Venting cause I feel like this is a safe space.

8 Comments

1. AnonymousJuly 15,2024 at 2:56PM UTC

   College nowadays is more like a play-field equalizer than a garantee of success. Your brother is half-right. Education institutions aren't there to teach you the skills for your job, but to teach you the basics on how to reach for a deeper knowledge. College professors aren't working on other positions and keeping up with industry practices. This is why unpaid internships, predatory as they are, keep being able to select students.

   Don't beat yourself up for that, this is an education system flaw. Know that you have privilege (family in the field), and use it to inquire on what would it take to get where you were supposed to be.

   You've worked hard so far, there's no reason to get in your own head now.

2. alex summersJuly 17,2024 at 8:57PM UTC

   Really needed the push, its so overwhelming, but maybe it'll all workout

3. AnonymousJuly 15,2024 at 5:49PM UTC

   I would suggest taking a LinkedIn Learning or other inexpensive online course to get familiar with Python and possibly C++ programming languages while you job hunt. Most of your core of how programs work (loops, for/next, etc.) should already be in place. Hope this helps.

4. alex summersJuly 17,2024 at 8:58PM UTC

   I'm super familiar with them, I do a lot of LeetCode and I am learning a bunch of softwares, still doesn't feel enough

5. AnonymousJuly 15,2024 at 6:12PM UTC

   You might be framing his comments more critically than what he intended. He might not even be frustrated with you directly, it sounds like he was expecting the school to give you sound advice so that when you graduated, you'd already be ahead of the game.

   Being in tech means you are constantly upskilling, so when he says you need to learn everything, he really means keep up or your degree won't be worth the effort you put in.

   Take a deep breath, center yourself (maybe some mindfulness exercises are in order).

   Now that you have a degree, what sector/field do you want to get into? Once you have an idea, start a list of companies you want to work for and then do some research on what it takes to land a gig there.

   Does your school have a career center? It can be a valuable resource, if they do. Look at internships or projects that allow you to flex your FSD skills while you are applying for work. That might help you figure out a specialization, like taking on a few projects and realizing that you like to work on UI, then you can develop those skills further.

   It's okay to be overwhelmed. Start with some breathwork, get centered and then go from there. Stay strong, you got this!!

6. alex summersJuly 17,2024 at 9:01PM UTC

   I will take your advice to check with my school's career center, thank you for that. And mindfulness exercises are the need of the hour for me. I can feel waves of panic threatening to overtake just below the surface, and I had to take a step back to calm down. I think I'm a bit more focused now, and I'm gonna keep my head down and keep going. Thank you for you reply?

7. AnonymousJuly 16,2024 at 2:37AM UTC

   I've been out of the tech field for more than 20 years, but when I left it, six months away from learning new things, it turned one into a dinosaur, and with how the tech industry is exploding, I can only imagine that it is worse now. I like the one that suggested he was perhaps not very diplomatic in saying that you are considering going into a profession where you always have to learn something new. Getting the degree is just a start. Have you contacted your school's career center or looked at the alumni job board? All schools have them because it is in their best interest to have their graduates get good jobs after graduating; otherwise, their programs will look bad. They will also be much more diplomatic than a family member with an attitude.

8. alex summersJuly 17,2024 at 9:03PM UTC

   I've been told multiple times about consulting my career center, it's the first thing I'll do today. Took me 2 days to calm my anger towards my brother, his intentions are good, I'm just emotionally turbulent to not take it personally. Hoping it will all workout in the end.