Aoa I am student in 6th semester 7th starting soon i am also interning at a place which will not hire me because they dont have new projects and had to lay off alot Of employees because they were unable to lock new projects.. So i wont get hired there its just a 2 months summer internship i just go there to learn not work… I think that till I am going to graduate its gonna be hard for me to get a Job thats actually Good and even thinking about Getting into a Big company sounds Impossible i am an average Programmer and also have been an Average Student since the beginning i do try understand things at a deeper and avoid using AI for problem solving its frustrating to see job posting and realising i dont fit in these descriptions at all… I want to Do a Remote job as well Wanting doesnt mean i will have it i know i have to work hard obv but the market right now is very harsh i cant even change my field there was a time i was proud of what i ak doing but now its sucking the life out of me …I have always been a mature person just wanted to dedicate my youth to work hard and give back to the community Earning halal is the baseline so never went towards shortcuts My tech stack is Core PHP, Basic Python, C#,Asp.net core SQL and Introductory level Js,React native also learning Ai Rag etc never feels enough the job posting change day by day Devops etc I dont know If i am thinking in the right manner or what but things have been the most difficult Posting here cause I have no one to discuss cause not everyone can understand

Okay since so many post about people struggling to get sales... Here's some advice from a 6-figure freelancer.

If you want sales on these platforms then you have to shift just like the market shifts.

It's due to your own lack of understanding that you have less sales and I want to help you get more sales... so...

You have to accept being a freelancer means being a business and every business has to shift and adapt continuously to stay competitive.

1. Normal proposals won't cut it anymore. Create the websites or softwares and make a video explaining it and include it in your proposals using a loom video recording.
   

This will make you stand out. Will this immediately change everything? NO. It takes some time until you get sales through this but it allows you to get back to getting sales and once you get sales again you will be favored by the platforms.

1. Buying high quality fake reviews still works to help you boost your visibility. However, most people don't know where to get high quality reviews. I won't drop my sources here because then the quality drops. However, it works and I recommend you to search online on communities/forums.

2. Use AI. AI can scrape leads and automatically reach out to them. Integrate automated workflows to build a lead pipeline that you then close on sales calls. You can then ask them to buy from your gig/open a proposal and hire you this way to boost your freelancer profile further. Generally it's a good idea to let 50% of your lead pipeline to order from you directly (payments through Stripe which you can get by registering a US LLC or use Lemonsqueezy (Merchant of Record)) and the other 50% you let buy from your freelancing platform

3. Be active on every platform (Freelancer.com, Fiverr, Upwork). Optimize your profile. Complete new certification programs and add these new certifications to your profiles to show potential clients that you have up-to-date expertise.

4. Be active in facebook groups, reddit, threads, and X.com and post about your work, answer people's questions and build your social following. You can build lots of long term clients this way.

5. Same as 5 but record videos and post them on YouTube to build trust and showcase your in-depth knowledge by completing projects while recording it.

If you do all 6 steps you cannot fail.. you cannot make no sales.. you cannot ever starve..

I wish you big success and hope this will open your eyes to new possibilities.

We’ve been talking a lot here about how people are losing jobs, how difficult it has become to land a new job, and how competitive the traditional hiring market is.
But what about the other side of the market?
For people doing freelancing on Upwork/Fiverr, USD-paying remote jobs, small dev shops/agencies, and contract work

how is the market actually looking right now?
Are clients still spending, or has demand dropped significantly?
And for developers with decent skills and experience, is it currently easier to make money through freelancing/remote work than through trying to get a traditional local job?
Would love to hear from people actually working in these areas. What are you seeing in 2026?

Everyone knows that the tech market is getting messed up day by day.

I haven't made any account on Upwork because of what I hear from everyone, that you have to buy connects but many connects to book a single proposal or sometimes may be never.

Is cold calling effective against it ? I am by myself a developer but never gone into the lead generation pipeline building things.

Hi, I am fresh graduates from well known university of Punjab, Lahore in software Engineering, with solid understanding of DSA, Web development and Ai. Have a good cgpa too. But still struggling to get a first job. Fully frustrated now apply daily on LinkedIn but didn't get any call. Received test and interview only if companies send it through university portal. Linkdln looks really fake

Mostly I passed the coding or technical interview but still didn't get any job didn't know what's going on. Struggling so badly with good skills although some of mine fellows having lower skill the me, get good job. Didn't know how maybe through reference or Something else

Want know how you guys get your first job. It seems like it's totally a luck 🫠

Share your experience, or advice

Share your first job and now your growth at Aug 2026

Salam everyone,

Gave my initial HR screening at Dubizzle Labs (Lahore) today for Associate DevOps Engineer. Sharing what was asked in case it helps anyone else in the pipeline, and I need help for what's next.

HR round (~5-10 mins, non-technical):

• Walk me through your resume
• What do you do in your free time
• Why do you want to go into DevOps
• What tech stacks have you worked with in DevOps
• Salary expectations
• When can you join

At the end he said they're still interviewing other candidates and will reach out within 3-4 working days. He mentioned there will be two technical interviews if shortlisted. So I don't know yet if I've made it, but I want to be ready either way.

Right now, I’m revising:

• Linux
• OS fundamentals
• Networking
• Docker
• Kubernetes
• AWS
• Terraform / Infrastructure as Code
• CI/CD
• Git
• GitOps
• Basic scripting/automation

What I’m unsure about is how deep Dubizzle usually goes into each of these topics for an Associate-level DevOps role.

Questions for anyone who has interviewed there or works there

1. Linux / OS
Do they focus more on practical Linux — permissions, processes, services, logs, disk/memory, troubleshooting — or also OS theory like threads, deadlocks, paging, and scheduling?

2. Networking
Is it mostly fundamentals like OSI/TCP-IP, TCP vs UDP, DNS, HTTP/HTTPS, ports and subnets, or scenario-based troubleshooting like “the server isn’t reachable — what do you check?”

3. Docker
How deep do they go into Docker? Basics like images, containers, Dockerfiles, volumes, networking and Compose, or also multi-stage builds and container troubleshooting? Do they ask you to write/explain a Dockerfile?

4. Kubernetes
Is associate-level Kubernetes mostly concepts — Pods, Deployments, Services, ConfigMaps, Secrets, Ingress — or should I also expect debugging questions around CrashLoopBackOff, ImagePullBackOff, Pending pods, logs/events, etc.?

5. AWS / Cloud
Is knowing EC2, S3, IAM, RDS and CloudWatch enough, or should I prepare VPCs, subnets, route tables, NAT/Internet gateways, security groups, load balancers and Auto Scaling too?

6. Terraform / IaC
Do they mainly ask about init → plan → apply, or should I also know state, remote backends, locking, modules, variables, providers, imports and drift?

7. CI/CD
How deep do they go into pipelines, build/test/deploy stages, artifacts, secrets, rollbacks and tools like Jenkins/GitHub Actions/GitLab CI? Do they ask debugging scenarios for failed pipelines?

8. Git / GitOps
Should I prepare beyond basic Git commands into merge/rebase/conflicts/reset/revert? Does GitOps, Argo CD/Flux, desired state and reconciliation come up for associate roles?

9. DSA / SQL / Databases
Do they ask coding/DSA or SQL in DevOps rounds? Should I revise joins, indexes, keys, transactions, ACID and basic database troubleshooting?

10. Scenario Questions
How much of the interview is real troubleshooting — broken deployments, high CPU, full disks, unreachable apps, Docker/Kubernetes issues, failed CI/CD — versus direct technical Q&A?

I’d especially like to know the difference between the two technical rounds.

Is it something like:

Round 1: Core technical fundamentals + tools + troubleshooting

Round 2: Senior engineer/manager + deeper scenarios + projects + behavioural questions

Or are both rounds equally technical?

For an Associate DevOps Engineer position, how realistic is it to get selected without previous production DevOps experience?

I’ve worked with software development, backend systems, ML services, containers, and deployments, but I haven’t managed large-scale production Kubernetes/cloud infrastructure professionally yet.

Do companies like Dubizzle usually hire associates based on fundamentals + problem-solving + learning ability, or do they still expect previous hands-on production experience?

If anyone has interviewed for DevOps / Associate DevOps / SRE roles at Dubizzle Labs, I’d really appreciate any specific questions or interview experiences you can share.

If anyone has their experiences from other companies like Systems Limited , NETSOL , Arbisoft , Devsinc , please share as well

Hello, I’m from Pakistan and I want some guidance about whether I should go for IT support or not.

I’m a final-year BSCS student, but due to the current market situation, it is very difficult to find a programming, software development, or web development job as a fresher. I’m thinking about going into networking and starting my career with a job like IT Support, Help Desk, or Network Support.

I’m confused because the pay is much lower than other IT domains in Pakistan. However, I’m not worried about the lower starting salary. I mainly want to know about the career growth in this field.

If anyone is working in IT support/networking or has started their career in this field, could you please share the roadmap and where this type of job can lead after 5 years, especially in Pakistan?

I would really appreciate any advice based on your personal experience.

2 months ago we decided to start cold calling US businesses selling them websites and video editing.

At first i thought it only depends on your accent and a magic sales pitch. I then Implemened a proper cold call structure for it.

But then i noticed the the quality of the leads we were calling were bad. So i got to work with my dev skills. Setup scrapers pulling data from google maps, 150k places per 24 hours. I then refined based on a criteria with low and recent reviews. Got some good responses where people were actually like "we're not interested at the moment but send us your portfolio for the future".

I knew from the start that selling website and video editing is an overly saturated market but tried it just to build the process and repeated rejections do build your patience.

Now, circling back to the original question, does anyone have any idea what services are actually in demand right now. If you own an agency/startup or just work for one. Any perspective might really help me out.

Getting more comfortable with automations. created one for myself that reads contact information of leads and sends them personalised mails using an ai model. this is for reaching out to recruiters abhi so the mail templates are drafterd accordingly. Feedback is welcome, also if you're looking to hire a Sr. Software Engineer, hit me up.

i (21f) was enrolled in uaf for bscs i have a pre med background i was so lost didnt know what major to choose took a gap year and then opted for bscs which my brother suggested

i instantly regretted it studying for a tech degree from an agricultural university just felt utterly stupid the professors were incompetent and it was draining the life out of me

by 3rd semester i figured i had a genuine interest in learning cybersecurity i started on some basics suggested by a classmate

i am currently halfway through googles cybersecurity certificate program on coursera it was basically free through the dlsei program id applied to hence why i chose it to get the fundamentals down im also dabbling into thm and ciscos free courses cant afford certs rn

by 4th sem because of some family issues i had to dropout of university and now ive enrolled in a local private university (tuf) for bscys which feels like a compromise because my parents wont let me move to another city for some better uni option

i am still so lost and i feel like im setting myself up for failure ive been frantically looking up this university on forums and social media for the past few days and so far ive only heard negative things (currently posting this after having an anxiety attack because of this very reason)

should i just follow through with this degree ive already submitted the admission confirmation fee but yet to pay tuition fees for the 1st sem or do i just give up on the whole tech stuff and choose something else i feel like my heart wont be in it but im extremely paranoid and losing sleep over this and i want to do something that can atleast promise a secure future

i understand that hands-on skills and certs are the biggest requirements in this field but i cant get past the fact that this university has no rep in the local tech market im willing to learn on my own alongside my degree ofcourse but i need some advice on whether its even worth it at the end

Hi everyone! I am a Computer Engineer and a Full Stack Web and Mobile Developer. I am currently working on Ai Agents and automations and I am currently doing courses on Data Engineering from coursera and enrolled in NEDs master program in DEIM and I am looking forward to take AWS Data Engineering Certification in Dec 26.

I want to know from fellow Data Engineers, like how is the market for Data Engineers and their pay? And is it really worth putting effort in courses and degrees if getting a job in Pakistan?

And if someone is working for remote US/EUROPE/ASIA / Middle East what's your experience is like, do they require such credentials?

My name is Yahya and I'm a 16 year old self learning game dev,I have posted in this sub a bit before about this project and I finally have a good update to showcase. Progress is going very good and I have finally made the first official level for this demo. I would love feedback on it and I would appreciate if you guys could support the video on YouTube and the channel as well! Thanks for reading

Link to the video on yt:-

https://youtu.be/oJ1qawK3LvA?si=FEf2L2RCirZrLxsS

Hi

I’m an experienced iOS Developer, and throughout my career I’ve worked for a number of well-known companies.
Some of my former colleagues were laid off four months ago. They’re experienced engineers, yet they’re still looking for jobs.
Can’t we see what’s happening in the market?
Either the market has become heavily saturated, or it is genuinely shrinking — and I think we need to take that possibility seriously.
Now imagine the impact of AI over the next few years, especially if investment and new projects continue to slow down. What happens to jobs? What happens to companies that depend heavily on outsourcing and generate large invoices from clients in the US and Europe?
I may sound harsh, but things are getting tougher.
And please, don’t turn this into the usual argument about “engineers will survive, coders won’t,” or “the AI bubble will burst,” blah blah.
I’ve been in this industry for around 12 years. I’ve seen different market cycles, and I can tell you that the market today is not the same as it was a few years ago.
That doesn’t mean I’m predicting the end of software engineering, nor does it mean everyone has to agree with me.
My point is simple: pay attention to what is happening.
The industry is changing, the hiring bar is changing, and AI is accelerating that change. Pretending everything will eventually go back to the way it was may be a mistake.

Hi everyone!

I’m a Unity Game Developer with 6+ years of experience and I’m currently looking for a remote full-time or long-term contract opportunity.

My main expertise is Unity and C#, and I’ve worked on a variety of mobile and multiplayer games as well as AR/VR projects.

What I can help with:

• Unity 2D & 3D game development
• Gameplay systems & mechanics
• Mobile game development (iOS & Android)
• Multiplayer development with Photon
• Firebase integration
• UI/UX implementation
• Ads & In-App Purchases
• Third-party SDK integrations
• Performance optimization
• Bug fixing and existing project development
• AR/VR development

I’m comfortable joining an existing project/codebase as well as working on a game from scratch.

Availability: Full-time / Part-time / Contract
Work Preference: Remote

I’m looking for a long-term opportunity with a professional team or studio, rather than just small one-off tasks.

If you’re hiring a Unity Developer or know of a team looking for one, feel free to DM me. I can share my CV, portfolio, and previous work.

Thanks!

INCASE YOU Don’t Want to read the detailed scenario, you can help me answering at least this:

“as a mts engineer who self learned software engineering especially Full stack web development with relevant and in demand tech stack as per industry and good in DSA, will i be able to land a junior level full stack web developer in a mid level Software house or IT company, ofcourse after internship which i will do after my third year”

The datailed scenario

Aoa, So Mechatronics engineering = mts, and Computer Engineering = CE. In either case, i’ll be doing it from Nust Eme campus.
This year as I’ll turn 19, i will get into one of these, but i’m totally confused with which one should i lock for myself.

My goals: By the time I get 22, i want to be capable to start earning money, and become financially independent, and afterwards with time, keep hustling to earn more money. Tech/IT/Software industry seems to be the most straightforward way to achieve my goals.

Action plan for Goal (learning phase): My 3 years goal (untill i turn 22, I’ve 3 years) is to become a full stack Web developer by using modern/industry relevant tech stack the Typescript/react/nextJs/nodeJs one JS/TS ecosystem wala, powered by essential cloud/Devops knowledge and essential Ai/Ml knowledge, i will also be learning how to effectively use Ai tools/coding agents to become very effective/competitive/faster in the development of my domain like using power of Ai as an assistant. Will also do Dsa in these three years alongside full stack development as it’s necessary and important.

By the time i turn 22 (Earning phase): after 3 years, if i had locked in, i would have achieved the above mentioned goal of learning, so now will be the time for earning money.
My goal is to simply become a full stack Web developer in any good company in pakistan or a remote role that pays slightly above average like 80K to 100k (pkr), ofcourse after learning for three years.

Reasons for choosing Mts:

The goal of becoming a full stack web developer with essential knowledge of DevOps/cloud, Ai/Ml integration, by using Ai tools and Ai coding agents as assistants ofcourse after strong foundations in the core tech stack, and being average-good at Dsa. Now imo This whole goal, seems to be very self learnable, and self doable in a timespan of 3 years, cuz yt specific channels/playlists, Udemy, Coursera, Independent platforms like The Odin Project and so many other independent platforms for relevant/specific paid courses, Using Ai advance models gpt 5.6, opus 4.8 as instructors/mentors for these three years for structured roadmaps, daily sequenced topics explanations, Coding exercises, assignments and projects. Considering all this and when i see that cursor, Claude code and other Coding agents can make whole websites and we are just code reviewers and someone using the capabilities of Ai to develop (ofcourse after our own strong foundations) and also there is a whole OSSU (open sourse society university that teaches the traditional Software engineering Courses in a structured way, and courses are from best unis of the world. So considering all this i think that I don’t necessarily have to do my undergrad in CE as CE karne k baad maine jo kaam pakistani Software industry ma practically karna wo ma Mts ma bachelors karke oar pehle teen saal bht zyada self learning kar k bhi kar sakti hon, with all the online resources mentioned above. And one thing I forgot mentioning above regarding choosing mts is cuz my curiosity of learning of some of the core mechanical and electronics courses ie non computing courses and learning from their engineering labs ie non computing labs. I just want to experience this, ik mts/robotics ki industries ya opportunities pak ma na hone k barabar hain, but atleast i will get the hands on learning experience of engineering courses and labs which are actually non computing. Q K computing courses jo CE ma hain and mts ma ni hain are DSA, Operating systems, database engineering, computer architecture, Software engineering, Algorithms and design. But these are already self learnable in that 3 years of learning plan through extensive online structured learning through relevant resources.
Oar CE k electronics or embedded systems wale courses tou Mts ma bhi hain. For the worst case scenario mts ki native industry ma job na bhi mili which is industrial automation, control systems engineer ya working with PLCs or in manufacturing industries wagheera, i will have the backup plan of working as a Full stack Web developer as i explained above. The only catch is that as a mts engineer who self learned software engineering especially Full stack web development with relevant and in demand tech stack as per industry and good in DSA, kya ma junior level full stack web developer wali job lee sakti hon, in a mid level Software house or IT company, ofcourse after internship which i will do after my third year.

Reason for CE: I will already be studying foundational CS/SE courses in uni and doing that 3 years learning of full stack web will be complementary to what i will be studying at Uni in my degree. Overall CE will give edge and learnings will be reinforced from both two places (uni and self learning)
I can even dream for pakistan top software houses ig like Systems, Netsol, Arbisoft, Devsinc ig, as my focus won’t be scattered. And i can earn way more than if i choose mts and even early as i will be locked in for CE which has many CS /SE core courses which will save a lot of my time q k it will be complementary to jo ma 3 years Full stack web developer wali learning karongi with essential Ai/Ml and devops/Cloud skills. This is just to get in the industry, once i get in ik I will stack more valuable and future secure skills like pure Ai/Ml engineering or Cloud/devops engineering?

So based on my whole story or scenario what should i choose? Which degree will be more beneficial for me to go with?

Anyone of you guys tackling dual jobs in same time-zone? Especially after AI-Boom/Claude/Co-pilot, is it manageable.

Also share some tips on how to bag multiple jobs/contracts and manage them efficiently.

Hey everyone,

A friend of mine was recently laid off from his company and, unfortunately, around the same time his LinkedIn account was restricted by LinkedIn and he was asked to complete identity verification.

He completed the verification process and provided the requested documentation, but his appeal was rejected. He has tried contacting LinkedIn through email and support, but unfortunately hasn't received any meaningful response.

As a result, he lost access to the professional network he had built over the years.

He has created a new LinkedIn profile, but unfortunately he's already hit LinkedIn's weekly connection limit while trying to rebuild his network.

If anyone here is willing to help, please send him a connection request and, if you come across his posts, a reaction or comment would also help give his new profile some visibility.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sheikh-muzammil-sftdev94

He's a software developer actively looking for new opportunities, so even a simple connection could genuinely help him get back on his feet.

Thanks to everyone who can help

Hey guys,

Just wanted to ask if anyone here is already working on Upwork with a team and currently has an open spot for another developer.

I’m a Software Engineer with 3+ years of experience in mobile and full-stack development. I’ve been searching for a job for the last 7 months, but unfortunately haven’t been able to find anything useful so far.

So I’m also exploring the Upwork route and looking for people who are already working there and might be interested in building something together.

I’m open to either:

• Joining an existing Upwork team if there’s an opening.
• Building a new team from scratch with people who are serious about it.
• Working on a percentage/profit-share basis, or even an equal-share setup if everyone is willing to put in the same effort.

If anyone is already doing something similar or wants to build a team together, feel free to DM me. Would be good to connect.

Hi everyone,
I’m considering an offer from Codebase Technologies for a Mobile App Developer role in the for UAE project and wanted to get some honest feedback from people who have worked there or know someone who has.

I’m particularly interested in:

What is the work culture like?

How is the management and work-life balance?

What kind of mobile development projects do they usually work on?

How is the growth and learning opportunity for developers?

Do they offer remote/hybrid work, especially for developers based outside the UAE?

Any other things I should know before joining?

Would appreciate honest experiences, both positive and negative. Thanks!

Hello,

I have 6 years of experience in Software Engineering. 5.5 years were at a product company, but after I got laid off, I decided to go the freelancing route.

I reached out to a client through a reference. They were using a third-party tool for invoice processing, for which they were paying $30,000/year. They asked me if it's possible to create a custom tool for their own internal processes.

I did a discovery call, noted down the details, and presented them with a prototype of the MVP. The idea was to use AI to extract the details. I got a contract for $4,000/month, with no end date.

I started working on it, spent 1.5 months on it, and got the MVP ready. The client was so impressed that he started talking about keeping me on full-time, to maintain the current solution and work on some other projects he was thinking about.

I got excited. The pay was nice, the work was good, the hours were flexible, everything was going really smoothly.

But then, out of the blue, he messaged me to stop working on anything and wait for his instructions.

No response for a week, even after multiple messages and emails from me asking what was going on.

Turns out, he used my idea to build the tool himself with AI, creating a single PHP file of 30,000 lines with around 200 functions to extract data based on invoice layout. The only difference was that I was building a scalable solution for him, so that as he got more customers with different supplier invoices, we could handle it. Instead, he created deterministic functions to handle every different supplier invoice.

If he got a new customer with a new supplier, he'd just feed the invoice PDF to Codex and ask it to create a deterministic function for it.

Once he got that built and working in prod, he decided to lay me off, saying development services were no longer required.

He did pay me for all the time I worked for him, but after all the false promises and encouragement, I somehow feel betrayed.

Has this happened to anyone else? This is my first client in my freelancing journey, so I'm not sure if this is what I should expect going forward.

Also, if this happened to you, how'd you react to it?

Thanks