130k base + 20% bonus + super. The 20% bonus is very optimistic though. I've heard payouts have been 0% and 15% over recent years.

The new role and company are really interesting, but I'm trying to work out whether it's the better career and financial decision. I'm not set on either the FDE/soft-tech/management/consulting path or the IC/staff/principal path, and I'd like to keep my options open.

My concern is that if I stay, get promoted, and spend another few years in this role, it'll become much harder to move back into a traditional dev role without taking a pay cut. On the other hand, it feels like the consulting/management path will always be there without a pay cut, since there aren't many devs that are willing/able to do the client-facing side of the job.

Part of me wonders what the future for FDE/AI engineering roles is going to be. It's hot now, and I could jump ship and make significantly more money, but it doesn't feel like it's a role that's going to have a future in 5-10+ years time. Could be wrong on this.

Financially, I'd likely be giving up somewhere between $0-15k over the next 10 months if I move, depending on the exact raise and bonus amounts. I'm debt and dependent free, so I don't need the money, but it's still something to consider.

WWYD?

Hey all,

I’m currently a Tier 1 Help Desk Support Agent working mostly with Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace. When I joined, the role was supposed to be closer to Tier 2/senior support, but company changes basically left me stuck doing Tier 1 work with little room to grow or learn higher-level admin work.

I’ve been applying for other jobs for a while now (80+ applications so far), but I keep running into the same problem: even “entry-level” sysadmin, network admin, and IT ops roles want certs plus 2–3 years of experience.

Right now I have Security+, and I should have my CCNA in a few weeks.

To try to make up for the experience gap, I’ve been doing a lot of hands-on learning at home through:

• homelabs
• VMs
• local NAS/storage
• general networking/sysadmin practice

My main question is: how much does homelab/self-taught experience actually help when applying for junior sysadmin or network admin roles?

Also:

• How should I list that kind of experience on my resume?
• Is it worth putting homelab projects on LinkedIn or in a portfolio?
• Do recruiters/hiring managers take that seriously, or is it mostly just a bonus?
• What kinds of projects would best help me move from help desk into systems or networking?

Basically, I’m trying to figure out how people break out of Tier 1 when their current job isn’t giving them the chance to level up.

TL;DR: Stuck in Tier 1 help desk, have Security+, soon CCNA, and I’m building homelab experience outside of work. How do I turn that into something that helps me land a junior sysadmin or network admin role?

I'm starting to look at moving up and the gap between junior positions and mid-level stuff seems huge. Is that jump actually realistic or are people just exaggerating? What skills actually get you there faster or am I just going to need to grind it out for another couple of years?

Seemingly there's no escape from the chaos, I'm not in the anti-AI camp but there's more and more push in my own and my friends' companies to desperately try automate every skilled function to 10 .md skill files in a trench coat (claude agents).

The quality of everything is going in the absolute shitter with most of these trial practices but it's like nobody cares about it or can think 3 months ahead.

Everyone I'm talking to is severely demotivated, burnt out and fatigued and it honestly seems like a shit show all over.

Anyone works in any company that isn't like that and has a shred of sustainable practices or is it a nationwide phenomenon?

Hello , Recently I got an offer as a SWE grad at mid sized company. It’s an August intake but I still have 2 units to finish which I was planning to finish next sem, normally can I just delay graduating and do the grad job for a year and finish my uni off ?