It has been an uphill battle for me to find my next Software Engineering role. Its been 3 years since I have had full time work. I have done a few contract jobs but nothing substantial.
I have applied to thousands of jobs and many times have despaired at my current situation. The job market is just a lot different to when I was first in the industry, I got my first Software Engineering role relatively quickly after college and I was always told my next job after that would be easy to get because I now had professional experience under my belt. Little did I know it would be the exact opposite. I am in quite the predicament right now. Too skilled to get an internship, not skilled enough for so called “entry level” roles.
I have been through many interviews and gotten to the final rounds, only to be beaten by people with masters degrees and more experience or me. Newer people to the industry are competing with people with 5+ years experience for the same roles. I do not blame any company for wanting to hire the person with more experience, that is just how the world works. I have tried interviewing for software related roles like IT Technicians as well, but unfortunately I bring somewhat of a Software Developers baggage. I think about things in terms of how to build software systems and how to support them rather then dealing with the wires underneath.
There are many times when I lose sight of being able to provide for myself well again. I think that I will be stuck working at the job I am right now. Although it pays the bills, it does not support my long term goals. Its hard to keep on coding and learning when you are constantly shunned by an industry that cares so little about you. It seems like the industry had moved on without me. So many new tools and systems are overwhelming at times.
But I have hope. I am studying for my AWS Developer Associate certification and hoping to have it by the end of the summer. All I can do is keep working, maybe join an online developer community to help me get kick started. Although I am not sure where I will land in terms of a Software Engineering role, I am still hopeful that my efforts will pay off.
The hardest part for me is just finding something to build that is worth making. I have lots of repositories that will never be deployed simply because they are just working on a skill but never really applying it. I like ideas that are fully thought out and also ones that I feel are worth making. Software Engineering used to be such a niche job, but now everyone knows how to code. The difference now is can you apply these skills in a business context and communicate these ideas effectively. Making projects with this in mind is difficult, although I have lots of new ideas to build out!
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