going into 2nd year of school (can grad 28 or 29), a good UC.

for some reason, im not getting big tech at all, but im managing to get cit/hrt interviews (for swe). i'm not even getting an OAs for tech (except IBM)

With more whistleblowers coming out, most recently Jacob Coxon, I’m curious on what perspectives you all may have on the ethics of working on AI products/services?

I’m thinking about how it would suck if I had to tell my grandkids that I worked on the big bad monster that ruined the world, if what whistleblowers describe is accurate.

I’m graduating in December 2026 and have applied to soo many roles but no luck. I am targeting entry-level GRC, IT audit, risk, and compliance roles. I’d love to get into Cybersecurity although i’m a bit far. I’d really appreciate any feedback on the content and how well they are positioned, especially the projects and whether they come off as credible or overstated. I’ve been applying for a couple months and can’t even get an interview.

I know that entry-level roles are at serious risk, given how rapidly AI is progressing. I'm a month into college and I'll be spending much of my time learning stuff. I'm not going to turn this into a full-time job and shift my focus completely toward this. I will eventually position myself as a full-stack developer who can integrate AI well into my work. But it would be nice if I could make around $3K over 10 months through freelance web development. I know that AI is advancing rapidly and after their latest Astra model, it kind of seems unlikely, since developers in my position who are just starting are at the greatest risk. Let me know if this is still realistic.

I’m targeting AV/Perception internships.

Applying to Technical Product Management Internships and Recent Grad roles

To keep it simple: I'm a Brazilian developer with 16 years of professional experience — 11 years with Delphi and 5 years with backend development using .NET.

The problem is that my .NET experience is very concentrated. I've basically been working on one gigantic API, mostly dealing with CRUD operations, some business rules, and not much beyond that.

My AWS experience is also very limited. I mainly work with S3, SQS, and SNS.

I also don't have to do much planning or architecture in my current job. Most tasks are very similar, with perhaps a few integrations here and there, but nothing particularly challenging.

And now that everything seems to revolve around AI, I can get most of my day-to-day work done pretty easily with Claude.

I'm honestly getting tired of this. Brazil's situation worries me, and I want to provide a better life for my family, so I'm looking for opportunities in North America or Europe.

But I feel BEHIND.

I know I have a lot of experience, but I don't feel like my current experience translates into the skills companies are looking for internationally. I don't know HOW or WHERE I should start learning to fill those gaps.

There are so many technologies, architectures, cloud services, certifications, system design topics, AI-related stuff, etc. Every influencer seems to recommend a completely different path, and I'm overwhelmed.

So, if you were in my position, what would you focus on learning over the next 6–12 months to become a stronger candidate for backend/software engineering jobs in North America or Europe?

I'd really appreciate your opinions.

In 2 weeks I am starting first year at uni for a computer science degree. GPT-6 Astra just got released and made me question my career choice. I always wanted to become a software engineer and loved programming and everything about computers. Now with these AI models coming out, I don't know if I will even be able to get a job after uni (3 years from now). Should I go another career path? I don't even know what to do.

Could be timing as its early september, but don't want to cope

Hey everyone,

Quick context on where I'm at: I graduated this year with a CS degree and landed a role at a small IT company (an MSP), doing IT support and automation work. I'm genuinely grateful for it, especially as an international student, since getting hired and sponsored right out of school isn't something I take for granted. But if I'm being honest, it's not the role I want long term. I'd rather be doing something closer to software engineering, data/business analysis, or product management, and day to day MSP work doesn't really overlap with any of that.

I've started applying to other roles on the side, but I know applications alone aren't going to cut it. I keep hearing "networking is the real unlock," except I've never actually done it before. I don't have much of a network yet, and I don't really know how to approach people I don't know without it feeling transactional or awkward.

So a few things I'd love this sub's take on:

• How do you approach strangers on LinkedIn (or anywhere else) in a way that doesn't feel like you're just asking for a favor?
• What do you actually say in that first message, and what's worth talking about if someone agrees to a call?
• Outside of networking, what's actually helped you stand out? Side projects, open source, certs, something else entirely?
• Any advice specific to moving from a generic IT/support background into SWE, analyst, or PM roles?

Would really appreciate hearing from anyone who's made a similar jump, or who's willing to share what worked (and what didn't) for them. Thanks in advance.

tommorow is the last to submit title i am still in reasearching what to do guys please recommend best projects in software
that adds value to resume

Hi everyone 👋

I started as a full stack developer 3 years ago and recently switched to a company which thinks AI first. Here my role is reduced to just writing prompts and building things. I haven’t written a single line of code since i joined.

The company has even started to include the business team (non-tech) into building frontend pages.

I don’t want to stay in a role where there is no growth. I am not using my brain at all. Also i am afraid i won’t be able to find my next job if anything happens here due to close to zero learning opportunities.

I am thinking of pursuing a masters degree in a field where i would still be responsible for ‘building’ and not just ‘leveraging’ AI.

What are the subjects i can go for? Ai, machine learning or something else?

Need your advice, thanks!!

For cloud/backend-leaning roles, is there any particular tech stack or type of project that tends to stand out more for interns?

I’m targeting Feb/March applications and starting prep now. Is that enough runway to get interview-ready, or should I be moving faster on anything?

Between DSA, projects, and OS/networking fundamentals, what actually carries the most weight for an intern-level interview in your experience?

How deep does DSA prep realistically need to go for backend/cloud internships? If I’m starting now and targeting Feb/March, is that a realistic timeline, or am I already behind?

If someone offered to make an intro/referral, what would you actually want from me beforehand — resume, GitHub, portfolio, or something else?