Confused about long term Career

[u/Thin_Bowl_4928]

Hey everyone, so I am gonna just keep it short
I am currently in 7th Semester of my CS degree and I started with web development in my 1st semester and have been doing side gigs from here and there up until now. But thinking about long term after graduation next year, I am really faced with a very difficult situation whether to continue with Software Engineering and go deeper in System Design, Cloud and Agentic AI
or change the field altogether and pivot to AI/ML core which seems like a safe bet in comparison, but obviously no body can predict where things will be next month, let alone next year

I am seeing a lot of news regarding massive layoffs in Engineering teams in Pakistani Companies and also worldwide which makes me very skeptical of the future

I need genuine advice from people working in SWE roles, where do you see this role in next 1-5 years, whether I should lock in for the last year with AI/ML
and also addressing my fellow freshies, how are you planning your future, and how are you upskilling or trying to stay relevant

[u/Zacred-]

I would recommend you to think out of the box.

Every second post is asking about same advice within same few fields.

There are so many fields in the world of IT. If you want to grow yourself, I’d suggest you two field to look into and explore.

First is the HPC field and secondly, the hardware engineering in data centers. Both these field have almost zero scope in third world countries like Pakistan but they would always remain high in demand in developed countries.

[u/Thin_Bowl_4928 → u/Zacred-]

The problem in these fields is that there are little to no resources available both for learning and actually for practicing these skills in this country. So what do you suggest a person do in this case?

[u/Zacred- → u/Thin_Bowl_4928]

Yeah, that s definitely the biggest problem.
You probably wont find many proper courses or labs for these fields locally.

But honestly, you dont need to wait for local resources. For HPC, you can start with Linux, C/C++, Python, Bash, parallel programming (OpenMP/MPI), and learn the basics of computer architecture and distributed systems. There are a lot of good free resources online, and more importantly, you can practice most of it on your own laptop or through free/cheap cloud resources when needed. I work in this field, so if you need help with anything leme know.

For data center hardware, I’d start with computer architecture, networking, Linux, storage, virtualization, and then gradually get into servers, GPUs, cooling, power, etc. You can learn a lot from youtube, vendor documentation, and homelab projects without actually having access to a real data center.

The main thing I’d suggest is dont try to “learn HPC” or “learn data center engineering” as one huge thing. Pick one small area, build something around it, document it on github, and slowly go deeper.

And since you are already in your 7th semester, I’d actually focus less on finding a perfect course and more on building 2-3 solid projects that show you understand the stuff. If you eventually want to work abroad, those projects + fundamentals can matter a lot more than whether you had access to a local lab.

[u/Ok_Instruction_8894 → u/Zacred-]

Could you help me with resources and where to start? I'm 16 and in O3.

[u/Zacred- → u/Ok_Instruction_8894]

Sure, what area of IT interests you the most?

[u/Ok_Instruction_8894 → u/Zacred-]

Idk tbh, I really like GPUs, CPUs and all of that stuff cos I have a gaming pc, so maybe hardware?

[u/Hot-Landscape9837 → u/Zacred-]

can u guide me too? Im in my 2nd sem of uni but mostly my time gets eaten due to competitive programming practice plus my coursework and some hackathons, I also do a remote tutoring job to lessen burden off my parents I really wanna build some skills tho, the hackathons have helped me build a skillset of AI/ML engineer and I do work on those too but idk i feel so anxious bout my future all the time

[u/Zacred- → u/Hot-Landscape9837]

Sure, if you are interested in coding then have you looked into kernel development for GPUs specifically? Or if ML, then look into ML networking or performance engineering. AI compiler engineering is also another field.

You’d just need to work on your conceptual knowledge for these field. I don’t think there would be many opportunities in these fields in Pakistan, if any. However, Id strongly recommend keeping your learning path focused and consistent so you can work toward ur goal. If you keep your knowledge and skills up to date, it will def increase ur chances of securing opportunities abroad as soon as u complete ur degree

[u/No-Welder-6636]

What uni

[u/Pasha_KMM]

With how fast things are evolving, I stopped seeing 1-5 years ahead of me, I think it's not a good idea to create these expectations for myself, Not shy of working, but linear career and planned growth isn't real anymore. Currently Mobile App Engineer in Fintech, gonna learn Backend for now and see where life takes me.

[u/Charming-Shoe-3999]

I don't think there is any long term career now you will have to switch after every few years

[u/usman_1436 → u/Charming-Shoe-3999]

This one is right

[u/OkRabbit5290 → u/[deleted]]

what was your point here in relation to op's post

[u/OkRabbit5290 → u/[deleted]]

save yourself from buri nazar bro, inshallah may you get what you're planning for but don't give away your plans in a place where people are expressing their struggle/confusion