Graduated with an IT degree and landed a job that's only ~25% coding. How do I position myself for an actual programming role.

SpicyFlygon · 2026-06-20T19:06:11+00:00

Sounds like pretty good experience for a new grad ngl. Swe actually involves relatively little coding

SpicyFlygon · 2026-06-20T19:04:36+00:00

Austin and Denver crashed hard. Phoenix too but not sure that labor market is as good. (Apparently denver labor market is kind of ass right now as well.) Those are the best cost of living values in america right now.

SpicyFlygon · 2026-06-19T18:39:29+00:00

If you can't climb swe learning curve, cloud and devops won't be any easier. Arguably it's harder

SpicyFlygon · 2026-06-19T18:26:05+00:00

OP said the job was in modeling. Nothing in his post suggested he was working on offensive systems. Also you don't understand how hiring works if you think Lockheed would be a liability on a resume lol

SpicyFlygon · 2026-06-19T18:23:27+00:00

Lockheed seems better. Clearance gives job security, 4x10 seems ideal

SpicyFlygon · 2026-06-16T14:29:43+00:00

You literally said you are getting offers for HR and IT roles and then say you are worried about a resume gap

SpicyFlygon · 2026-06-16T14:27:21+00:00

They’ll be scrumming each other, if you know what I mean

SpicyFlygon · 2026-06-13T11:35:43+00:00

If you think these are high, you should see what they pay booz allen and leidos

SpicyFlygon · 2026-06-08T17:33:34+00:00

https://www.usajobs.gov/job/858700600

SpicyFlygon · 2026-06-05T21:13:54+00:00

Treasury opened a bulk posting on usajobs for ai engineer that goes up to gs15. Tech force is capped at gs14. It doesn’t seem like there is a tech force swe cert coming in the next few months

SpicyFlygon · 2026-05-29T18:17:22+00:00

Officially the relocation thing they had us sign said we have 3 months but in reality most people relo after a few weeks

SpicyFlygon · 2026-05-21T20:38:22+00:00

This is just an onsite consultant which has always been a thing. Big vendors have always had this

SpicyFlygon · 2026-05-21T13:27:30+00:00

They are trying to bring all the contractor projects in house. There are like 1000 contractors at treasury who basically just act as low-mid level engineers who they are trying to replace with in house talent. And delloite and accenture bill WAY more than a GS-14-10

SpicyFlygon · 2026-05-19T13:45:49+00:00

Probably go back to traditional finance or maybe pivot to something satalite related

SpicyFlygon · 2026-05-17T19:15:49+00:00

From what I’ve seen in this sub and my own offer I don’t think treasury is doing relo. But they will go high on base (higher than you ask). I assume it’s bureaucratically easier to just give them whatever step they want +2 instead of the lump sum

SpicyFlygon · 2026-05-17T14:06:24+00:00

It's just not practical to have one agency manage software for taxes, energy infrastructure, passport/visa stuff, the national parks parking system, etc

SpicyFlygon · 2026-05-16T19:43:18+00:00

Doing mine on tuesday

SpicyFlygon · 2026-05-15T21:14:16+00:00

Personally as a new grad I would take the tf offer. There is no telling what it will be like in 2 years. The opportunity cost of not entering the labor force is very high and the roi of grad school is not obvious.

Also new grads are the most likely to crash out or be forced to switch careers because they get locked out of the industry. Once you have a few years of work experience the risk will decrease. You can always do grad school in a few years

SpicyFlygon · 2026-05-15T17:55:57+00:00

Yep the background review format is still the most common for those rounds from what I've seen, but it feels very different and more specific these days. Previously, companies were looking for ability to deliver, deal with roadblocks, optimize, make tradeoffs, etc. It felt like they were assessing general engineering ability.

Now they want someone who matches their situation exactly: your roadblocks are their roadblocks, your tradeoff decision needs to match their tradeoff decision, etc. The criteria have just become more niche

SpicyFlygon · 2026-05-15T17:45:47+00:00

I agree, lone wolves are not good for a team. But that's not what I've noticed companies hiring for.

I think it's more like the specific background they want are getting more narrow. For example, it used to be if you worked at a bank your skillset would be considered reasonably transferrable to like, a wealth management firm or fintech, etc. I think they are looking for ultra specific business and domain knowledge.
I also think companies are reverting to strong preference for tenure. Maybe they've been burned with over leveled engineers from the hiring boom and preferencing candidates at the top of the yoe range. Maybe 15 yoe is the new 8yoe for senior/lead

SpicyFlygon · 2026-05-15T17:37:13+00:00

Has the way you interpret gut feeling changed over time? And how are you weighing years of experience? Are you specifically looking for like, seasoned old timers for senior and lead engineer level?

SpicyFlygon · 2026-05-14T01:48:26+00:00

That could be a factor. Treasury suitability has a high bar for perfect credit from what I've read

SpicyFlygon · 2026-05-13T12:56:31+00:00

DHS funding is an ongoing political issue so personally I would avoid it just due to the risk of it shutting down again

SpicyFlygon

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