I was a sophomore in college studying CS when ChatGPT dropped.
I graduated last August, and just started last month looking for a SWE role after some time off.
Even though it was my degree, I am not that good at coding, but after building a personal website with Cursor that blew my socks off, I'm so interested how much more you can do with these tools.
I'm prepping for job interviews by doing leetcode (interview coding problems) but that honestly feels a little pointless especially with all the flux these tools are doing with coding.
I feel like the writing is on the wall for me to just spend an ungodly amount of a time obtaining more experience with these new AI tools while trying to document it online since there is just going to be more interest as these agents affect more of the white collar economy.
I’m feeling the “where is my life going” heat, more than the AI issue. Deciding to finish my BS in business at a technical school at my age now, made me get over the AI anxiety. It’s the other part, where it’s difficult to pursue entrepreneurship with this economy and defunding of SBIR, or land a significant role that makes you comfortable with all the changes.
the career anxiety you're describing is basically "deferred living syndrome" applied to white collar work. everyone optimizes for legible competency stamps until they wake up at 30 and realize the de-risked path quietly became the riskiest one. curious what happens when AI kills the "pay your dues" phase entirely – does the 2-year analyst model collapse in 18 months or does it limp along for a decade while everyone pretends it still makes sense?
I think about this a lot. As a software engineer, the pressure to lean into agents is becoming more and more immense for daily tasks, but lately I've started realizing that the time j spend coding was never really the bottleneck, and it's the things _outside_ of code where most of my peers get the most use out of agents.
Planning, automating rote tasks, refactoring, deployments, these things still take up a lot of time, and it's interesting seeing how people are starting to use agents more and more in these places, as opposed to just code.
Interesting article. I feel that not a lot of people have had the experience of focusing on the what (What should one focus on) rather than the how (How should one complete the task). With the advent of AI it is now possible to be more focused on the what more than the how since AI model can do the heavy lifting. What I wonder if there is any way for a person to develop their hand on the what (getting better at asking the right questions) without going for outsized risks. Essentially developing a robust viewpoint on what to focus on, by testing out oneself in the real word and getting quick feedback at an increased pace. Would love to hear your ideas on this and if you have anyway in mind on how one could go about doing this.
Currently at the directly previous step of career decision making, and would love some advice.
I’m 24 with an offer to join MBB after ~2 years of early-stage startup work. Like you said in the article, my assumption has always been that anyone who can ‘get in’ should go. Yet the day-to-day work I’d be doing as an analyst feels like a step backwards, and the firm itself doesn’t even let you use AI beyond ChatGPT Enterprise. Would it be silly to turn down the offer given the current climate? Under what circumstances should I take vs. not take it?
I like the optionality and career mobility (I’m not 100% sure what area of business I want to build in yet), the credibility it carries, and the idea that it acts as a safety net for my career - yet it feels like there are much faster, more in-tune places I could go to learn.
Your inner conflict is telling you something important about what you value, nobody else can make that call. The circumstances to turn it down or take it depend on what you care for and are interested in. First, if you had to make the decision this moment, no thinking, what would you pick? That gives you a clear guide to your gut reaction. Then find out what draws your curiosity: write down what you value, what you see in both paths, what you fear and what you hope for each, what responsibilities you have in your life (family, rent, etc). Speak with a close friend or to yourself aloud too. Everything discussed
Importantly, give it time to breathe. In between this, take a walk, play a game of pick-up, do whatever else. Don’t ruminate, it’ll come to you.
I was a sophomore in college studying CS when ChatGPT dropped.
I graduated last August, and just started last month looking for a SWE role after some time off.
Even though it was my degree, I am not that good at coding, but after building a personal website with Cursor that blew my socks off, I'm so interested how much more you can do with these tools.
I'm prepping for job interviews by doing leetcode (interview coding problems) but that honestly feels a little pointless especially with all the flux these tools are doing with coding.
I feel like the writing is on the wall for me to just spend an ungodly amount of a time obtaining more experience with these new AI tools while trying to document it online since there is just going to be more interest as these agents affect more of the white collar economy.
Everything is changing so quickly.
In a cruel twist of orthographic fate, you can spell neither anxiety nor optionality without AI.
I’m feeling the “where is my life going” heat, more than the AI issue. Deciding to finish my BS in business at a technical school at my age now, made me get over the AI anxiety. It’s the other part, where it’s difficult to pursue entrepreneurship with this economy and defunding of SBIR, or land a significant role that makes you comfortable with all the changes.
the career anxiety you're describing is basically "deferred living syndrome" applied to white collar work. everyone optimizes for legible competency stamps until they wake up at 30 and realize the de-risked path quietly became the riskiest one. curious what happens when AI kills the "pay your dues" phase entirely – does the 2-year analyst model collapse in 18 months or does it limp along for a decade while everyone pretends it still makes sense?
I think about this a lot. As a software engineer, the pressure to lean into agents is becoming more and more immense for daily tasks, but lately I've started realizing that the time j spend coding was never really the bottleneck, and it's the things _outside_ of code where most of my peers get the most use out of agents.
Planning, automating rote tasks, refactoring, deployments, these things still take up a lot of time, and it's interesting seeing how people are starting to use agents more and more in these places, as opposed to just code.
Interesting article. I feel that not a lot of people have had the experience of focusing on the what (What should one focus on) rather than the how (How should one complete the task). With the advent of AI it is now possible to be more focused on the what more than the how since AI model can do the heavy lifting. What I wonder if there is any way for a person to develop their hand on the what (getting better at asking the right questions) without going for outsized risks. Essentially developing a robust viewpoint on what to focus on, by testing out oneself in the real word and getting quick feedback at an increased pace. Would love to hear your ideas on this and if you have anyway in mind on how one could go about doing this.
Currently at the directly previous step of career decision making, and would love some advice.
I’m 24 with an offer to join MBB after ~2 years of early-stage startup work. Like you said in the article, my assumption has always been that anyone who can ‘get in’ should go. Yet the day-to-day work I’d be doing as an analyst feels like a step backwards, and the firm itself doesn’t even let you use AI beyond ChatGPT Enterprise. Would it be silly to turn down the offer given the current climate? Under what circumstances should I take vs. not take it?
I like the optionality and career mobility (I’m not 100% sure what area of business I want to build in yet), the credibility it carries, and the idea that it acts as a safety net for my career - yet it feels like there are much faster, more in-tune places I could go to learn.
Thoughts?
Not Jack, but my two cents.
Your inner conflict is telling you something important about what you value, nobody else can make that call. The circumstances to turn it down or take it depend on what you care for and are interested in. First, if you had to make the decision this moment, no thinking, what would you pick? That gives you a clear guide to your gut reaction. Then find out what draws your curiosity: write down what you value, what you see in both paths, what you fear and what you hope for each, what responsibilities you have in your life (family, rent, etc). Speak with a close friend or to yourself aloud too. Everything discussed
Importantly, give it time to breathe. In between this, take a walk, play a game of pick-up, do whatever else. Don’t ruminate, it’ll come to you.
Great piece
Interesting times ahead …