Ask HN: Junior dev and I don't want to compete in this job market. Any advice?

I'm about to finish my BS in CS from WGU (remote accredited college, about as good as a state school, not a target school). I've struggled with health issues for many years which made remote the only option for a long, long time. Health is better now, but I'm still scarred.

Long story short, health and living situation made me lose nice full-stack remote dev job, networking opportunities, my confidence, and my motivation to compete in this job market. As I said, my health is better, but my will to grind leetcode and apply to a million job listings that might not even be real is gone. It's not just time-consuming, it's demoralizing and messing with my head big time And as I said, I have no network.

Remote is no longer a requirement for me, but flexible or second/third shift jobs are ideal. Sleep schedule is still a struggle, even now.

I've got some thoughts:

- Apply only to federal and state government software dev/IT jobs for new grads. These listings have specific requirements (you must be a new grad and an American citizen), so it might not be as saturated as the private sector. I've read online that the interviews are easy, no leetcode.

- If that doesn't work, look into which certifications would help me land a job in a tech adjacent role that isn't dev and isn't as competitive. Would appreciate guidance here, because from what I've seen, IT appears to be just as bad as dev right now.

- If that doesn't work, look into pivoting to tech recruiting. Hopefully I wouldn't need to go back to school for this.

- If none of that works, forget tech jobs altogether, and apply to jobs that are less competitive and only require a degree.

- I have been seriously considering selling software dev courses. Always had an interest in this, to be honest. I'd also love to build a one-man SaaS business too, at the intersection of these (e.g. software for Instructional Designers). Both of these are just dreams or potential side hustles, as I don't have the capital to sustain a solo/bootstrapped business right now.

Any advice, ideas or feedback on my current options would be appreciated.


Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41125070

Points: 32

# Comments: 19

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41125070

Created 3mo | Aug 1, 2024, 1:50:08 AM


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