I thought I'd share this story with you all, maybe it will give some of you a little hope or at least make you laugh a little.

I worked as a senior engineer for about 7 years at a mid-sized tech company you've probably heard of. I can't get into details, but the product was a heavily data-dependent platform, something like S3's object storage system. My job was to build and maintain its core data replication engine. For those in the field, imagine something like an eventually-consistent distributed hash table. I was the only one who understood it inside and out, because my old manager was negligent and never brought in a backup for me.

I discovered I was being paid about 15% less than the other senior engineers, so I asked for my salary to be matched with theirs. Management flatly refused. So I decided to match my effort to my pay, and I started working hours that suited me and stopped worrying about their rigid 'core hours' policy.

About six months ago, they brought in a new director. This guy fired my manager almost as soon as he arrived, so I started reporting directly to him. He called me into his new office and told me he'd heard I wasn't sticking to the 9-to-5 work schedule. I told him that was correct and explained the whole story. A few weeks later, he let me go, citing performance issues, which meant I got a severance package. When I asked why, he said that HR had flagged my timesheet for 'irregular work hours'.

I ran into an old colleague by chance a few days ago and got the latest news. It turns out that this director, and the VP who brought him in, were both fired. A huge reason for this is that they now need 8 people to do the work I was doing alone. Add my severance to that, and it's like they're paying the salaries of 9 people. And the best part? The system has become much more unstable, they've started losing major clients, and this has seriously spooked their investors.

They could have avoided all this nonsense if they had just given me that paltry 15% raise. Anyway, it's a great feeling to know that things sometimes work out the way they're supposed to. Honestly, I couldn't stop laughing when I heard.

Hi everyone,

I’m a new grad software engineer deciding between two offers and would really appreciate perspective from people a few years into their careers.

Offer A (Charles Schwab)

• Role: Software Engineer (full-stack)
• Pay: ~$88k base (nonexempt, so OT eligible) + ~10% target bonus + $5k sign on
• Location: Dallas area
• Tech: .NET, AWS, Angular (retirement software)

Offer B (Lockheed Martin)

• Role: Software Engineer (UI/GUI focused)
• Pay: ~$96k base + ~3% bonus + $5k sign-on
• Location: Virginia
• Tech: Java
• Security Clearance

What I care about (in order):

1. Long term career growth / mobility (transferable skills)
2. Exit opportunities (big tech, higher-paying roles)
3. Compensation growth over time

My current thinking:

• Fintech seems better for building modern SWE skills and keeping doors open
• Defense seems more stable, and the clearance could be valuable, but I’m worried about getting pigeonholed

Questions:

• How difficult is it to transition out of defense into mainstream tech later?
• Does Schwab experience translate well into top tier companies?
• Am I underestimating the value of a clearance early in my career?

Would really appreciate any honest advice, especially from people who’ve been in either path.

Thanks!

Background:

My husband has a BS in Computer Science and about 10 years of experience. His background includes defense, support, and most recently learning technologies. He’s currently a top performer at his company and was recently promoted.

That said, his company is following broader tech trends and pushing heavy AI integration into his role. They’ve already gone through two rounds of layoffs as part of restructuring. Even though he’s doing well, we’re increasingly concerned about the long-term stability of his career, especially seeing what’s happening across the industry.

He’s starting to feel like AI could replace a significant portion of what he does in the near future.

Our situation:

* We have a young family

* He currently works remotely and makes roughly 130k

* We value long-term stability and predictability

* I’m able and willing to increase my part time work hours if needed

Paths he’s considering:

1. Master’s in Computer Hardware / more specialized CS field

Pros:

* Potentially more resilient to AI disruption

* Higher earning potential

* Keeps him in tech where he already has experience

Cons:

* Likely in-person work / less flexibility

* Longer hours and less family time

2. Master’s in Education (teaching)

Pros:

* He’s genuinely passionate about working with kids

* Schedule would align with our children

* More stability/consistent demand

Cons:

* Significant pay cut

* Would require lifestyle/budget changes

* I would likely need to increase my workload

Question:

From a long-term perspective, which path seems more practical or “future-proof”? Are we overreacting to AI risk in tech, or is it reasonable to consider a pivot like this now?

Would especially appreciate input from people in tech or education who’ve faced similar decisions.

I submitted materials for the background check on Friday afternoon, the week before last. Now 6 full business days have passed and it's still not finished. They asked me for IDs for criminal records at first and after a few days asked for my education certificates. Everything on my resume should check out as I didn't make anything up. I understand 6 days might be normal and I'm just being paranoid, but it feels so long to me because there were 2 weekends in it 😬

Laid off, YoE around 5 years, Sde 2 , java backend developer in a global financial organisation,

Stuck where to start , lacks motivation, too negative ,feels like I am nothing , wasted around 10 days just in room not able to concentrate focus nothing

I know what to read and all but unable to do

Need guidance

For some context I am a cs senior graduating this spring. This past summer I did an internship with a fairly large(non tech) company. My internship was very general, where the program focused more on getting to know the company and gaining experience. Although I wasn’t given software engineering work, I was able to take initiative and use python and sql on some projects and do some automation for my team creating dashboards.

I received a return offer at the end of summer for a Data Analyst position, which really didn’t seem like it required any software engineering adjacent skills. Mostly excel work. It also just didn’t interest me at all since I want to do more swe related work. However it was decent compensation (~90-95k total comp) so I accepted it.

I thought It didn’t really make sense to turn it down, since I still had two semesters to keep applying for SWE positions and when it came to I could renege on the analyst position.

Long story short, the spring recruitment cycle is coming to an end and I haven’t had any luck landing any swe positions. I’m afraid that I might pigeon hole my self and make it even harder to land a swe role in the future with an already brutal job market.

Any advice on how to make the most of my situation?

Hey guys, so I’m graduating this May and need to start looking for work. Ig what I’m asking is what do I need to do to prepare for interviews in this market with ai. I have some really solid projects but I did use ai to build most of them. I also have a few internships which they also had me using AI for everything. So theoretically I feel like I’m pretty solid but technically in terms of coding my own I’m a little week but I feel like this era of ai we don’t rlly need to code much ourselves. But essentially, what should I do to prepare? Any advice would be grateful, thank you!

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Aren’t profs/lectures or even teachers are more cooked then SWE, There are more professions which are knowledge based or like depends on very predictable pattern

Aren’t they cooked fr, AI can teach any book better than any 99.99% of the profs in any uni in the world

Why the hype only for SWE in particular

Aren’t profs/lectures or even teachers are more cooked then SWE, There are more professions which are knowledge based or like depends on very predictable pattern

Aren’t they cooked fr, AI can teach any book better than any 99.99% of the profs in any uni in the world

Why the hype only for SWE in particular

Hi all, I am trying to understand a few things about how you assignments happen -

• Are assignments common during hiring nowadays? Do these happen before or after the first interview?
• Can someone use AI to do assignments, or do companies not allow it? Has anyone been caught?
• Do assignments typically get discussed during interviews?

Those who have recently interviewed, please help by answering the above questions. TIA!

I gave all the three rounds of interview for swe-III position at jpmc

Round 3 was behavioural with ED and it went really well, the ED even asked in current compensation.

ED said that HR will reach out to me next week

It’s been 3 weeks i gave the interview, there is no response from HR even on follow up email

Called HR 2-3 times after that, she picked on last one, she remembered me and said that she will get back to me by Monday

Is it a good sign ?

What should I do now ? Should I wait ?

How long can I expect to get the response ???

Please help if anyone faced the same !!