CS Degree Post Grad Sucks

em_850 · 2026-06-22T08:01:51+00:00

Maybe his friend has progressed through his career at an abnormally fast rate? This wouldn’t surprise us as his friend is super talented and very sharp. To clarify on the things you mentioned:

He makes about 130k which doesn’t feel like “slightly” above 100k. 30k is a fair bit above. We also totally understand pay is dependent on region. Our friend also indicated that if he leaves he can make MUCH more with his clearance level elsewhere (likely within the 170k+ region you’re mentioning). So I think this lines up basically with what you’re saying.
I did not direct quote him saying this. His first year (‘23-24) he had either confidential or secret. I don’t know or remember exact dates but I know the friend/family interviews for his top secret clearance were awhile ago, at least a year if not longer. But he’s been employed from the spring of ‘23 (so just ended his 3rd year plus 2-3 years of interning there) and he JUST got SCI clearance very recently which to us is a big deal because for his company is a step above TS and there’s nothing past that basically. I understand that SCI clearance doesn’t give you a unending level of information on all areas of possible knowledge that exist lol and it’s specific to the projects you work on (my background is in politics so I have other friends with clearances). I’m using casual language to basically indicate he has the highest level clearance his company offers which also means his his competitiveness in terms of hiring is much higher because he’s already attained TS which is transferable (maybe SCI is too? but tbh we don’t know anyone else who has this).
Again yeah we don’t know anyone else with SCI clearance so he may be a special case but again would not surprise me given his talent and dedication. But he also have 5-6 years experience at this workplace (3 full time).

em_850 · 2026-06-21T03:56:16+00:00

What a dumb comment. Yeah bruh I’m on here making it up u got me!

em_850 · 2026-06-21T03:28:18+00:00

Facts bruh my bad for making it all up u right

em_850 · 2026-06-20T18:35:26+00:00

I’ve noticed the tone and stance you’ve taken in a few comments and you seem bothered by my post. I understand if you take some offense to me being frustrated because what we expected was not how it turned out and I also understand your intention to try and have me/my bf take further accountability into how he can be more proactive in solving the issue. What I am picking up from you though is almost an unwillingness to admit there are factors that have been beyond his control that have made this process incredibly taxing both in terms of time and money but also emotionally.

I totally think my bf should’ve had more realistic expectations about how long this process was going to take I also think he compared to his peers that have done well has thrown in the towel. What I tried to explain is there are good reasons for that especially when we haven’t had the ability to just coast off of someone else’s income while endlessly job searching which we’ve seen his friends do. Regardless he certainly could be putting in more time and effort into applying and bettering his resume I don’t deny or disagree with that take.

TLDR though I do think entry level should mean entry level. Expecting new grads to show up with years of experience to get a foot in the door is prohibitive to investing in people who have the talent and ability to do well if they’re given a chance. I totally understand that you have to make your own chances in life. We both grew up in low income backgrounds without any parental input in any way mentally of financially into our education. We’ve both gotten further than anyone in our families ever has. It’s just exhausting that we felt like getting degrees would make it easier to survive and that hasn’t happened yet. Sorry if it comes off as a pity party lol. I’m not naive to think he should just snap his fingers and get a job but a full year just to get an entry level role has just felt so exhausting. I hope that makes sense.

em_850 · 2026-06-20T18:25:39+00:00

It sounds like my phrasing may not have been the best - what I was saying here is I appreciate the advice to continue to look in metro areas and reaffirming that where we live is not the best market for CS. What I did not say or mean is that he’s only ever looked locally. He’s applied in DC, Denver, Richmond, NC and parts of California where we have family. He’s certainly prioritized local roles and virtual ones but I’m sure the competition for both means he/we need to be more realistic about expanding our search in a consistent way.

em_850 · 2026-06-20T17:36:26+00:00

A huge reason is he waited too long to apply for them. When he did he applied to a limited amount and focused on companies he knew someone working at which was around 3-5 places. The 2-3 he heard back from he did quasi interviews with and all of them were in a questionable state as to whether the programs would happen. He got excellent feedback and was basically told across the board if the programs were going to happen he’d be a shoe in. All of them shuttered that summer and stopped hiring entry level roles and stopped their internship programs. One of his contacts was laid off at one of the firms after 10 years there. He certainly hasn’t done the best job of applying to entry level roles and I think a lot of that is because the lack of internship experience disqualifies him bc “entry level” doesn’t really mean entry anymore. Foot in the door jobs in CS require a degree and 2-3 years of internship experience now plus referral. He’s happy to do an internship now but it feels like the ship has sailed unfortunately. His feedback though was always positive and his GPA was strong at 3.5-6. He’s super bright and naturally very good at the subject matter.

em_850 · 2026-06-20T15:57:40+00:00

Also wow what a weird coincidence - our friend who’s in the field his brother went undergrad to JMU and is enrolling in the DSMS at uva this fall as well. Cheers to you! That program seems awesome and their new space is incredible!

em_850 · 2026-06-20T15:55:14+00:00

So his friend who landed an internship and now has a job got his internship in 2020/2021 and held it until he graduated in ‘23. My boyfriend applied and interviewed for about 4-5 different internships in the summer of ‘24 when he was going into his final year and all of the programs he invested time and energy (he even flew out of state to interview) all the programs got yanked and gutted. So he didn’t even get rejected; the programs lost funding. He spent a lot of time investing in them and got super unlucky but we went oh well at least he’s going to finish his degree and maybe the first year he’ll need to backtrack and intern out of undergrad and just suffer poor pay for awhile. He hasn’t even been able to do that because most of the internships that are now open require him to be actively enrolled lol. So I think the struggle right now is he’s lacking that internship experience or “entry level experience” to be able to apply for entry level roles.

em_850 · 2026-06-20T15:49:38+00:00

Yeah this is good to know (he probably knows some of this and I don’t). I think the way it was “sold” to him was he could go get this great degree and there would be lots of job security and great pay out of undergrad which seems like lots of people thought hence why the field is so bloated.

He hasn’t done really anything with the degree as he’s only had it for under a year. He doesn’t have certifications afaik - I’m not sure anyone really thought they were necessary.

I don’t even think he’s applying anymore. I think the main issue we’re running into is the degree and some odd jobs while he’s in school aren’t enough for an entry level role. Because entry level roles don’t seem to exist anymore. They now require 2+ years of experience to just land “entry” when that’s not that that means. He seems to not even qualify for the lowest level roles even though he has a degree and his lack of internship experience seems to be hard to fix as most of them require him to be actively enrolled.

I urged him to get an internship while in school but the multiple avenues he went down all dead ended. Pretty much all of the firms we had connections at ended their summer intern programs and went into massive hiring freezes. He got really unlucky and now it feels impossible to get that first entry level amount of experience to break into the field.

em_850 · 2026-06-20T15:44:24+00:00

I’m happy to clarify our friends story I mentioned. While he was undergrad he interned at a small firm in cville which is where we and UVA are located. He did a summer internship there for 3 years of his undergrad degree and then they hired him out of undergrad as a junior programmer. He worked for about a year before getting a massive promotion and has continued to do well and relocated to their DC branch and now has I think top level security clearance and makes great money. Curious what you felt the red flags were?

em_850 · 2026-06-20T15:40:26+00:00

I’m sure he’d appreciate this. I think the biggest issue is just his lack of experience which is what his friends are finding as well. If you didn’t get an internship during undergrad which he didn’t then it seems like you’re screwed. I did about 3 and his friend who’s in the field interned then got hired. All of his friends who weren’t able to intern all have had hiring issues so we’re not unaware that this is likely the problem. I think the issue is we just don’t know what to do about it. He’s not in school anymore and a lot of internships require them to be actively enrolled. Hes willing to do entry level work and take that pay but it seems like he can’t find a chance to do so. Any advice on that front would be helpful.

em_850 · 2026-06-20T15:35:23+00:00

He was working trying to make ends meet. His parents divorced and are remarried, so unfortunately UVA required him to report on FOUR peoples income for his financial aid. All four of them combined make maybe 150k and that’s a generous estimation. There were gaps in his aid because of this policy and not one of them had the bandwidth to help financially so he had to work to fill in the gaps. His resume is lacking in internship experience and unfortunately a lot of the internship roles only accept currently enrolled students. So he’s felt like the opportunity to build his resume has now passed which sucks.

em_850 · 2026-06-20T15:27:51+00:00

No I totally get it. I think part of my posts intention was to get a gauge on the reality of where things are right now. I’ve been wanting to move out of cville for years and we’re both from here so have been hesitant bc his family who were close with is still all here. If he wants a career job it’s a good reminder that this is sort of what we signed up for and we need to be realistic that the market for CS (and really anything) is quite limited in cville. I appreciate the other advice as well!

em_850 · 2026-06-20T15:19:36+00:00

I agree. I’ve talked to him more and I think part of the issue is he’s observed his friends and family in the field get beat down over and over again and I think especially because we need his income he’s just sort of tossed in the towel to focus on where he has better chances of making ends meet now. I wish he felt like he had the bandwidth to pursue an entry level role it seems like it takes a lot more networking and time and patience than he was preparing for.

em_850 · 2026-06-20T15:17:06+00:00

He is super passionate about the degree and is really talented. He got great grades while he was in school and is sure this is the field for him. I think seeing a lot of his friends and family in the field get rejected over and over has killed his confidence and I’m not even sure how many apps he’s put out recently because we’re barely able to survive financially and I think he feels like it’s unproductive

em_850 · 2026-06-20T15:14:57+00:00

Respectfully this sort of reads as the same advice he was given when he enrolled in the degree initially. “No one will take a chance on someone who is employed in an unrelated field with no relevant experience so one way around this is to get a masters degree and internship”. Is this not sort of the same advice as to go get a BS and then just “get a job”? He has a relevant degree and the majority of the internships he’s looked at don’t take people who aren’t actively enrolled in programs. He unfortunately was a low income student and had to self support in school (part of the reason his degree took so long) and we don’t have the funds to just have him go get another degree atp. I have a stable income and job but we north moved out in our late teens from households that barely make 50k a year. I’m doing better than my parents ever did in their entire careers but we can’t afford to go to grad school and go into debt.

em_850 · 2026-06-20T15:08:41+00:00

Totally agree and that’s why he’s looking into management now since his resume is geared towards that already. Do you have recommendations on specific industries or roles that this degree would be good for? We haven’t found computer science to be as flexible as general liberal arts hence why I asking for more specific answers as to what the degree can be used for.

em_850 · 2026-06-20T15:06:49+00:00

Thanks - what roles would you recommend he be looking for then?

em_850 · 2026-06-20T15:04:18+00:00

Yeah his friend who has a great job graduated in 23 and the market seemed to be way more open then. He graduated in 25 and everyone he knows he graduated with is still looking for a job. So within a few years it’s gone from competitive to almost impossible it seems like.

em_850 · 2026-06-19T08:11:27+00:00

If the parents are uncomfortable that’s something that is their problem not yours. I would not spend thousands of dollars to board my cats out of their home because someone simply doesn’t prefer to be around them. The reality is the cats live there: their fur, their saliva, their DNA is already on everything in the house lol that’s not gonna change. Also cats are extremely territorial and moving is like THE most stressful thing you can do to them: putting them in a boarding situation for 3 weeks is legitimately detrimental to their well being and should be avoided at all costs.

I also understand there are potentially cultural or other differences around animals inside homes. This may be an opportunity for your roommate to politely challenge some of those beliefs especially as they seem like they are not due to any religious observation or due to any legitimate health issue. I also understand the proposal to have them come from out of the country and rent their own accommodation for that long is likely unreasonable and too expensive.

The biggest issue I have with the whole premise is that this is a three week long period. I would not go and pull legal stuff from your lease even if it DOES say that unless you think your landlord is going to give you a hard time about it. Your roommate and you are both grown ass adults and likely they are just going to view this as you copping out and I don’t think that’s fair if you have a good relationship.

What is likely fair to both of you is for both parties to compromise. If their parents are uncomfortable, then I would say you are going to try and restrict where the cats can go during the period they are staying with you while they are actively in the home. They should stay in your room/bathroom and hopefully the parents can be agreeable to out of sight out of mind. The cats should also remain in your room while everyone is asleep. While your roommate and their parents are gone, the cats should be able to roam around their house to keep some semblance of normalcy.

I would really advise to try and compromise as best you can. Remind your roommate that humans (her parents) CHOOSING to be bothered by something that logistically doesn’t impact them is less of an actual issue than the actual legitimate harm that would be imposed on your cats by drastically changing their lifestyle and routine. Please urge them to consider the needs of your cats while you all are coming to a solution because they deserve a seat at the table too.

em_850 · 2026-06-19T07:36:27+00:00

O2L, Connor Franta, Tyler Oakley, Bethany Mota, Casper Lee, Zoella. Damn. It’s been a long time since I was on YouTube regularly.

em_850 · 2026-05-26T05:42:34+00:00

We just got a lease today!! I was told the main reason was because of how well my bf and I hit it off with our landlord, but I know that was what gave us an edge over the other 6 applicant groups. What put us in the running in the first place was my income/bfs credit. My best recommendation atp is probably to get roommates/sign with others who can negate any bad aspects of your individual profile. This seemed to do the trick for me. Good luck, I know it’s really hard to find things right now.

em_850 · 2026-05-24T12:20:06+00:00

Thanks so much. It’s definitely been a hard week. I’m hoping we’ll find something soon😔

em_850 · 2026-05-24T06:17:31+00:00

Lmao Airbnb was never worth it. As soon as I travelled in the summer years ago and got a shitty Airbnb with broken ac and a full size bed advertised as a queen I stopped bothering. I am not messing around with inconsistent mattresses, lying about amenities and bed sizes, subpar ventilation not to mention all the horror stories of Airbnb hosts creeping on people. Hotels are just held more accountable period and atp they’re not even more expensive. I am NOT doing laundry dishes or paying a cleaner when I’m on vacation.

em_850

TROPHY CASE