r/developersPak

I’m writing this because I could use a little encouragement right now ... and, if the right person happens to read this, maybe a lead on my next opportunity.

I’ve spent around 10 years working in DevOps and cloud engineering.

Like a lot of people, I’ve had stretches where I wondered whether all the effort was really taking me somewhere.

Then, in 2023, someone from Wateen reached out to me. It felt like a real step forward in my career, and I was proud of the work I was doing.

Later, I moved to Nisum. I felt good about that move too. I was learning, building experience, and starting to believe that maybe I was finding my footing.

Then, about a year later, Systems Limited contacted me. I went through the interviews and got the role as a Principal DevOps Engineer.

I was genuinely excited. After years of working toward bigger responsibilities, I felt like I had finally reached a place where I could grow and build something long term.

I remember thinking, This is it. This is the company where I can settle in, contribute, and keep moving forward.

And then life changed direction again.

I was laid off after only a few months. It’s difficult to explain how disorienting that feels. One moment, you’re proud of how far you’ve come and making plans for what comes next. Then suddenly, you’re trying to understand what happened and wondering how to start over.

I know a layoff doesn’t erase a decade of experience, and I know my career isn’t over. But knowing that logically doesn’t make the uncertainty disappear. I’m trying to stay hopeful while dealing with the disappointment, the questions, and the fear of being back at square one.

If you’ve been through something similar, what helped you get through that period? I’d be grateful for any advice, encouragement, or even a reminder that things can work out again.

And if anyone here knows of a team looking for a DevOps or Cloud Engineer, I’d really appreciate a connection. I have around 10 years of experience across AWS and Azure, Kubernetes, Terraform, CI/CD, Docker, Linux, infrastructure automation, and production operations. I’m based in Karachi, Pakistan, and open to remote opportunities.

I’m not expecting anyone to fix everything with one comment. I just wanted to share where I’m at, hear from people who understand, and put myself out there in case my next opportunity starts with someone reading this.

23 dropout from uni cz expensive and am dumb, Build skills now doing job as a frontend Dev for a year.
Used AI so much in work my mind became like pmLn party members, lazy and dumb.

Lost all my skills I had + no degree tried freelancing but I never tried cz told u I'm lazy.

tried posting on Linkedin but everyone was self glazing and larping. Don't have that levels of Narcissism.
What's the solution to it of not being a lone ass?

So I've a budget of 300k but the problem is that I'm stuck between laptop & PC.

I'm currently in my 1st semester ( just done with 1st month at uni )

I do have a laptop. It's good enough to handle C & Cpp ( uni tasks ) .

I don't know what should I do right now.

I want to be ahead of my uni fellows & learn some real world things.

Need suggestions of you guys !!!!!

Hey, I’m a Software Engineering student in my 5th semester, so I have roughly half of my degree left.

And honestly, I’m getting scared.

I don’t have any proper, job-ready skill right now. I’ve learned some HTML/CSS and a little bit of other stuff, but I don’t feel like I can actually build something professionally and get paid for it.

The biggest problem is that every time I try to choose a direction, I start questioning whether it is even worth spending a year learning it.

AI can now build websites incredibly quickly. It can write code, debug it, explain it, and in some cases produce better results than a beginner like me could.

Then I look at the competition.

There are people who already know full MERN, people doing cybersecurity, cloud, DevOps, data science, AI/ML, blockchain, etc. And I’ve even seen people who have spent months learning these things still struggling to get an unpaid internship.

Meanwhile, my financial situation is getting more difficult.

I need to be able to support myself, pay for my own expenses, and eventually support my parents. After I graduate, my family is expecting me to get a job and become financially independent. I don't have the luxury of spending several years trying random things and hoping something works.

So I feel stuck.

Everyone around me says:

“Just pick a domain and start learning.”

Okay, but which one?

Web development was the obvious choice for me, so I started looking into it. But then I see AI getting extremely good at building websites, and I start wondering whether I'm entering a field where the entry-level competition is going to become even worse.

I know web development isn't “dead.” I'm not asking whether AI will completely replace developers.

I'm asking something more practical:

If you were a Software Engineering student in Pakistan today, with roughly one year to become employable, limited money, no strong skills yet, and family depending on you after graduation — what would you choose?

Would you still go into web development?

Would you specialize in backend?

Cloud/DevOps?

Cybersecurity?

AI/ML?

Data?

Something else?

And more importantly, what would your actual 1-year game plan look like?

I'm willing to dedicate the next year seriously. I just don't want to spend that year jumping between 6 different technologies, watching tutorials, and ending up with nothing.

I'm especially interested in hearing from people who are already working in software/tech and actually earning — whether remotely, in Pakistan, or abroad.

If you were literally in my position one year before graduation, what would you learn, what would you build, and what would you do to land your first job?

I don't need “follow your passion” advice.

I need the most realistic path you would take if getting employable within the next year actually mattered to you.

Hi everyone, I hope you’re all doing well.

Currently, I’m a .NET developer with around 4 years of experience. However, I’ve always been a lazy person when it comes to learning, and I’ve never really been a self-learner. Because of that, I feel like things are getting worse for me.

To be honest, I was never really interested in programming from the beginning. Somehow, I got my first job before I even finished university because the company was a startup at that time, and I was able to get the opportunity.

Now, with how quickly AI is evolving and how fast everything is changing, I feel like people who aren’t continuously learning are going to fall behind.

The company I work for was doing quite well last year, but things have changed a lot this year. A lot of projects have been lost or affected because of AI. There are currently no new projects coming in, and around 8 employees have been laid off in the last 3 months. One of them was even a team leader.

Two other senior developers are also planning to leave in December because their contracts are ending and they don’t want to continue working here.

My company is service-based. They get clients through platforms like Upwork, and we work on those projects.

Financially, I’m doing fine, Alhamdulillah. The company is also happy with my performance and is willing to promote me to a team leader position.

However, there are some strict policies that I’m not comfortable with, such as a 5-year contract and a 50-lakh security cheque. The office timing is also not ideal. Officially, it’s from 2 PM to 11 PM, but most of the time it extends until around midnight.

I’m also experiencing some health issues because of this work environment, so I don’t want to stay here long-term.

But this is where my real problem starts.

I’m naturally quite lazy when it comes to learning, and I don’t consider myself a self-learner. Because of that, I sometimes feel like I’m simply not built for programming.

However, I’ve always loved video games. So I’m thinking about moving into the gaming industry and eventually becoming a 3D artist.

Even before university, I had a hobby of creating anime and video game character art, both on paper and digitally. I’ve always enjoyed the artistic side of things.

I’ve also tried Blender. I created a few low-poly models and even completed the famous Blender donut tutorial. I actually enjoyed doing it.

I currently have around one year left before my contract ends, and I don’t want to continue working here after that because the work culture and environment are affecting my health.

At the same time, I’m losing motivation for programming, especially with how quickly AI is changing the tech industry.

So I’d really appreciate some honest advice:

What do you think I should do?

Should I continue with programming and force myself to improve, even though I don’t feel motivated and have never really enjoyed learning it?

Or should I use this remaining year to seriously explore 3D art and potentially transition into the gaming/3D industry?

I’m not planning to quit immediately. I have around one year to prepare, so I want to use that time wisely and make sure I’m not making an emotional decision.

I’d really appreciate advice from people who have experience in programming, 3D art, game development, or career transitions.

Thanks in advance!

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I’m currently in my 3rd year of university and working at a small software house with around 5 or 6 employees.

I first joined as a paid intern for 2 months doing full stack web development. After that they took me as a part time developer. Since I have university, I work around 20 to 25 hours a week, with 1 day onsite and the rest hybrid.

The main issue is the pay. It’s really low, almost like being unpaid. They said it’s because I can’t give more hours because of university.

The good thing is that I’m getting actual development experience and working on real projects, and the schedule works well with my studies.

But I’m starting to seriously think about leaving and looking for something else.

I’m not sure if leaving would be the right decision though. Since I’m still in my 3rd year, I don’t know how much this experience will help me when I graduate, or if staying here for longer will actually benefit my career.

Would you stay in this company for the experience, despite the very low pay, or would you seriously leave and look for another opportunity?

Also, how would staying or leaving at this stage affect my future career and opportunities?

Would appreciate advice from people who have been in a similar situation.

my laptop has been slowing dying since the starting of this year, and unfortunately it crashed down as soon as i started uni (that too as a computing student).

some of my keyboard keys wont work properly (i click on the enter button or the arrow keys at times js to get [[[^C[[^ smth like this constantly or the right arrow key js gets stuck and the only way to break out of it is by clicking on the space button)

my laptop has gotten very very slow despite having plenty of storage

none of my networks work properly on it, only one does but that too fluctuates A LOT nowadays.

been getting frequent BSODs due to driver issues.

i rlly want a good laptop as a computing student (1 lac to 1.5 lac is my range) who is also planning on installing a dual partition of ubuntu on it. ill use it mainly for the sake of uni. ill keep my current laptop for personal uses.