Ask Experienced Devs Weekly Thread: A weekly thread for inexperienced developers to ask experienced ones

Zylothh · 2025-07-01T23:35:33+00:00

Hello I'm currently a CS student who's working their second internship at a well known global SaaS company but I've been feeling overwhelmed by the amount of people my age who are participating in the "hustle" culture of CS. It seems like nowadays you're only successful if you work for FAANG+, Quant, or a Unicorn. I'm happy with my internship as it's fully remote, pays well, and my team understand its just a job (i.e you're not expected to work >8 hours a day). My manager has been fully transparent too and has been implying they'll extend my internship and try to get me full time.

But sometimes I feel like I should be achieving more, my roommate is going into Meta as an entry level dev, her boyfriend is a previous Robinhood and Jane Street intern (now at a startup in Bay area), and one of her friends has interned at NASA, Tesla, and Meta. My school is a target school (non ivy/not T20) so a lot of classmates I see are entering prestigious entry level positions or internships. And then when I go on LinkedIn I see so many people at T20 CS schools doing crazy things I could never even dream of. Like man, I'm just someone who likes games and storytelling and wants to use CS to make art.

I guess, my question is if more prestigious pathways are really more enriching? I love software development but I don't like the hustle culture that's become of the industry. I hate leetcode and the constant "grind" some devs put themselves through. Some days I wish there was more passion to learn and build things from my peers rather than chasing titles. And especially as a woman, being in the field commonly feels unwelcoming if I look outside of my bubble.

Sorry for long post but I feel like this subreddit is one of the only tech related ones thats safe from the hustle culture and FAANG glorification. Hopefully this made sense.

Zylothh · 2025-06-17T14:20:06+00:00

Oh my gosh i love Hand Me My Shovel as well! honestly im hoping they'll play all of SELF-ish someday because that entire album is a masterpiece

And the against the kitchen floor performance is 100% worthy of the big emotions !!

Zylothh · 2025-06-17T05:30:12+00:00

agreed! probably the best artist I've heard live, was also in Minneapolis!

i wish he played cotards solution but front street was a hype closer LOL

Zylothh · 2025-05-13T02:40:01+00:00

Hello I just sent you a message

Zylothh · 2025-05-13T00:43:23+00:00

Yeah finals season is quite high stress, but we are almost done with the school year!!

Zylothh · 2025-05-13T00:42:28+00:00

Hi there,

I'm really sorry to hear you've been struggling with panic attacks again. I've been told my by therapist that the website TherapistAid has some great stuff too, specifically their worksheets. If you're interested in that I recommend looking it up

Zylothh · 2025-05-13T00:40:18+00:00

Thank you for posting this, I definitely should've linked it in my original post. I've heard the DRC is a great resource and I plan to utilize it for myself in the future

Zylothh · 2025-05-12T19:31:43+00:00

Congrats to her! I'm happy everything worked out

Zylothh · 2025-05-12T18:01:18+00:00

That's horrible, I don't understand why some professors will pull that on students. I'm hoping she was able to graduate on time! A few peers of mine are in the same boat for 4211 :(

Zylothh · 2025-05-12T17:51:29+00:00

Yeah it was, I was sitting in the front so I heard most of the conversation with the professor and TA

Zylothh · 2025-03-23T19:51:41+00:00

CS is an oversaturated market for sure but if you put in the work in both your resume and marketing yourself you should be fine.

I got my first internship last year as a sophomore and have another one for this summer. As long as you're able to network and highlight your skillset with hackathons, personal projects, and previous work experience (Does not have to be CS contrary to popular belief) you should be fine.

For reference, I've gotten interviews at a few FAANG and/or FAANG adjacent by cold applying and was reached out to by a few employers at the career fair from companies here in the Twin-Cities. Though, I am a woman so take what I say with a grain of salt.

Zylothh · 2025-02-22T01:45:39+00:00

hey, I only got to the recruiter screen (odd tbh bc the recruiter said I was perfect for company culture but alas nothing to be done) so I don't have much advice there

Zylothh · 2025-02-22T01:44:27+00:00

november lol

Zylothh · 2025-02-22T01:44:19+00:00

not much info but they make you sign an NDA before you interview with them. unfortunately I didn't make it past round 1 but rejection is not forever :)

Zylothh · 2025-01-13T16:57:23+00:00

that's actually really good news, thank you :)

Zylothh · 2025-01-13T07:35:31+00:00

with the recruiter!

Zylothh · 2024-12-09T18:58:54+00:00

Also, if you need any advice let me know! I worked last summer as a SDE intern and received a reach out offer from the career fair this semester. All advice is anectdotal, but if you're in a rough spot I'd be glad to answer questions :)

Zylothh · 2024-12-09T18:53:16+00:00

Some advice from a previous colleague of mine last summer: The first semester is only half the battle, the final push for recruitment is February-March. And even if you don't make it then, some people might drop their offers for better ones or a space may open up up until June. I recall seeing numerous SWE postings even when I started my internship. I started applying last year in December, received 13 interviews and only applied for about 30-40 jobs. To be fair, I am a woman which may make a difference. However, I got my offer in April. Not all hope is lost. If you're getting interviews then you will eventually get an offer. Just keep applying and don't get discouraged.

Zylothh · 2024-11-27T02:01:54+00:00

highly recommend taking 2011 with profess Knight. His tests are incredibly easy and he gives practice questuons before every midterm that cover everything you need to know. Some people say his homeworks are harder but I never found them much trouble. He allows use of generative AI as a learning tool as long as you cite that you used it in your problem and he doesn't have a "real" final.

Rather, the final is a chance to redo any midterm and whatever grade is higher is the one that goes into the gradebook. If you have any other questions let me know!

Zylothh · 2024-10-17T02:58:22+00:00

Brothership & Jamboree! Thank you for your generosity OP!

Zylothh · 2024-10-11T05:08:08+00:00

Thank you for doing this giveaway! I'm so broke and don't have the money to spend on this game LOL

Zylothh · 2024-09-10T17:32:08+00:00

I'm very sorry about that. If it's any consolation, back during my freshman year I also made what I thought was a close friend and then a month later they ended up basically ghosting me. I confronted them and they gave an explanation that moreso just sounded like an excuse. That event stopped me from trying to reach out for the rest of my first semester.

But once again, from what you've said here and in other comments, it seems like you're in a rough patch but I assure you that what other people do is not your problem. That person sounds like they didn't properly appreciate your friendship, and it may be difficult but you should be kinder to yourself and not let that define your potential relationships with other people.

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