Ask HN: How to find a job that uses my CS training | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: How to find a job that uses my CS training

5 pointsharimau7777 comments

I have a master's degree in CS; and for the last ten years I have been working in web development. I've become increasingly frustrated that my work doesn't use anything that I learned in college. I'm also frustrated that I'm discouraged from using anything beyond basic programming techniques because those in charge want my code to be easily understood by developers with little formal training.

I'm considering simply leaving CS, but I'd like to take one more shot at finding work that I care about. However, I'm not sure where to start. Since my work experience is in web development I don't have contacts in other areas of CS. I have tried looking at job boards like Indeed; however, I'm not sure how to cut through the flood of listings that are just looking for people to churn out code.

I've also considered getting a job at something like a think tank or PAC working in an area that I care about. However, I haven't found openings for people with CS backgrounds.

"I've become increasingly frustrated that my work doesn't use anything that I learned in college"

Most things that you learn in college don't have real world applications. College courses are supposed to help you with fundamentals and theory and that's exactly what the point of a degree is. I think you are being overly idealistic with this type of thinking.

Instead, focus on whether you like web development or not. If web development is what you don't like, then sure change something. But don't tie it to your CS degree because a degree does not do anything in the real world except getting your foot in the door.

You could try looking for research software engineer positions, where you would develop software alongside/supporting researchers and scientists. This could be very stimulating if you are interested in what they are researching

Seconded, but be prepared for a pay cut.

https://society-rse.org/

https://us-rse.org/

Why not do computer science research as a hobby and with publicly available blogposts while having a day job as a web developer?

Big tech.

Practice leetcode hards and read the books on teachyourselfcs.com to prepare for the interview

Would they actually use much CS knowledge in a "big tech" role? Or would they just use it to get the job?

web development…

Yeah, about that. Expect to be disappointed.

Sadly, web development (for employment) is largely toxic. Next to nobody doing that work understands the work they do. You have heard all the names for this: imposter syndrome, Dunning-Kruger, expert beginner, and so on.

Think about it from the employer’s perspective. There is no formal training for web development. That’s why bootcamps and giant frameworks are ubiquitous. They discount the price of training by shooting less prepared people into the workforce. In most cases that is good enough when all the employer really needs (90% use case) is bodies in seats to put text on screen for basic CRUD apps. They want more (accessibility, security, performance, durability) but understand those things are not essential (until you are sued) cost much more.

The result is many people with low confidence just trying to retain their employment or hopping between employers to drive up the cost of employment. In some cases there will be people professing their expertise but usually it’s bullshit that is clear to the employer except for small employers who cannot tell.

If you want to do more consider what that means for your peers who cannot do more. They will push back out of fear because either they lack the confidence to be their in the first place or they are lying about how awesome they are and fear being exposed.

I was in that line of work myself for 15 years. I will never go back for less $500,000. One third of that will pay for my experience and ability to deliver while the rest pays for dealing with the institutional failures of that line of work. Instead I now do enterprise service management for a government entity where I get to work with excellent people and great managers.

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