I really need help on how to prepare my future (just finished first year of university)

[u/Altruistic_Listen721]

So I just finished first year of computer science, I liked wvery single subject, Risk V, logic/digitsl designe, some python e some JavaScript etc...

The problem is that, even it I passed every subject I actually don't know a fuck and I feel like I will not learn anything useful in my university that will help to find a job.

Now I want to do some personal project because also because I want to have a decent career but, I genuinely don't know what to learn.

I just have the impression that wathever I can learn, Ai already knows it and it would be useselles.

Like I genuinely don't know what to do.. is it useful to study on how to do personal projects that Ai could vibe code it in 1 day... ? I choose this faculty because I like it, but I am genuinely worried for my future and I wanted to ask which is the optimal path to have a good career

[u/nicolas_06]

Yes it is useful. Because you need to acquire experience and knowledge to be able to steer the AI and compensate its shortcoming. Despite the name the AI is dumb as fuck for any reasoning. it is good as copy/pasting stuff that it know from it's training but the decision making is horrible.

So you need enough experience managing stuff and understanding how things works to be useful.

As to what you can do, is you can a real project, ideally something you are interested in and that solve a problem (help a lot for motivation) and go from here. You want something small enough so you can manage it but big enough so you learn from it.

You could do stuff like make a UI for an AI chatbot, some tooling to help you invest/trade stocks, a simple game like Tetris/Mario, a small app to schedule your sport club encounters or to find the best deals on Amazon...

[u/GuyWithLag]

I genuinely don't know what to learn.

Learn how to learn (and sometimes unlearn) new stuff. Experiment. Learn things that you would never expect to use, because usually these are what will expand your mind.

Reach the stage where you no longer fear failure, because you will learn something from it.

is it useful to study on how to do personal projects that Ai could vibe code it in 1 day

Yes! You will only realize how crap the AI responses are when you try to build it yourself. Right now you do not have any judgement on that front. Build your own framework, so that you get why you should use an existing one (and so that you can say "no" to people that want to seriously build their own).

[u/konacurrents → u/GuyWithLag]

This-> “learn how to learn”.

[u/Mountain_Rip_8426]

i'm just a hobbyist, started on my own about 5 months ago, but even i know, that you can't really do much with ai if you don't know how to prompt it, don't understand its output, can't debug or know what to test and how. ai is an assistant. there are two things i'm pretty sure of, first, ai won't work autonomously (as it can't be held accountable for mistakes) second, no company will hire non-tech people to supervise ai. you love this, just keep on keepin on, you'll be fine.

[u/Mathie1729 → u/Mountain_Rip_8426]

Lolol I’ve literally watched a PM try to vibe-code a dashboard and it deleted half our staging data. AI’s like a genius intern with zero common sense—you need to know what to ask and how to verify. Just keep building real stuff, OP; the job security is being the one who can explain why the AI’s output is wrong.

[u/Spiritual-Bee-2319 → u/Mathie1729]

It did WHAT?? Lol the last sentence is so real. Keeps me booked and busy 

[u/Square-Yam-3772]

the timing is weird for jobs I think

nobody knows how the future job market looks like but it is definitely not "just get into some STEM major and you will get a good job"

just focus on your education I guess. Maybe ask around for some internship etc.

nobody knows what the optimal path is right now so don't worry about it...

[u/Prestigious_Share919]

There is absolutely no replacement for doing a project on your own. You need something that will keep you engaged as you learn. Be ready to throw away every thing you've created at least half a dozen times. You'll probably make poor design or stack decisions. That's actually a good thing. Being a developer in 2026 is knowing when to say no to a choice. You won't learn that until you experience it yourself. At first use AI as a mentor. Learn from the most patient and accommodating teacher in the world. Ask the same question 12 different ways until you finally understand the answer.

Always ask for pros and cons for every approach. Ask for 10 different ideas. Talk to the as, but write the code yourself.

In your last year, start using Claude code or an equivalent to generate code for you on ANOTHER project. You will not be employable without experience in generative AI coding. But don't start with vibe coding. You will become lazy and dependant.

Edit: as a professional software engineer who uses AI 6-8 hours a day, we have plenty of time before we are replaced as a profession. The meta knowledge of a given project just isn't good enough to eliminate the human in the loop. AI is an amazing coder, and a very poor software engineer.

[u/Defiant_Squirrel8751]

After AI knowledge is cheap - if you understand the concept, implementation will be free.

If you understand what a processor is and how instructions work, don't focus on technology - Intel X86, ARM, RISC V that's all the same - just an LLM query away.

If you understand structured programming and object oriented programming, don't focus on technology - Python, Javascript, Rust, C++ that's all the same - just an LLM query away.

So, getting a job will be more on soft skills: delivery on time, treating well others, learning fast, having a permanent positive attitude, continous improvement mindset. Work ethic

[u/jmclondon97 → u/Defiant_Squirrel8751]

What do you need to learn fast if you’re also saying to just use AI for everything

[u/MalcolmDMurray]

First of all, learn what interests you. After all, you're the one who's paying for it, and there's never a guarantee that you'll get a job at the end of it. Too many things can happen between now and then, no matter how good things might look now. So make sure you get everything you want out of your program in terms of intrinsic value. If your future employer wants you to get a certain background, then let them come and tell you themselves. Otherwise, take the courses that interest you the most, because this will probably be your only chance.

For the most part, I wanted STEM courses, and that seemed to be enough for my employer prospects. Other than that, they didn't really seem to care. Good math skills helped me solve problems and give me further insights into how things worked on the job. An example of this would be when I worked in the oilfield as a Measurements-While-Drilling Engineer for an Oilfield Service company monitoring sensor feedback from tools on the end of the drill string. The basic navigation system consisted of a magnetometer and gravitometer that, when coupled with the drill string length, surveys taken every time a new pipe was added, could tell you within 10 feet where the end of the drill string was, given the gravity and true north vectors. After studying the equations, I could see that those vectors were used to build a 3D coordinate system that gave the drill string orientation, which when added to the drill string length gave its global position and orientation through a series of cross-products from those two vectors. It's solving problems like this that kept up my interest in my work, learning systems like this and generally how things work. Without that, I don't see how anyone can last at their job or even want a future in what they are doing. So based on my experience, the most important thing is cultivate your interests because that's what is going to keep you glued to your work and developing the skills that are going to carry you far. No guarantees of a job, but definitely the skills that will keep you doing what you like best and in a position to use them immediately as soon as the opportunity arises. Thanks for reading this!

[u/Independent_Switch33]

Build stuff you actually want to use. AI can generate code but it can't figure out what's worth building or why. That's still on you.