Is it too late to become a software engineer?

Is it too late to become a software engineer? This is a question I see getting thrown around a lot now due to lack of jobs, AI etc.
In this video, I go over some of reasons we are seeing the issues we are with the tech industry, and some potential solutions for those determined enough.
Like & subscribe for more doomer Stevo.
This video makes reference to or summarises some other topics I've spoken about recently, see also:
Should Junior Developers Contribute To Open Source?:
• Should Junior Develope...
Will AI Replace Software Engineers?:
• Will AI Replace Softwa...
How To Get A Tech Job In 2024:
• How To Get a Tech Job ...
Chapters:
00:00 - Intro/current tech industry issues
01:46 - Companies are "de-risking" (economic recession)
04:03 - AI mentioned
04:12 - Overhiring causing mass layoffs
05:05 - This is why we aren't seeing a lot of entry level jobs
06:10 - New hires are an unknown/risk factor
07:00 - Affects of AI on jobs (not what you think)
10:50 - Summary of industry problems
11:37 - Solution: Don't tick all the boxes
15:04 - Solution: Volunteer/build (& maybe sell) a project/open source (maybe)
16:55 - Solution: Network/collaborate (most important)
19:15 - A few different networking methods
21:45 - How I got my first job
25:45 - So, is it too late then?
27:22 - Conclusion

[@StevoTheDev]

This video has gotten a bit more traction than I was anticipating, and so once again thank you all for the continued support! Some interesting discussions so far in the comments which I am continuing to read and respond to. Theres been a couple of comments so far mentioning the video length and so I'll just address that here: Yes I'm aware it's quite long (this is why I use chapters as well so you can skip to relevant sections, and this does appear to be used by a decent number of viewers). I will try to keep things more concise in subsequent videos, this one just turned intro a compilation of previous advice a little bit. Hopefully it is all helpful nonetheless!

[@user-it8yh8tu7d]

At organizations funded on VC loans rather than cash.

[@WisomofHal]

Great video, Stevo!

[@mrgaudy1954]

I’m a senior developer in a fairly niche language/technology and am currently branching out into more “mainstream” languages such as C, Rust and Python. The approach I’m taking is to just take my time and really *know* the fundamentals (chief reason I’m learning C). In my opinion the best way to safeguard your future is to learn for understanding instead of trying to optimise for employability/passing an exam. In the long run you’ll likely be far more valuable. It’s a lot more enjoyable and rewarding this way as well which is just as important.

[@StevoTheDev]

Definitely. Taking this approach myself now as well.

[@eotikurac]

i finished college in 2008, right before the financial collapse. because i had no experience, i didn't find a paying job until 2016 and it was 170 euro per month. seems like the kids that are finishing college right now will have to walk the sam path. anyone that grabbed 3-4 years of experience during lockdowns is very lucky.

[@StevoTheDev]

Pretty much. What we're experiencing in markets is definitely not new. In fact we're just repeating very recent history, but people have short memories.

[@redetrigan]

You were unemployed for 8 years??

[@eotikurac]

@@redetrigan yes. my whole generation was fukt.

[@SurpriseMeJT]

@@eotikurac Did you at least work in IT in the mean time?

[@eotikurac]

​@@SurpriseMeJT you mean between 2008 and 2016? no. i got into IT because it was the only thing i can learn at home without expensive machinery. jobs started showing up on job boards and i had no other options. prior to that i did some freelance design work, but didn't see money in that area. i was a beekeeper, a carpenter, a construction worker, a gardener, etc. apart from construction that failed in 2008 and the design nothing was paid work. you work to learn, you realize your boss has no idea what he is doing and you leave. lots of people do just enough to get by. now i have a small IT business but i don't like it because people who work with me have no money, dream big but are too lazy to work out with me what they even want or are just bored and waste my time.

[@ci6516]

In terms of AI, you still need domain expertise to utilize it . A customer wouldn’t be able to use it to design software of any actual size .

[@ci6516]

It’s the same with eveyr industry too. If I ask AI to tell me how to plumb a house , I still won’t know how to hold a wrench

[@StevoTheDev]

Precisely

[@chrisstucker1813]

True but harnesing the power of AI enables devs to become more productive. What happens when one dev can now do the job of three?

[@ghhdgjjfjjggj]

the problem isn't a normal person taking our jobs, the problem is an experienced veteran using AI taking our jobs

[@akshitsharma3181]

@@chrisstucker1813More companies will be able to hire productive swes, since 1 = 3 now. It will enable start ups to thrive (imo)

[@HerezCheez]

imho, it's just going back to its normal levels of employment. It's all the hype that made software engineering popular temporarily.

[@StevoTheDev]

There's definitely an element of that. Mid 2010s - 2021 was a massive bull run for tech and tech jobs and everyone was encouraged to learn to code, best career switch without a degree etc.

[@timothygibney159]

The problem is it’s normal plus 300,000 other highly qualified developers with faang experience at rockstar companies competing with you at the same job!

[@paulmaxwell-walters8861]

​​@@timothygibney159 that is true but some companies are not keen on taking on ex-FAANG or unicorn "superstars", if only because they are seen as having very high salary package expectations.

[@ivanberdichevsky5679]

It is not going back to normal levels of employment. Your ignorance on AI and human psychology (specially greedy companies) makes you think so.

[@HerezCheez]

@@ivanberdichevsky5679 someone is cantankerous xD

[@jaulpanos]

Great video! Your advice at 11:40 is spot on. I've been through a similar situation. I was (and still am...) stuck at a point where my experience in test engineering (4 years) stands out more to employers than what I want longer term (embedded systems). I'm so grateful I was able to land my last role when I did because it laid the building blocks for embedded systems while using my TE skills simultaneously. I was 1.5 years in when I was sadly laid off in January. This was before getting into the projects that would've really stood out on a resume to get me to that "expert" level. I'm hoping to find a similar position that uses my TE skills but leads to my becoming an embedded SWE. But it is very challenging to say the least

[@prohibited1125]

embedded is for engineers not developers lol

[@neppallv]

Absolutely loving this channel, Stevo! Your content is so helpful for aspiring software engineers, especially with the current climate. Can't wait to see what other topics you cover next!

[@StevoTheDev]

Thanks mate appreciate it 🙂

[@billymania11]

A big tip for you and the readers of your post. Learn how to troubleshoot. On my project, they give me stuff to troubleshoot as if you’re good with that, you come out looking like a hero. Trust me on this!

[@novaz8936]

Isn't that just PR reviews and lead dev?

[@ci6516]

I have an internship as a network engineer via my degree in CS. I’m my undergraduate studies I’ve focused on typical programming but as well data analysis classes, talking stats 1 & 2 and linear algebra, taken cyber security and lan administration, For me this makes it so I can jump to almost any field within tech witb a short sprint . I’d love to go into cloud computing after my network experience, maybe I go into devops , who knows .

[@WisomofHal]

I was just thinking this. I joined tech after school in 2019. 5 years ago, it seemed ripe. I had a list of things I was to learn and another list in what to dabble in. That list has changed, I’m now reviewing linear algebra, Large Language Models, and so many other aspects of AI. What I’m trying to say is, everything in the industry changed almost overnight. I felt I had a lot of computing to catch up with, but now that has almost doubled. Those coming into the industry now or in the next few years should study what they enjoy, and also study AI and it’s origins.

[@zorxey3189]

I'm in university right now and I relate heavily to the list feeling like it's doubled almost overnight. Feels like there is so much I need to know and school doesn't even try to teach it. With the future being so uncertain it truly is overwhelming

[@WisomofHal]

@@zorxey3189 The advice I got in university that paid off tremendously: showcase your talents, ambitions, interests and work on projects outside of school. Commit to open source projects that are interesting and/or useful to you. Engineers in the industry will eat this up and it’ll show those you’re interviewing with that this is your passion. It’ll also expose you to industry frameworks and real codebases that’ll expose you to patterns and ways to write your code. Take those maths and algorithms analysis courses very seriously. Understand data structures and algorithms. I’ve only been in the industry, 5 years and have seen waves of “the new thing”: IoT, Blockchain, Crypto, Web3.0, Quantum. While these things will kick off (things like IOT is obvious), I’ve witnessed first hand working at 2 large tech companies (one of the FAANGs, and another once unicorn) the push for AI. It is real and we have the technology for it now, and it’s only going to improve. Along with the advice I got I’ll add to 1. Understand computing basics well because that’ll never change and it’ll only be more abstracted, but those with deep knowledge will go far 2. Learn about AI, dig into some old research, its origins and derivatives, learn about modeling and LLMs, learn those prominent companies pushing their own models, learn how to use them, learn usecases and ways GenAI is currently being used in industry (if you don’t know where to start here, just respond and I’ll send over some places to start). The good news is that the math hasn’t changed and you’re in school so the maths courses you’ll take will cover most things. Anyways, be excited! I know it sounds overwhelming, it is, but remember we’re still in a fairly new industry and there’s so much left to discover. Be proactive, really dive deep (college degree is important but it’s not the only thing that matters, don’t do the bare minimum) and you’ll be good to go!

[@StevoTheDev]

It's one of the fastest evolving industries there is. You need to be comfortable with the constant evolution and learning new things. I think many understimate this coming into tech and kind of just brush it off at first. I know I certainly did!

[@y4ksh4]

Wrapping up 2.5 years now @ community college for CompSci. Transferring to uni soon. Thank you for this 🙏 , you as well Stevo! Especially that tip about studying AI and linear algebra too.

[@WisomofHal]

@@y4ksh4 Wishing you the best of luck! Enjoy this time as much as possible! It flys by. Build genuine relationships with your professors and fellow students. Dive deep, have fun, build build build! Its a great time to be Alive, cheeers!

[@TheJacrespo]

I am pretty sure that the massive tech layoffs will continue until 80% of the tech headcounts are wiped out: free money won't come anytime soon in the next few years, increasing code automation and new waves of outsourcing are ending the past tech industry. The positions eliminated will never come back. Don't get into the tech industry because if chances now are bad, in some years they will get even worse.

[@Nurtastube]

Thank you for your advice

[@Cognitoman]

That sucks for me

[@StevoTheDev]

Nobody can accurately predict the future, we can only look at the situation as it is and make up our own minds. If you are passionate about tech, do it. Not much else to it imo.

[@AAL3087]

There will new jobs created but the transition period from layoff to these new jobs may be short and impact how people can quickly reskill, if they are able.

[@terrormapu]

Yes don't expect great salaries..really good people only will get good salaries..others will just survive or not

[@konstantinrebrov675]

I just want to squeeze as much money out of software engineering as I can, while I still can, while AI has not made me obsolete. I don't know how many years that will be, but I'm guessing it's anywhere from 5 to 20 years before software engineering is obsolete. There are still plenty of jobs in software engineering ... for the time being. My plan is to accumulate as much money as possible, and use it to buy a house with land, and electricity, internet, and a well in a rural area, and some tools and machinery such as automated watering systems. Then I will be able to grow my own vegetables, and never having to go hungry, selling any surplus on the market. I'll be working in software for as long as I am able to, but I want to also have the option of growing my own vegetables as a backup option, and I also want to eat my own vegetables, not having to buy them from the supermarket to avoid all the pesticides and what not. If I can do my job fully remotely, then I can live in a rural area that has internet access. And I'm thinking when AI makes software dev obsolete, I could go into cyber security, hacking all of that junk AI generated software codes, to make some extra money on the side, because one needs more than just vegetables.

[@StevoTheDev]

Nice plan, although your last bit about hacking ai generated code for a living is a bit contradictory to the assertion that ai will take all the jobs. If it was genuinely that good to replace all human involvement in swe, surely it wouldn't be hackable? At least not by humans

[@konstantinrebrov675]

@@StevoTheDev The way I see it, when software engineers get replaced by AI, the people who will be "writing code" will be business majors and managers. Basically glorified prompt engineering. I suppose that the code could be insecure and inefficient, a golden opportunity for hackers.

[@konstantinrebrov675]

​@@StevoTheDev Then we become hackers to hack the AI. Assembly code is the future. Decompile AI generated code, Ghidra, and IDA, prevent the rogue AI. If and when AI will "take all the jobs", what will really happen is that software engineers will be replaced with product managers, buisness people weilding LLMs to generate code. Software engineering gets replaced with glorified prompt engineering. People who took Intro to Programming course at the local college, knowing what an if statement is, what a text editor is. Just copy-paste code from ChatGPT and slap an app together. Quality of software decreases. Tons of vulnerabilities and possible exploits. Which is a golden opportunity for hackers. If you can reverse engineer the assembly code, then everything is open source.

[@EmmanuelAgyapong-jn6ue]

I am interested in mobile development, specifically in Android; do you think the mobile industry is dead as everyone is saying and should go with web dev instead? Also, do you think a referral from a family member that the manger happens to l;love counts?

[@StevoTheDev]

Saw this comment once, thought "wait what?" and had to read again 😂. It shouldn't matter who the referral comes from on a personal level as that would be favouritism and tbh you probably wouldn't want to work for a company that would employ someone based on personal relationships. As for interests, do what you're passionate about. Trying to predict trending industries is a losing battle as tech is constantly evolving. So work on what you love and keep yourself in the loop on new tech across all of tech. Hope this helps!

[@cameronblackwoodcode]

Great video as always mate - glad to see the algorithm has picked it up!

[@StevoTheDev]

Thanks mate. Shockingly yeah it seems I've been favoured again. Guess this means I have to make more now 😅

[@neoTriny]

Nice explanation & discussion

[@RattleSack]

Got my first job in much the same way as you mate - great video. I literally put a post up networking, saying that I was willing to perform if given a chance and got my foot in the door.

[@RattleSack]

I should add - being active, doing 100 days of code (for a few days) etc really helped me stand out at the time

[@StevoTheDev]

Thanks mate. Glad to hear it's not just me. Networking is much more effective than people realise.

[@olumideomololu9793]

Thank you for being so honest. I've been getting sick of the engagement farming tactics most content creators use.

[@StevoTheDev]

Same, I think people in tech are very prone to becoming terminally online and getting lost in various internet echo chambers. Some content creators take advantage of this, I want to pull people out of it.

[@karihosny9420]

Hi Stevo, I have 15 years of experience in Data Analytics and I'm currently starting my own business. I've developed a prototype in Excel, but now I'm looking to expand my ideas by creating a website. The last time I built a website was back in 2010. The database is already set up. However, I find myself at a loss when it comes to building the website. While I have a basic understanding of HTML, CSS, JS, Python, and C# .NET, I'm seeking advice on what I need to learn to bring the application to life. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[@lyndonsimpson1056]

hello, i'm a web developper from France, i can help you out with that if you'd be interested (just talk it out nd stuff, i already have a full time job here. if your website is simple in terms of pure features, depending on how good a UI you want, it can be done pretty fast, especially if your back end is all set up as you said.

[@StevoTheDev]

Depends entirely on what you require from your website, but I'd say take a look at a js framework like React if you're looking for more client-side interactivity on your pages. Other than that though there are a variety of other options to consider. For better performance and SEO you might want to dig into server side rendering (SSR) and you can do that with a framework like Next.js (React with SSR essentially). if your website exists purely as a means of advertising a business like a brochure website and doesn't require a lot of interactive behaviour, check out static site generation with something like Astro.js. Hope this helps!

[@awesomedavid2012]

Very good video. I'm surprised you have so few subscribers; surely more will come soon

[@StevoTheDev]

Thanks, appreciate the kind words 🙂

[@ifstatementifstatement2704]

Been programming for decades, since I was a kid. I will still be programming long after AI has replaced us all.

[@santialur]

What's a good place to start finding peers to collaborate on a side project?

[@StevoTheDev]

Local tech meet ups are always a good option, at the very least you can get some insight into what others are doing in both similar situations to yourself or those who have succeeded and are looking to tell their stories

[@SerpkoBakotiinii]

1) The Majority of startups fails -> if company buy United States Treasuries, they will earn a lot of money without risk 2) Big chunk of inner projects fails -> if company buy United States Treasuries, they will earn a lot of money without risk 3) Automation reduces costs, but the cost of automation takes years to pay off - if company fire people and buy United States Treasuries on their salaries, they will earn a lot of money without risk So, the income of IT specialists should fall to the salary of ordinary engineers. The economy should stabilize. And then job market will be fine. When an IT engineer in Eastern Europe or India costs 10 times cheaper than a specialist in the USA and 5 times cheaper than in Europe but can make their job, this could not last long. Welcome to stabilization, i hope you are not too proud, to deny working in uber or diner.

[@Sam-dc9bg]

Its not over, its just changing as you mention. I think you can look at the more mature STEM fields to predict what will happen for SWE: Grads diverted into neighboring STEM fields for less pay. Early career pay normalized. Landing good entry level career paths eventually becomes more about "Who you know" or "networking".

[@sarthakpithe3622]

I feel that AI is a hype created by startups to get the funding and attention just like how web3 hype was which claimed to replace the web2 space and financial market but it's still a very niche field. Even early graduates are taking AI jobs without even knowing the basic math. I feel that bubble AI will burst soon but I am also optimistic about AI that it will somewhat change the traditional software engineering jobs in tech sector.

[@StevoTheDev]

It does feel a bit like the new web3 at the moment, but ai has definitely proven more useful so far 😅

[@ThomasTomiczek]

Your feel is nice - and right - but that does not stop AI getting better. By the time hiring stabilizes - 3-5 years - AI will be there to work alongside humans, reducing team count Significantly. The career, then, is dead - on life support while fewer and fewer people fill the jobs AI may take another decade to take over.

[@gezenews]

That's not an AI bubble. That's a wildfire of opportunity being snuffed out by DEI, and false flag hype to cover a well and obvious recession. Remember that entire year of protests across the country? Ever heard of covering your ass? Well if the government is handing out free checks, and you know investments are likely to fail, why do anything besides use the free hire money to hire 94% non-whites. Because thats what they did in 2021.

[@sarthakpithe3622]

@@ThomasTomiczek Definitely, I agree with you, AI will bring a revolution in software industry where only highly skilled developers will survive

[@ThomasTomiczek]

@@sarthakpithe3622 No. Problem is - on a timeline, AI is the high skilled developer, and we do not talk decades. Remember that Graphics cards got 1000x faster in the last 10 years and we likely see more in the next 10 for AI. Any software developer surviving is on a timeline. I am not going to argue exact (and definitely not to the last - let's say 80% gone to 95% gone) - but I doubt it is far after 2030. We are 2-3 problems away from AI being able to do software develoepr work, and all those are solved just need to be put into larger models (which takes a year or two - and no, the models coming out this year do not count, the research was from the last 4 months). Once that is there - and companies put money into training AI to deelop software and there is more work (which already happens) on AI using i.e. computers (so an AI can use develoepr tools etc. - and yes, this works by the AI seeing the screen) things will go FAST. Developers are EXPENSIVE. If I can replace a developer with an AI for just HALF the cost, it is a major market - as the AI gets faster and cheaper. So, even good developers will likely be nearly all out end of the decade.

[@Chris-fm5xs]

I think even if AI can take the job. How long will it take to integrate it into the work place. I worked at a hotel in 2010 that was running windows 3.1 so don't worry so much you have time

[@novaz8936]

One tip from a dev with his 10,000+ hours and JavaScript fatigue lol. Always read back theough your PR I often read my PR and find something i could have done better. In the editor can get messy.

[@powerHungryMOSFET]

In your country also its same situation? I though this recession is only in the US

[@StevoTheDev]

It's quite bad in the UK as well. Our economy has stagnated quite a bit for years in fact comparatively with the US

[@AAL3087]

Same in NZ. But due to a new government cutting back on spending and doing a large number of job cuts in the public sector, which flows onto the private sector and industries that support it. I'm competing with 100 applicants per job. I feel like there's more applicants than jobs going (which has decreased since the same time last year). Companies are restructuring and not spending. We are in a recession.

[@lyndonsimpson1056]

you have one of the most down to earth explanation on what is going on. I feel the same way about AI being extremely overhyped despite it being very usefull and an amazing tool at the moment. I am amazed at some AI hype news channels, the comments are raging with theories about how fast AGI is coming and how it's probbly already hapened behind closed doors. It's like watching badly written netflix shows but people are making it up and actually believe it massive numbers. I highly doubt that LLMs are even the answer to real AI.

[@StevoTheDev]

Thanks! Its super easy to get caught up in hype for a lot of people and there are many people out there looking to capitalise on that. I have my own opinions on this stuff and am just relaying that really. By talking about it I hope to try and at least get some people to stop and question these things a bit more and encourage discussion.

[@paulsingh11]

Software Architect + Accounting That’s the path

[@novaz8936]

If you can learn design as well you'll be unstoppable force and can build anything.

[@AAL3087]

Who you care to elaborate?

[@paulevans4905]

"Coding" alone is useless...applying it to an actual business case is the way....I'm not the best coder....but I know why I'm coding.

[@novaz8936]

@@paulevans4905 all you need is to ship fast and then your users tell build after that Coders spend to much time over engineering and never actually release anything.

[@7ripachikita]

323 subscriber , looking forward for ur channel to grow

[@StevoTheDev]

Thank you for the support!

[@0ninetyseven97]

thanks for the info which is the reality compared to other "influencers"

[@StevoTheDev]

Some content creators take advantage of the fact that people in tech are terminally online and very prone to being trapt in echo chambers, I want to pull people out of that.

[@Astral_Dusk]

The massive irony is that despite having all these so-called new and improved online employment systems, the majority are more disconnected from the human aspect of hiring than ever. Personally I think there should be more laws in the hiring process such as an official database that requires an application update, some form of response to all applicants. It's probably safe to safe "ghosting" is much more common in the "digital" hiring practice and it's a pretty serious hindrance to the employment rate considering the undeniable psychological implications of hundreds of ghosted applications within mere months as a norm these days - extremely common and absurd. A strangely neglected part of hiring laws, putting it all in mere faith.

[@opa-age]

It's a cycle. We've been through this in 1992, 2001, 2008, etc....

[@tomekgnu]

Correct. Also remember the Great Depression of 1932-3 and the 2nd world war following it. What is happening right now is the offshoot of 2020, marking the biggest scam inflicted on humanity ever. "They" are the present masters of this vicious cycle, but all our our hope is in God the Almighty, Who will soon put an end to it.

[@StephinTech]

I’m 35 and an in my journey into web development and being “too late” and the rise of AI is something that scares me but I’m not going to stop! I’m still continuing to learn and will become one a developer by the end of this year! 😊

[@StevoTheDev]

I personally know someone who started at 44 with 2 kids. They're actually very good as well, impressively so. If you're passionate enough about making something work, you more than likely will in some capacity than not. I thoroughly believe that as it's always been the case for me as well.

[@StephinTech]

@@StevoTheDev thank you for the encouraging words!

[@dazzlenovak7519]

It actually is too late if you're entry level because the software engineers that are currently employed are going to become more efficient with AI. AI is not good enough to replace software engineers but it will make existing ones much more efficient - hence, lessening the need to hire more of them.

[@tincustefanlucian7495]

Actually efficient software engineers powered by AI will mean the cost will decrease for the final clients, they will be even more interesed in getting to work with Engineers powered by AI tools, they will ask for more and more and better products with more features. This will loop back to increasing number of software engineers.

[@StevoTheDev]

So then what happens when all the experienced engineers retire? We will always need new talent. However the volume of which and the skill set required will fluctuate and change throughout time.

[@scrapbrainsinc]

But AI is taking a certain job away. When you start out developing you work through ideas, and figure out solutions to simple problems by tweaking the code. A new developer that just throws prompts and gets out code, might not have software domain experience. We had a new developer that stated we must update to python3 .7, because he couldn't pass more than 100 or so arguments into a function in python. My mind was blown at how basic of a concept was lost on him.

[@StevoTheDev]

This is part of why juniors are being asked to have more experience now. There was a lot of people hired previously that quite honestly probably weren't ready.

[@tyxobeats4559]

I mean no shit he’s a junior with little experience… it’s your job to mentor him

[@ZoranRavicTech]

If that is what he's struggling with then he's more like an intern than a junior dev.

[@scrapbrainsinc]

@@ZoranRavicTech Software Engineer II. My thought is they hired a lot of developers that can pass coding tests, but don't have a great CS background.

[@eotikurac]

ai doesn't work, at all. but it doesn't stop companies pretending it does as an excuse to offer lower wages. the job is too stressful, too demanding mentally to be worth it. salary should be 300-400k per year easily because you can burn out after two years and then you're without a job and the bills are still there.

[@StevoTheDev]

The wages in UK are pretty awful across the board in comparison to the US as a point of comparison. For a variety of reasons. I'd welcome a US salary quite honestly compared to what we have. As for ai not working. It can be useful for a lot of things and will continue to improve, but it won't/shouldn't be replacing or lowering the wages of SWE's. Any company that thinks that's sustainable will learn the hard way when things go wrong unfortunately.

[@SinergiasHolisticas]

Game Over.

[@bwhit7919]

Now’s a great time to be a college freshman. Now is a great time to work for a startup. AI isn’t going to replace your job, but understanding how to make, train, use, and fine-tune AI will be required skills for developers in 5 years.

[@oakleyorbit]

I think the fact that tech has changed throughout the years and gotten better doesn’t mean it got easier it’s actually the contrary, this means things will only get better and smarter, jobs will shift so we have to learn to adjust our learning curve I was a frontend developer now my focus is completely cloud based and who knows what later.. you have to see things as they unfold and keep up with the tech, jobs have always changed throughout time like the automotive industry people freaking out about machines doing the jobs and everyone been put out of the business. Coding is coding it’s a skill and as soon as you treat as an expendable practice then realistically you shouldn’t be doing it.. for the simple reason that you forgot why you started in the first place! Because it’s fulfilling and the money should be secondary!

[@skinnytimmy1]

Yea, learning to code now is like jumping into a movie halfway in

[@StevoTheDev]

100%, when I refer to it being easy to get started I mean in terms of accessibility of resources. It's certainly not easy in itself and will only continue to get more challenging as tech develops and more people get involved (due to that improving accessibility)

[@Talk378]

If you want to be a junior dev, you need to unfortunately have quite a bit of know how and experience before getting your first “job”. Start your own business and do free work for people until you can charge some for it. At that point you will have produced production code and been paid, and thus have a huge leg up over your competition. You could maybe shoot for a mid level job.

[@StevoTheDev]

Will vary on skill set, size/type of company or role etc. But yeah you work for yourself long enough and find yourself looking for work at a company down the line still you might be able to jump in at a higher level. Just need that verifiable experience and knowledge and your good.

[@JT-mr3db]

The doing a boot camp then starting a job on 80k days are mostly over. It’s a hard grind nowadays.

[@gezenews]

Same for the "get a degree, work for 6 years, and then keep working." Thats over too apparently.

[@Thegbiggamerz]

@@gezenews what does that mean?

[@gezenews]

@@Thegbiggamerz It means I had a college degree, worked for 6 years, and now cannot find work for over 6 months. Guess what I look like.

[@chadkirk925]

@@gezenewsare you a Native American

[@gezenews]

@@chadkirk925 I was born in America, my ancestors were born in central america. Their ancestors were sent on a death march to settle a land they were lucky to find had been decimated by small pox. And they were sent there by fucks just like the ones running things now. And even today they go after us and not the people with the actual capital.

[@funicon3689]

i just got an offer for a 6 figure remote job, so its not "dead". but i also have 10 years experience and FAANG on my resume. regardless, im planning to leave the industry in the next 5 years. id rather not bet against Jensen Huang

[@StevoTheDev]

Congrats on the job 🙂

[@xlovechild]

Appreciate the video, but really subscribed because of your cat friend

[@StevoTheDev]

Understandable honestly

[@Astral_Dusk]

Engineers need to be extra entrepreneurial today with constant daily portfolio developments with a solid vision, mission, detailed example personal projects that specifically align with certain types of companies. Specific and above and beyond. The interview needs really kick some ass with the passion from the soul, really meditate on what fuels your fire like a shot of mental espresso in the enthusiasm about what you have experience with. If there's something you don't know, don't BS and pretend - be transparent about that and very passionate to learn. Playing up can only go so far but hiring managers can hear the hesitation as well, often really scanning for it. Anyone can write anything on their job application, is this candidate legit?

[@karenwang313]

The sad reality is that im probably going to be stuck working dead end datacenter jobs forever. By the time the economy recovers, itll be too late. Nobodys going to want to hire a 30 year old "junior developer" when they can just hire a new grad instead.

[@StevoTheDev]

This is a self fulfilling prophecy if I've ever seen one. I personally know someone who started at 44 and was hired. Your age is almost completely irrelevant, but if your conscious of your age being a factor it almost certainly will be. Companies want good talent that will hit the ground running, get stuff done and make them money. There's not a huge amount else that goes into it other than maybe being likeable as a person. If its something you want to do, absolutely go do it, and don't sit around waiting "for the economy to recover" either.

[@MrGenie23432]

I understand the specialization suggestion but will disagree a bit. If you can become an expert in being a jack of all trades that also has its place. Maybe less so in large companies but in start-ups, small companies, and research type roles it can be.

[@StevoTheDev]

I get that. I think there's a small distinction between being a jack of all trades and being adaptable for me, but the important thing here I guess is the context. As someone looking for a job, you're looking for ways to stand out and impress a potential employer. As someone who already has a job (especially at a startup where you often wear multiple hats), you'll not only need to be ready and willing to adapt and learn loads of new things, but it's basically expected of you in order to make things work where budget and resource can't pick up the slack.

[@MrGenie23432]

@StevoTheDev it is worth adding that I have had many recruiters and even a company and government directly try to recruit me over the years. Even got my current job this way with my jack of all trades. But to be fair, I am specialized in a wide range of things from hardware, firmware, and software. It it took almost 20 years before it became a big selling feature. I fail to even get interviews at large companies if they use an electronic process as my resume gets filtered out as I dont fit. So, it's not something I would recommend to most people, just that it does exist as an option.

[@StevoTheDev]

To me it sounds like you've got a lot of varied experience which extends a decent amount of time. That is a safe sell for many employers indeed

[@chadkirk925]

Yes

[@Jeetuni]

I’m literally about to be a swe

[@a---------------]

My attention span is beyond repair so can someone summarize this for me.

[@TheUnaBoomer]

Guys, become electrical engineers. That's what I'm doing. AI can't exist without the hardware, and you will program.

[@StevoTheDev]

May not be a bad shout for some. One of the guys I work with used to be an electrical engineer and is now in swe though so...🤷‍♂️

[@Ryhamz]

I'm done with 95% male fields EE conceptually cool but it'd be problematic as well

[@adideno2771]

​@@Ryhamzin this post, you forgot to mention that you have a 130 IQ.

[@Sam-dc9bg]

EE is actually a very generalized degree and employment prospects rely on adaptability. Odds are that you won't touch hardware at all.

[@TheMoviesfable]

Honestly lets break the delusion, it is simply not worht it. If ur not tech guy, from your ealiers and you simply dont like it, its not worth. Its much better to learn some skill where u get % from margin and do not bother about learning everyday. Sad truth. Noone cares about ur commitment. I don't want to discourage you folks, but it is very demanding.

[@StevoTheDev]

It was debatable even a few years ago if you weren't particularly interested in the field and were attracted by the money. It's worth it still to a certain kind of person, and its those people I want to encourage. If you are looking for money, chances are you won't find it in software engineering without prior experience.

[@Teting7484f]

Llms are hyped

[@techpiller2558]

Learn to work with AI. That is the new programming. Work in the field you have interest, perhaps passion for.

[@ZoranRavicTech]

26:00 TLDR: no it's not to late 24:47 You probably should have kept it shorter. I don't image that many people actually got this far in.

[@StevoTheDev]

More than you'd think on average, but yes this one is a bit longer than I'd have liked as well.

[@Meleeman011]

i'm riding this till i'm on the streets

[@0monkeyface]

yes

[@1jamesreed]

I like your cat!

[@MynamedidntFitDonkey]

yes it is

[@gerardorojas3856]

no, it's not, have a good day :D

[@terrormapu]

It is katet..there will be jobs but employees will use AI to lower salaries a lot or it will surely stagnate..Change has happened..dont be in denial

[@Redstarcrew]

Tech is only worth it if you have a degree, preferably a IT engineer with both a bachelor and masters degree.

[@StevoTheDev]

I don't have a tech related degree, so far I'd say it's been worth it but hey that's just me 🤷‍♂️

[@HaydonRyan]

2024 blackberry what? Definitely all about separating work and home. Also if this was a video in 2024 the video would be 14 mins long

[@matten_zero]

But will all these companies need 1000+ engineers? Nope. Market is oversaturated

[@StevoTheDev]

I partly agree with this. Some companies massively overhired in recent years. However the market is not oversaturated, rather there is an experience imbalance.

[@matthewcaldwell8100]

So, what, this career path lasted 30 years? 40? That's a real solid industry to shove everyone into. I swear to GOD, people are just desperate to replicate the boom and busts of the 1800s.

[@StevoTheDev]

Did you watch the video?

[@jordixboy]

please stop talking about layoffs, they have nothing to do with AI. Most companies just overhired, nothing more...

[@alelzarterl212]

Evidence for your claim?

[@jordixboy]

@@alelzarterl212 just read the internet, most layoffs were due to US injecting lots of cash, interest rates were low, companies took more risk and over hired. Proof is easy, current employee rates are the same as before this mass layoffs, that means clearly companies over-hired during covid, people were at home spending more time and money on the internet, so companies took there chance, 1+1, nothing to do with AI.

[@Digger-Nick]

​@@alelzarterl212 Interest rates. Mass over hiring during covid, now companies are realizing they don't need them and can just outsource to another country despite having record profits. Ai also doesn't help but it's not the reason

[@iaminterestedineverything]

​@@Digger-Nickalso low interest rates + QE causing 40%+ more fiat in circulation = expensive pay increases required as this plays out. This in turn means a reduction in workforce for companies that haven't been able to increase their revenue by the same %age (or should I say preserve their revenue with respect to inflation).

[@unduloid]

Well, if I can't make money as a software engineer I can always try to make money off of my music. Oh wait, music is now being created by AI. Well, then I will just finish these ideas for novels I have been lying around! Nope. Doesn't work either, seeing how AI writes novels nowadays too. Well, looks like I'm screwed. Let's hope AI won't be taking over flipping burgers anytime soon!

[@StevoTheDev]

As someone who also tried to make money from music, I can safely say that was going to take a minor miracle to live off of, and that was before ai!

[@AAL3087]

AI won't flip burgers but embodied AI will (and I think there are solutions available that does now)... sorry... but keep going down that list.

[@icantfindausernamehe]

Working with code sucks balls.

[@rc5016]

Capitalism has achieved its goal: to make more people become developers to lower wages.

[@matten_zero]

All these jobs will be shipped to India and Mexico. Interationally the best coders are found abroad, not in the US. The hardest working technical students are in Asia. The only reason salariés were high here was because remote work hasn't been proved out and because these companies got away with running unprofitably for decades. Now everything is coming to roost.

[@StevoTheDev]

This rhetoric has been around for many years and it's still not the case. There is both pros and cons to outsourcing in general and it does not suit every company and/or product.

[@alquemir]

There is little point in getting into tech in 2024, due to ongoing layoffs because of high interest rates and the fact that most developers are being replaced by AI.

[@jj680l]

Lol devs are not being replaced by AI

[@GIGADEV690]

Your pfp proves you don't know a**

[@jesy1732]

Devs are not getting replace by AI

[@alquemir]

@@jesy1732 Yes they are

[@jesy1732]

@@alquemir I really think you dont understand how software development works. AI will replace the simple task that a software dev would have done. AI has nothing to do with layoffs, less job posting, and nor replacing software devs. You just on the hype train of AI (on the wrong side). But aye i cant change your mind, but evidence might. So do me a favor and give me the evidence based on your argument. Because I CAN kzbin.info/www/bejne/oIquqXxnmLOhj7s

[@prohibited1125]

oversaturated

[@Kestrel1971]

Not even close to being saturated. There are still massive shortages in tech and that is projected to increase by another 30% within 5 years. AI is not going to replace coders any time soon -- decades from now, possibly, not not within the foreseeable future.

[@StevoTheDev]

With experienced engineers? Hardly. There's a reason there's only exclusively senior positions available out there right now. I can speak from personal experience when I say hiring a senior/lead has been a bit of a nightmare for us recently. Loads of candidates, many of which were just not a good enough fit.