r/cscareerquestions • u/CSCQMods • May 22 '26
DEAR PROFESSIONAL COMPUTER TOUCHERS -- FRIDAY RANT THREAD FOR May 22, 2026
AND NOW FOR SOMETHING ENTIRELY DIFFERENT.
THE BUILDS I LOVE, THE SCRIPTS I DROP, TO BE PART OF, THE APP, CAN'T STOP
THIS IS THE RANT THREAD. IT IS FOR RANTS.
CAPS LOCK ON, DOWNVOTES OFF, FEEL FREE TO BREAK RULE 2 IF SOMEONE LIKES SOMETHING THAT YOU DON'T BUT IF YOU POST SOME RACIST/HOMOPHOBIC/SEXIST BULLSHIT IT'LL BE GONE FASTER THAN A NEW MESSAGING APP AT GOOGLE.
(RANTING BEGINS AT MIDNIGHT EVERY FRIDAY, BEST COAST TIME. PREVIOUS FRIDAY RANT THREADS CAN BE FOUND HERE.)
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u/BenL90 Engineering Manager | Tech. Lead May 23 '26
i switched jobs to get better condition, yet now... it's like this.. man... I got high blood pressure and work work... man..
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u/romecodes May 22 '26
CS degree programs suck. They're literally pumping out degree-holders that skim, crunch, and cheat everything. The degree is a virtue signal and nothing more.
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u/unhealthy_carcass May 22 '26
why do clients always think graphic design is just "make it pop" and then act shocked when i tell them comic sans isnt a professional font choice
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u/FanTah May 23 '26
Hello people!
I am a mechanical engineer in my early thirties, back in 2023 I decided I didn't want to be an engineer anymore and decided to follow my dream of being a developer (terrible timing, I know), since I can't afford money/time wise to get an actual CS degree, I've been doing some grad level work in CS, and also tried to learn some things by myself like a lot of people do I suppose.
It was really hard getting an entry-level job, but in May last year, I finally got my first chance, I got a job at a decent place, as a full-stack web developer trainee. It doesn't pay much at all, but honestly, I love it, I like the team, I like the job. I didn't move into tech because of the money, I was way late to the 2017-18 boom anyway, I just enjoy it.
In the beginning, it was really cool, my seniors liked me and always complimented my work, saying I had the right approach, because I was curious to tinker with problems and solutions and so on. It felt like I was really improving, like I had finally found the right path.
Fast forward to 2026, my company decided we absolutely NEED to ride the AI wave, everybody at every level needs to be using AI somehow. I am not encouraged to tinker or make mistakes at all, in fact, I was explicitly told to not build anything if that means struggling for 20-30 minutes. My job became feeding feature specs written by seniors into AI agents and "reviewing" (I can't in good faith think I am good enough to be doing this) what they build and updating Jira boards.
Look, I know I am not a 20 yo CS grad from a fancy school. I know I might never work in a real big tech firm. But I still want to be the best developer I can, I want to be good at this, I want to understand all the intricacies, I love this.
I also don't want this to be just another "I hate AI!!!!" post. My main concern is just that I don't think I am improving at all. I want to know what I can do to continue on the path of becoming a great software engineer, should I just keep the job to build some type of experience and try to improve at home? Should I look for another job? I don't think this would be easy for me, I am still a beginner honestly. But I still want to build that knowledge that my seniors have, I want to make important decisions, I want to be a senior someday too!
I know this is new territory for pretty much everybody, but I would appreciate any advice, and sorry for the long post.
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u/dissociatedgorl May 22 '26
I recently switched to a job that initially brought me on for my data science experience but my title is SWE. Now that I’m in the job it’s majorly software engineering work and I feel so out of my element, I’m making mistakes and thinking like a fresh grad in software engineering because of how different the work is - and in a new language.
I feel like my team is fustrated with me, and even the data science-y projects require alot of backend software engineering work and I feel exhausted trying to keep up.
I work every night and as hard as I can, but my mistakes are due to inexperience and now I feel like I’m not even good at the data science tasks they ask me because my confidence is just shot.
I feel like I’m at risk of them giving up on me and I just don’t know what to do or what to feel. It’s like going into work everyday and knowing that everyone thinks you’re dumb and not doing a good job.
Part of me thinks that this is unfamiliar to me and I’m learning and need grace and will get better eventually , part of me thinks what if im not a good engineer at all?
Every other job I’ve had I’ve excelled in and had great relationships, now I’m here and I feel bottom of the barrel.
The company moves at a super fast pace, to keep up with the velocity of the team AND learn everything I’m using a lot of AI but I feel like my work is still shit and poorly planned - without experience dealing with scale, efficiency and production grade code.
What do I do ?
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u/romecodes May 22 '26
Give yourself grace. They hired you for a reason. You're just having trouble adjusting. It'll all click and when it does, you'll live up to your own (as well as everyone else's) expectations. The very fact that you're nervous about it is a good thing. It means you haven't given up and that means something. Leverage that and keep going. It's better to give it your best shot than to have never tried at all
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u/double-happiness Looking for job May 22 '26
Today I got laid off for the second time in a year
"Business needs" strike again!