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Less than 3 years as a developer and already been laid off twice. Does it ever get better? (lemmy.world)

submitted 4 days ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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I'm a 25 yo British guy. I landed my first job as a dev in 2022 for a consultancy with a 1 year international placement, it was good but a few months after returning, the whole cohort was laid off due to corporate politics between the offices in the two countries. After 7 months of searching, I got my second job working for a small pensions fintech startup, it was fine but I didn't find it all that fulfilling. After 9 months of working there, the CEO pulled me into a meeting and said they'd made a mistake hiring me and they needed a more senior developer who could help steer the company from a business perspective too, so I was once again laid off.

That was in January, since then I've had 2 interviews, both of which have gone nowhere. The vibe of every position that's matched my CV has basically been the same sort of work- pretty mundane web dev roles and I can see myself being pulled into a cycle of mundane work then being laid off. I've wanted to be a developer for as long as I can remember, I started writing code when I was 12, studied CS throughout school so I could go to uni and do it for my degree - but now, I feel so disillusioned with the whole industry, where do I go from here? Does it get better? How do I find a job that actually feels fulfilling?

Sorry for the ramble, it's 4am and I just happened to stumble across this community while scrolling. Thought it might be worth an ask.

TLDR; been laid off twice in about 2 and a half years, feeling pretty disillusioned with everything, where do I go from here?

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 4 days ago

Here’re my two cents. I’m in the US with nearly two decades in engineering for experience. And I started programming young, like you; it’s very much a passion for me.

There are great places out there. Look for the roles that are going to expand your skill sets. More money is nice, but long term you’ll benefit more from pushing your boundaries. Ask lots of questions about the team when you’re interviewing—that can give you plenty of insight. And get comfortable with AI programming. That’s a seismic paradigm shift happening right now and embracing it can help you leapfrog others. Right now I like Windsurf AI.

And I get how this sequence of events you laid out is dispiriting—it would be for most imo. Personally, I think it’s worth the pursuit if it’s something you’ve enjoyed since such a young age.

Happy to answer more if it helps.