Hi y’all! I hope you guys are doing well. So basically I am going through a lot right now. I just need some advice. The thing I am going through is the following and yes I copy pasted from reddit cause the advice there wasn’t the best I’d say. I was hoping if you guys could help. Thanks in advance!
I’m feeling really stuck and could use some guidance. I have a CS degree and worked for 1.5 years at a major financial firm building data pipelines, working with financial datasets, and using technologies like Python, SQL, and AWS. I was put on a PIP earlier this year and eventually let go, so I started applying for jobs during that time and have now been unemployed for a few months. I’ve sent out 400+ applications with minimal callbacks, tailoring my resume to each and every job. The tech market is absolutely brutal right now with mass layoffs and companies choosing overseas teams over domestic engineers.
I’m at the point where I don’t even know what direction to go anymore. I’ve been considering pivoting to becoming an actuary since my background with financial data analysis seems relevant, and I’ve read that programming skills are increasingly valued in that field. The work seems like it would fit my analytical mindset and the career appears more stable than tech. However, when I looked into it more, I found conflicting information about how competitive the entry-level market actually is, and I’m not sure if I’d just be trading one oversaturated field for another.
I’ve also tried applying to healthcare IT roles and local banks and credit unions thinking they’d be less competitive than major tech companies, but even those seem incredibly hard to break into right now. I’m getting rejected from positions that should be a good fit for my background, which is making me question if there’s something fundamentally wrong with my approach or if every industry is just this broken.
The financial stress is getting to me, and I’m doing some gig work to survive, but I can’t keep this up much longer. I even considered joining the military, but I’ve been on antidepressants and would need to wait at least a year to be eligible.
Has anyone else made a successful pivot from software engineering to another field? Should I stick with trying to leverage my existing technical skills in adjacent industries, or is it worth investing time and money into studying for actuarial exams? I’m really struggling to figure out what my next move should be and would appreciate any advice or perspectives from people who’ve been in similar situations. Should I just grind hard on leetcode at this point for SWE jobs with how terrible the job market has been?
I’m honestly just feeling defeated and don’t know what path forward makes sense anymore. Any guidance would be really helpful
There is always a need for a skilled electrician or plumber.
I’m sorry you’re having such a rough time. I took a break to try to launch a startup which didn’t go anywhere. Then I spent time just honing new skills. Before I knew it, I’d depleted my savings while racking up a long period of unemployment that made me toxic to job submissions. I couldn’t get callbacks in tech as a result but I also couldn’t get labor positions because my resume had much-better-paying jobs that made it obvious that I’d leave at the first opportunity. It was a vicious cycle and that’s before the economy and tech sector went to shit.
I would switch careers, given your limited time investing in your current profession. After people found out that tech could pay a lot of money, the market got flooded with people who don’t have a passion for the work. It used to be filled with nerds and it was awesome, but that gradually changed. I seriously considered switching professions and thought about what work I might find fulfilling. I would have become a professor of history were it not for the accredidation required (I have no college degree because you can be self-taught in tech).
Do what you can to get by. I don’t know what to suggest regarding other possible employment, but I’d take whatever you can find perusing job ads in adjecent market and try to stabilize. I went from software development to IT because I needed to interact with the people I’m helping to feel rewarded. There’s less money in it, but I’m happier overall.
If you can find a government job (preferably state, not federal, for reasons I shouldn’t need to point out), that’s awesome. I landed in a state position and love it. There’s a lot of beaurocracy and it takes forever to get hired (as a friend just confirmed when he got a state job), but it’s stable.
Good luck!
Sorry about what you went through job-wise, glad you found a new gig and enjoy it.
Are you able to talk about your try at launching a startup? After getting RIFed, I immediately thought about going into self employment, creating a micro-saas or such. Obviously something like that is much more challenging than working for a salary at a company but I’m still hopeful and open to learning more about that route.
I had a business partner. He had an idea for a website that connected parents with childcaregivers. We agreed I would code it and he would do the design. It turned out I should have probed more about his design skills. He had none. All his ideas were terrible, too. He wanted lots of animations during transitions and stuff and I tried to explain that people don’t like that and the site needed to be snappy.
I backed out when I realized he couldn’t deliver his end. I also can’t do design, but I at least knew his ideas were much worse. I’d been coding for several months at that point. Oh well.
The industry is pretty fucked right now to be brutally honest. I was let go a few years ago after nearly a decade along with another member of our team. Took a full year and easily 1000+ applications for me to find something new, and even longer for my former team member.
Didn’t get back into SWE either. I work in software support now, making literally half of what I used to make, and I believe my friend is in a sort of sysadmin role.
The best thing I could say is expand your options. Between RTO mandates, huge pushes for genAI bullshit, and just complete oversaturation of the market, SWE is a hellhole right now. The job market as a whole is a disaster right now, but tech is on another level. Expand your options to different roles and tune your resume to get past the automated bullshit systems and read by real people. I hate to be pessimistic but frankly I would not expect to get into another SWE role with how things are right now. Software support is a strong adjacent field but don’t expect anywhere near the same salary.
Try the monthly Who Is Hiring thread on news.ycombinator.com, first business day of each month so you will have to wait a couple weeks for the next one. Here is the last one:
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44159528
Try this too, though pickings might be slim under present circumstances: https://www.otherbranch.com/
I’m in a similar boat, got RIFed late last year, waited for the new year and started applying. I’ve gotten a couple of final rounds but no offer yet. Last I checked, a coworker who got RIFed along with me hasn’t found a full time gig yet, either. In the past, it didn’t take more than three months to find a gig.
I’m hearing people are searching for a year+ for a new gig, not necessarily for SWE but tech in general. It’s a bad market for sure. But to be fair, the SWE job market has been hot for over a decade. Not trying to scare you, more trying to say there are others in the same situation, too. Low interest rate is over, seems like offshoring is coming back, plus there’s AI to boot. I see a lot of AI/LLM hate but I think some people are delusional. No, AI isn’t perfect but it’s delusional to think targeted use doesn’t increase productivity, which for some employers, means they can do the same or even more work with less people. Companies can choose to increase productivity or stay at the same level for less money.
Network, talk to your friends and their friends. I’m hearing it’s nearly essential in this market to try to get a referral.
Advice I haven’t seen here, host an app you’ve built and/or public git repos so people can see your code, if you don’t already. I suggest this because you are a bit on the junior side based on pure years of experience and are competing against seniors. Send out applications first and work on an app when you need a break or get bored.
Connect with recruiters, even external ones.
There are more applicants per job opening now than in the past. But if we keep applying, by chance our application will be near the top of the pile for some job openings, so it’s a numbers game and it’s just taking longer than usual to get an offer.
Like you, I’m considering a career change. Have you considered adjacent roles like solutions engineer or sales engineer?
For the time being, I’m continuing the SWE job search. Mostly just wanted you to know you’re not alone.
Actuary of 3.5 years - entry level is also tough in this field. If you have no exams passed, you’ll probably need at least 2 to be considered for an opening. Your CS degree may count at some places but not others, although I’ve seen more openings accept them these days so the trend is in your favor. If you started studying hardcore now, I’d expect you to pass 2 exams by next spring. If you’re interested in the field, I’d recommend trying to also apply to actuarial internships since nearly all are well paid, include room and board, and lead to employment opportunities.
Hey man, thank you so much for your comment. I’ve been really thinking about doing those exams. It’s just I’m really worried about the internships cause they’re reserved for college level students mostly? Do you think it’s a good idea to go back and do master’s for a better chance at internships for actuary?
I have plenty of colleagues with their master’s degree - some went back to get a math related degree for actuarial roles, and some finished exams and just wanted more money when they switched companies (already employed as actuaries). The latter usually focus on data related degrees as the market aggressively hunts for folks who can pass new technical skills/knowledge onto their team of juniors.
If you can swing the master’s degree with your personal tolerance for debt, I think it’s a viable option. However, I’d aggressively study for exam P and FM to get at least one passed by the middle of fall semester so you’ll be ready to apply for summer internships. If you snag one, you may be able to work part time during your final 2 semesters if you prove yourself valuable enough.
Also, a huge topic in actuarial science is proving you met regulatory standards, and I presume you’re very familiar with git and/or other VCS, which can be a useful skill (include on your resume).
Since you’re good with data sets and have a relevant degree, Geospatial Information System (GIS) is a good field to get into. You could study a program or two (ESRI, ArcGIS) to get a job in the public sector. Governments be mapping everything
GIS has been the golden goose of government jobs for decades now. If you can snag a position doing that, you’re set for life.
