this post was submitted on 02 Jun 2025
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Every "entry level" job opening asks for five years of experience with some technology that has only existed for two years.
I got my CS degree eight years ago, and it's been gathering dust as I've been working an unrelated part-time job instead. At this rate I feel like it might be too late for me, having no real work experience at my age is something recruiters probably see as a red flag...
I have a 2 year degree in sys admin from 10 years ago. For most of that 10 years I worked as a sys admin in a smaller company where I wore many hats. I had a year of coding at uni prior to my 2 year degree, so I knew how to code. Over that 10 years, I wrote scripts and small apps to automate some of my day to day work or at least built tools to help do things.
Last year, I switched jobs and I'm kind of working part time with the dev team with a roadmap to get there full time. I'm in my mid 30s.
Basically, I just want to point out anecdotally that it's not too late to get to do the work you want, it just may be slower and in steps to get there if you can find a company to work with you. Alternatively, you could maybe get in at a start up looking for junior devs. The red type might be easier to get through there.
kinda same for bio-tech, bio related jobs. must have x, usally 2-4 years of skills. plus programs you never heard of. found out later these tend to be ghost jobs, or people they hire internally or VISA wise, and dint want to look discriminatory.
Idk, I got my entry level job with 5 years of experience. That's what internships are for when you're studying in Uni..
And I wouldn't want to hire someone who hasn't that experience. It shows a lack of drive.
you're acting as if internships are easy to get into. dont know about cs/programming ones. but other stems like bio/biotech are notirously difficult and competitive to get one, if you can even find it. so most people try to get into limited lab spaces at a uni instead, and all the internships ive seen require a very high gpa plus geared only for specific scientists.
They are. Almost all tech companies have cs internships. There's almost nothing to loose and a lot to gain.
But, again, there's loads of FOSS projects on github with tickets tickets that you can just start contributing to. That's also experience and highly valued.
Your classism is showing.
It shows a lack of ~~drive~~ access to resources that allow you to do an unpaid internship.
Internships for software are almost always paid, and compared to other disciplines, paid reasonably well. $30+/hr in Canada is fairly normal for dev/qa internships, and I've heard from several students that I've interviewed that they've made more in US companies. Some companies also offer raises for students that return for successive terms.
Who said internships are unpaid? Internships should be paid. Companies get marginal work for side projects for like 20x discount