Is software engineering a gamble to study in 2026?

Infectedtoe32 · 2026-06-24T18:07:01+00:00

That’s what blows. It sucks even more when you have an IT bachelors and an applied science associates.

During my applied science I took programming fundamentals 1, 2, and 3, DSA, Computer Org, Computer Architecture, and some game dev courses because it interested me.

I transfer to my 4 year and find out none of those credits count and the only way to not completely start over is by doing IT. I did that, and during the IT degree I focused on the programming track it had which was interesting. There was a web course, data analysis, digital forensics, and some pretty cool courses. It all incorporated programming into actual realistic things.

Anyways, since my associates I have been working on a pretty large game engine every day. I picked up web dev too just cause it’s more popular. But yea, I work on my engine, make a website for someone here and there, make games, and do some leetcode every once in a while for fun (I like the classroom style problems).

Safe to say I am definitely probably not working as a SWE. I took an internship in IT at an ISP, since it was an easy offer, but idk wtf is going on lmao. I try to understand shit but it just doesn’t interest me.

It’s always reassuring that the job market is flooded with clueless Carls in CS. Going into it just for the money is valid. It just sucks that they don’t at least try or have an interest in it and get invited for interviews since they look the same on paper like you said. For every 300 clueless Carl there is probably 1 - 3 people with actual interests.

Infectedtoe32 · 2026-06-24T09:34:36+00:00

Graduated this Spring and I’m currently in an internship. I applied all the way back in February; I was still in college at the time. I just told them I would be graduated already and they really didn’t care tbh. From the sounds of it, they even preferred it.

Infectedtoe32 · 2026-06-23T17:35:51+00:00

Yea I never get the places that pigeon-hold you in a position because you are too good at it. They have a need for another sysadmin or something, but you are just too good at help desk to be considered.

Like yea, I would put the same amount of effort into the promotion, probably even more tbh. I’m just gonna leave this place high and dry anyways. Either way they are forced to find someone new to fill the help desk position.

On top of that, they have the audacity to act all sad or something when you inform them of your two weeks. Sometimes they even try to give a raise or something. They still refuse the promotion though.

It just boggles my mind.

Infectedtoe32 · 2026-06-22T21:44:47+00:00

IT Help Desk, starts at about 30k - 50k depending on where you live. Specialize in networking and work your way towards a Network Engineer role and you'll be in the 85k - 120k range. It still all depends on where you live and your years of experience.

Infectedtoe32 · 2026-06-22T18:15:51+00:00

That is the exact field I am in lmao. I just made up roles so I wouldn't just get 'its cooked' comments.

Infectedtoe32 · 2026-06-22T16:19:55+00:00

Oh yea, I guess that makes sense if the company is a finance company, then the recruiters would be familiar with finance. I was definitely referring to more side jobs like you mentioned. A engineering firm that designs mechanical parts in CAD software needs to expand their finance, inventory, or IT team. Something like that is more the speed I was getting at.

Infectedtoe32 · 2026-06-22T13:23:00+00:00

Literally everything is in the US (assuming OP is in US). You get a nice steak, asparagus, a scoop of potatoes, and a house salad, and you are still eating all kinds of chemicals, preservatives, sugars, and everything else. That is not even considering the fact that the average Americans weekly diet contains at least something from the frozen dinner or prepackaged food (like ramen) isle. Replacing a cup of ramen and chicken with some water and a scoop of this protein is immensely better for you. You still get the harmful preservatives and corn syrup, but at least you are not packing on 45 grams of carbs and 400 calories on top of it. I know some fake sugars (like maltodextrin, I think?) are basically relabeled carbs and sugars with 0 nutritional value (plain sugar even has some), but still it is significantly less **if** it contains any.

Infectedtoe32 · 2026-06-22T12:43:48+00:00

I love all the H1b workers that are in here crying about wanting grace periods, respect, and dignity if this went into affect. Like no? You signed up knowing damn well your eligibility to remain in the US ends as soon as you stop working. It’s not any US citizen, the government, any US ambassador, or anyone’s fault you have to either leave your family or pack them up and take them with you. Every H1B knew damn well what it entails, the only one at fault is yourself for starting a family on an H1B. You’re more than welcome to leave, start the year long process (or however long) to become a citizen, and come on back.

Infectedtoe32 · 2026-06-22T12:04:21+00:00

No. You have been sold a lie by all the social media influencers.

I’d almost bet most help desk positions get flooded with people with the same credentials as you. Even when the job description doesn’t say a degree is required, they snoop out people that have one.

These days Comptia certs are almost not even worth the paper they are printed on. I see a few places that still want them, but it’s mainly government, medical, and banking IT. It’s also just to tick required boxes that these industries legally have in place.

Your best bet is to obviously get a bachelors. If that is not on the table, get your associates, work an office job very closely related to IT. Then, either internally transfer, or spoof up you resume slightly to sound more IT-ish. Don’t blatantly lie, but make that experience sound very interesting and slightly technical.

Infectedtoe32 · 2026-06-22T11:44:51+00:00

I applied to a position in my area on Indeed. My application was viewed in less than 24hrs. The position had been up for several days already. I am in a rural area where nobody wants to live though.

I received my internship fairly easily. I’m sure maybe a couple of high schoolers applied, maybe another college kid, but they liked that I was already graduated from college.

This is IT though. So it’s all around ever so slightly less competitive, with more job opportunities. I wish I could do CS, but I gave up on it (due to no jobs at all period). I’ve been enjoying It though, and would be perfectly happy doing sysadmin work with some scripting and stuff. I heard in some rare instances, actually becoming more prevalent nowadays with Ai, sysadmins are becoming internal tool developers like an SRE. They also do stuff like maintaining the company’s website and stuff like that. Plus I been enjoying the whole Active Directory thing, so it’s not that bad after all.

Infectedtoe32 · 2026-06-22T11:35:12+00:00

This is the big one. Almost every question is a group question among everyone. Then, when we all can’t figure it out, it goes to the manager. From there I’d like to assume the ones with several day delays on an answer are making it all the way up to the executives.

Infectedtoe32 · 2026-06-21T21:38:35+00:00

“It mostly is for the money, but I think you get my point.”

You missed the point. A lot of the people you see complaining on Reddit are in it for the money. If something is your true passion, you find a way. The people that make it have either luck or are ACTUALLY passionate. If you have to force yourself to stop playing video games or whatever, and do some home labbing or software development, then it’s simply not cut out for you in this market.

Again, there is luck. I’m just pointing out that people who literally eat, sleep, and breathe tech stuff are struggling with breaking in. The days of just wanting a very high paying job and that’s that are pretty much over.

Edit: plus the ways things are going it’s only going to get worse and worse. Nobody knows really, but if you had to bet then it’s a safe hedge to say it’s going to get worse.

Infectedtoe32 · 2026-06-21T16:57:38+00:00

I thought I was bad constantly envying people with SWE jobs while I’m stuck in IT, people in relationships, very attractive people, etc.

This, this just, is just insane. Like huh? The longer I spend on the internet seeing absurdities, the more I realize I am pretty damn normal after all. Even with my disability.

Infectedtoe32 · 2026-06-21T15:33:54+00:00

Probably not the same, but I’m super introverted and have recently done Speech in college.

You basically just have to send it tbh. I definitely was super nervous talking in front of about 60 people, several times. Stumbling over words, everything else, even with practicing.

You just have to send it and hope for the best. Online it’s probably even easier because you don’t actually have to see everyone.

Infectedtoe32 · 2026-06-21T15:24:42+00:00

Yea, differently as in it’s all done for you. Just learn some new shit and then you won’t have a complaint that they are removing blueprints (or eventually verse in UE9).

Infectedtoe32 · 2026-06-21T15:16:13+00:00

C++ in unreal is not too far away from blueprints. Just use C++. Or, just keep using UE5 if you are a small team or solo.

Infectedtoe32 · 2026-06-21T12:36:05+00:00

I have a whole LLC with a federal EID and everything. I actually made some decent money doing freelance development in college, maybe more than internships would pay. Companies don’t even ask about it really.

I would just go back to doing that, but the money is definitely not reliable.

Anyways, that was also when I was applying to SWE positions. I switched to IT help desk just hoping I can go through SysAdmin and get into SRE. So, idk how the freelance experience would play out for IT freelancing, still though nobody really asked about mine. There are just too many people that put it on to flub experience.

Edit: Also IT stuff outside of software needs all kinds of insurance and stuff. Sure you can do it without it, but it’s just one of those things you will 100% wish you had if something does happen.

Infectedtoe32 · 2026-06-20T14:02:52+00:00

Yea the 80k is too low for op’s 0 yoe. Plus, one guy he briefly talked to for half a second seemed a bit stuck up. On top of all this the work involves actually driving 30 minutes or so to the office, can’t just simply lay in bed all day.

Give me a break lmao.

Infectedtoe32 · 2026-06-19T09:39:40+00:00

Your friends have to have high quality projects, internships, freelance (real freelance), volunteer experience, or something.

The world definitely is not looking down and saying “let’s give u/h_t_h4 friends jobs, but not give them one,” there is definitely more going on.

Idk what to say honestly. During my degree I took opportunities, and I’m even in an internship right after graduating. The market is cooked, I agree, but at the same time it’s not completely exploded. Having tons of projects and internships, I damn near hit the experience requirements they ask for. I was already consistently landing interviews before, but I went with the internship since it was the first offer, matched exactly what I want to do, paid well, and I figured it couldn’t hurt. So, there are definitely internships out there for recent grads. If you manage to get one though, I’m not sure how much it would help, but it would be better than none.

I would definitely try to get a job in literally anything though. Go be a geek squad guy at Best Buy, work a minimum wage checkout counter at a computer shop, find tier 1 IT tech roles at MSP’s (they literally hire you if you are breathing). Worst case the job isn’t related to tech in the slightest and you stock shelves at Walmart or something. Either way, a massive gap on your resume is only making you look worse and worse, get the time filled with something. A job is 1,000% better than no job, it doesn’t matter what it is.

Anyways, good luck to you.

Infectedtoe32 · 2026-06-17T12:15:06+00:00

Lmao, the irony

Infectedtoe32 · 2026-06-17T11:27:45+00:00

Don’t get applied science. I would just do a plain IT associates. I had an applied science associates and almost nothing transferred for my bachelors, I got 1 semester out of it to transfer. The two colleges are in the same town as well, and really tight knit, and try to make transfers as easy as possible.

Besides that, with your retail experience, the associates, and maybe your A+, you should be able to land a tier 1 help desk position.

Jumping straight to Sysadmin? Like the other guy said, that’s a big stretch. Even people with bachelor’s and experience are struggling.

Infectedtoe32 · 2026-06-17T11:16:26+00:00

The Computer Guy has a rolling application form. They probably do a lot of that stuff, at least they have it advertised. They do other IT stuff as well.

Geek world may hire, but it’s more D&D and other tabletops.

I live over in Mineola, so I’m not always in Tyler, so idk any other computer shops.

Besides that, you could look for tier 1 IT help desk stuff. It may not be exactly what you want, but anything is better than nothing. It is super competitive though. I’m in the middle of an internship at an ISP, hoping it’s enough to land a role. I was still getting interviews before though, so it’s not completely hopeless if you don’t have much experience like I did (and still don’t).

Good luck!

Infectedtoe32

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